Table 2 Characteristics of the studies that examined the effects of interval training with active or passive recovery on measures of physical fitness and physiological adaptations in trained and untrained individuals
Study | PEDro score | Country | Sample size/sex | Physical activity level/sport | Age, years (mean ± SD or range) | Recovery type | Training volume | Training intensity | Intervention duration (weeks) | Session duration (min) | Training frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buckley et al. [54] | 7 | Canada | 28 healthy females | Active | 24.7 ± 5.4 | Passive | Row-HIIT and MM-HIIT group performed 60 s of all-out intensity rowing followed by 3 min of rest (passive recovery) for a total of 6 rounds. High-volume | All out intensity; 9/10 or 10/10 in RPE scale | 6 weeks | 24 | 3 times/week |
Kong et al. [53] | 7 | Macau | 18 overweight and obese females | Inactive | 18–30 | Passive | 60 repetitions of high-intensity interval exercise (8 s cycling and 12 s passive recovery) on a cycle ergometer for 20 min. High-volume | 90% VO2max | 5 weeks | 20 min | 4 session/week |
Aschendorf et al. [49] | 7 | Germany | 24 females | Basketball | 15.1 ± 1.1 | Passive | Two different types of HIIT: Session A 4 × 4 HIIT with 3 min of recovery; Session B 2 × 30 s HIIT with 15 s recovery. High and low volume | 90–95%VO2max | 5 weeks | 25 min | 3 times/week |
Wiewelhove et al. [26] | 7 | Germany | 26 males | Soccer, handball, basketball, tennis | 23.5 ± 2.5 | Passive | Straight-line runs at 95–100%vVO2 with 2–4 min of rest. Low-volume | 90–100% | 4 weeks | 40 min | 3 times/week |
Jabbour et al. [52] | 6 | Qatar | 10 males and 20 females | Inactive | 18–71 | Passive | 6 repetitions of SCT intervals with 2 min of passive recovery between each repetition. Low-volume | all out SCT | 6 weeks | 15 min | 3 times/week |
Fransson et al. [47] | 7 | Sweden | 39 males | Soccer | 21.1 ± 2.4 | Passive | The drill was performed as a time trial drill in 30-s intervals separated by 150 s of passive recovery. The number of exercise intervals was 6 during the first intervention week, 8 during the second and third weeks, and 10 during the fourth week. High-volume | maximal speed drills | 4 weeks | 30 min | 3 times/week |
Menz et al. [50] | 7 | Austria | 15 participants (female (n = 11) and male (n = 4) (age 25.6 ± 2.6 years) | Running, cycling, fitness, ball sports and alpine sports | 25.6 ± 2.6 | Passive | Running HIIT (3–4 sets; 8 × 20 s, 10 s rest; set rest: 5 min)/Functional HIIT executed with their own body weight (3–4 sets; 8 × 20 s, 10 s rest; set rest: 5 min). Low-volume | 90–100% HRmax | 4 weeks | 15–20 min | 3 times/week |
Evangelista et al. [55] | 7 | Brazil | 25 males and females | Active | 28.3 ± 6.8 | Passive | 20 sets of 30 s all-out exercise and 30 s of passive recovery between sets. High-volume | All out exercise | 6 weeks | 20 min | 3 times/week |
Alizadeh and Safarzade [51] | 7 | Spain | 20 adolescent boys | Active | 18.0 ± 1.5 | Passive | 3 × 10 repetitions of 30 s of aerobic exercises all out (cycling, rowing, and running) interspersed by 30 s of rest. High-volume | 90% HRmax | 6 weeks | 10–20 min | 3 times/week |
Moro et al. [56] | 7 | Italy | 20 healthy young adults | Inactive | 22.1 ± 1.9 | Passive | HIIRT: first set of 6 repetitions at 80% 1RM followed by a 20″ rest; then, subjects were asked to lift the same weight until failure (habitually 2 or 3 repetitions) followed by another 20″ rest period with repetitions to fatigue. Low-volume | 80% of 1RM | 6 weeks | 43 min (including warm up and cool down) | 3 times/week |
Arslan et al. [48] | 6 | Turkey | 20 males | Soccer | 14.2 ± 0.5 | Passive | Intermittent running at 90–95% of players’ VIFT for 15 s (around the pitch), followed by 15 s of passive recovery. Low-volume | 90–95% VIFT | 5 weeks | 5–10 min | 2 times/week |
Martínez-Rodríguez et al. [57] | 7 | Spain | 14 females | Active | 27 ± 6 | Passive | 3 × 10 repetitions of 30 s of aerobic exercises all out (cycling, rowing, and running) interspersed by 30 s of rest. High-volume | All out training | 8 weeks | 40 min | 3 times/week |
Ben Abderrahman et al. [4] | 7 | Tunisia | 9 males | Physical education students | 20.4 ± 0.6 | Passive | 2 set x (8 rep x 30sIE) with 5 min recovery. High-volume | 100% MAV | 7 weeks | 45 (including warm up and cool down) | 3 times/week |
Martins et al. [45] | 7 | Norway | 30 females and 16 males | Sedentary | 34.4 ± 8.8 | Active | 8 s of sprinting (during which participants worked as hard as possible) and 12 s of recovery phase. Low-volume | Exercise: all out | 12 weeks | 20 min | 3 times/week |
Ben Abderrahman et al. [4] | 7 | Tunisia | 9 males | Physical education students | 20.9 ± 0.8 | Active | 2 set x (8 rep x 30sIE) 100% MAV with 5 min recovery at 50% MAV. High-volume | Exercise: 100% MAV. recovery: 50% | 7 weeks | 45 min (including warm up and cool down) | 3 times/week |
Heydari et al. [63] | 7 | Australia | 34 males | Inactive | 24.4 ± 4.7 | Active | 8 s sprint and 12 s recovery, and a 5-min cool-down. During recovery, the cadence was reduced to 40 rpm with no change in resistance. Participants kept their exercise intensity at a level with 80–90% MHR. Low-volume | Exercise: all out recovery: 40 rpm | 12 weeks | 20 min | 3 times/week |
Trapp et al. [46] | 7 | Australia | 34 females | Inactive | 22.4 ± 0.7 | Active | Each subject performed 8 s of sprinting and 12 s of turning the pedals over slowly (between 20 and 30 rpm.) for a maximum of 60 repeats a session. Low-volume | Exercise: all out recovery: 20–30 rpm | 15 weeks | 20 | 3 times/week |
Smith-Ryan et al. [44] | 7 | USA | 35 males | Inactive | 18–50 | Active | High-intensity training (2 min-HIIT): 5 bouts of 2 min cycling with 1 min recovery utilizing undulating intensities (80–100% VO2peak) or no exercise at all (CON). High-volume | HIIT intensity 80–100% of VO2max | 3 weeks | 20 min | 3 times/week |
Menz et al. [59] | 7 | Austria | 8 females and 27 males | Well-trained athletes | 25 ± 1 | Active | Four 4-min interval bouts at an exercise intensity of 90–95% of the individual maximal heart rate (HRmax), separated by 4-min active recovery periods. High-volume | 90–95% of HRmax | 4 weeks | 32 min | 3–4 session/week |
Astorino et al. [60] | 7 | USA | 192 women | Trained | 22.5 ± 5.8 | Active | ** SIT (HIIT + SIT) consisted of 8–12 ‘‘all-out’’ sprints (4–6 min training duration per day) during which participants were required to pedal maximally High-volume interval training (HIIT + HIITHI) required repeated 2.5-min bouts of cycling with 60 s recovery HIIT + PER) consisted of 3 sessions of high-volume HIIT, 3 sessions of SIT, and 4 sessions of low-volume HIIT. High-volume | All out sprint | 6 weeks | 20–30 min | 3 times/week |
Czuba et al. [58] | 7 | Poland | 16 males | Swimmers | 19.1 ± 1.3 | Active | Each training session consisted of a 10-min general warm-up, 45–55-min main part, and a 10-min cool-down. The main part of the circuit consisted of exercise performed on an upper limb rotator (50 W) with a cadence of 80 rpm lasting 60 s This circuit was repeated four times in the first four interval training sessions, after which a 5th circuit was added to increase the overall training load. High-volume | 50–95% of VO2max | 4 weeks | 45–55 min | 2 times/week |
Rhibi et al. [5] | 7 | France | 39 males | Physical education students | 21.4 ± 1.1 | Active | 30 s IE run at 100–110% MAV alternating with 30 s at 50% MAV. High-volume | 100–110% MAV | 8 weeks | 25 min (training and warm up, cool down) | 3 times/week |
Poon et al. [62] | 7 | Hong-kong | 42 participants | Inactive | 42 ± 5 | Active | HIIT: 10 X 1-min bouts of running at 80–90% HRmax separated by 1-min active recovery. High-volume | 80–90% HRmax | 8 weeks | 21–29 min | 3 times/week |
Rhibi et al. [61] | 8 | France | 37 males | Physical education students | 21.9 ± 1.3 | Active | 30 s IE run at 100–110% MAV alternating with 30 s at 50% MAV. High-volume | 100–110% MAV | 8 weeks | 25 min (training and warm up, cool down) | 3 times/week |