Pilot Testing for Reduced Exertion High-Intensity Interval Training in and Aquatic Setting

Anna Jenkins,* Olivia Naylor*, Miriam Leary, Lori Sherlock and Victoria Corsi, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Exercise Science & Nutrition (Health Sciences)

Student’s Major: Exercise Physiology 

Reduced exertion high-intensity interval training, REHIIT, is the lowest amount of exercise that produces benefits equal to those of steady state exercise. Aquatic REHIIT has not yet been investigated and could produce benefits comparable to or beyond those of land-based REHIIT. This pilot study determined a protocol to elicit maximal effort in the water to compare aquatic and land-based REHIIT. In this study, 10 healthy, college-age individuals were asked to complete four sets of squat jumps at maximal effort. The squat jumps were performed in the pool at navel depth (N) and xiphoid depth (X), with ankle weights (W) and without ankle weights. The participants performed each combination for 30 seconds with a 2-minute rest between each set, totaling eight minutes of work. The order of trials between subjects was randomized. Effort of each trial was assessed with heart rate (bpm), Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and participants subjective reporting of the hardest trial. The highest heart rate (160 ± 19 bpm) and RPE (13 ± 3) were found in the N+W trial. Sixty percent of participants also rated the N+W combination as the hardest. This pilot study determined that maximal squat jumps at navel depth with ankle weights was the hardest trial subjectively and physiologically. The combination of navel depth and ankle weights will be used as the aquatic protocol in future studies that compare aquatic and land-based REHIIT. 

Funding: 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course