Metabolic Responses to Hypoxic HIIT in Overweight Women
About this project
Discover our project that examines methods for optimising exercise to maximise health and performance benefits in overweight women.
This project will examine the systemic and tissue-specific glucose and lipid regulation in response to hypoxic (low oxygen environment) high-intensity interval training in overweight women. The project will be conducted at the Institute for Health and Sport (IHES) at the Footscray Park Campus of Victoria University.
Metabolic syndromes, such as Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasingly prevalent worldwide, including in Australia, where 1.2 million Australian, around 4.6% of the population were living with T2D in 2021. The risk increases with age which may be explained by the progressive decline in skeletal muscle mass that impairs glucose uptake and is a key risk factor for developing metabolic disorders. Excess body weight is another major contributor to metabolic syndrome.
Exercise is a well-established strategy to improve glucose regulation, enhances insulin sensitivity, improve skeletal muscle glucose uptake and storage, lipid regulation, and overall glucose tolerance. Emerging evidence suggests that hypoxia (low oxygen environment) further stimulates glucose uptake. Combining HIIT with hypoxia may synergistically enhance these metabolic benefits in overweight women.
Participate in the study
Recruitment for this study is now underway.
All participants will undertake fitness and health testing before and after 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Eligibility
- Females aged 18-45 (regular menstrual cycles)
- Have BMI between 18-40 kg/m2 (overweight/obese)
- Untrained lifestyle (sedentary or occasional exercise
- Have not lived at or travelled above 1000m in the last 3 months
- Non-smoker
- Free from medical conditions (e.g., heart rhythm disturbances, elevated blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular abnormalities, respiratory conditions, and musculoskeletal injuries)
- Not currently participating in any elite-level sporting competitions.
Benefits of participating
While we cannot guarantee any benefits from your participation in this study, we consider the following to be potential benefits:
- You will receive high-quality exercise training supervised by exercise science researchers, in a state-of-the-art research facility.
- The training may improve aspects of your health and fitness.
- You will receive potentially valuable information regarding your aerobic fitness.
- You will receive an individualised report on your fitness improvements on completing the training period.
$300 e-gift card
You will be remunerated for your time and efforts volunteered to this study in the form of a $300 e-gift card, which will be provided to you via email as staggered payments ($100 gift card upon completing 4-weeks of training and biopsy).
What participants are required to do
The time commitment for this study will be 8-12 weeks, which includes the following phases:
- Physical Activity Questionnaire and Dietary Questionnaire at the baseline/familiarisation testing visit and prior each session.
- Glucose Tolerance Assessment (OGTT) at the baseline/familiarisation testing visit.
- Familiarisation and Baseline Testing including Graded Exercise Testing (GXT).
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
- Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) at baseline and prior each session
- Blood samples and analyses at baseline and after 4-weeks, 8-weeks, and 12-weeks
- Muscle and Adipose Tissue (fat) Biopsies at baseline and after 4-weeks, 8-weeks, and 12-weeks (if applicable) after intervention.
- In total 3-muscle biopsies and 3-adipose tissue (fat) biopsies, or 4-muscle biopsies and 4-adipose tissue (fat) biopsies if the full 12-weeks intervention is completed.