Effects of Short-Term Interval Training Courses on Fitness and Weight Loss of Untrained Girls

Due to the increase in obesity and sedentary lifestyle in today's world, encouraging the individuals to do appropriate and academic physical activities and studying sports programs with different structures are if great importance. The present paper aims to study the effect of 30 minutes interval short courses of running (4 rounds × 7:30 minutes) with a mean intensity of 60-75% of heart rate reserve (HRR) for 6 weeks on body composition and aerobic capacity (Vo2max) in untrained girl university students. Twenty six untrained girl university students aged 19 to 23 years old with a percentage of body fat (PBF) of more than 30 and a Vo2max of less than 40 ml/kg/min were randomly selected and into divided into two groups including training group (n=16) and the control (n=10). Weight, body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (BF%), lean body mass (LBM), and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) were measured as indicators of health before and after six weeks of trial. Findings of the present study showed that 6 weeks of interval running improved body composition and aerobic capacity of untrained girls. This means that there was a significant decrease in PBF, weight, and BMI of untrained girls. In addition, maximal oxygen consumption showed a significant increase (p≤0.05), while no significant change was observed in lean body mass. Findings of the present study indicate the importance of combining the short courses of work and rest for 30 min in a day. The present study merely discuss the effective role of interval short course training in stimulating and changing physiological adaptations and consequently improving the performance of cardiovascular system and body composition in untrained girls.