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BackgroundLow volume-high intensity interval exercise (LV-HIIE) has gained interest, due to its efficiency in invoking health and fitness benefits. However, little research has studied “at home” feasibility or effects of LV-HIIE. This study aimed to demonstrate that remote “at-home” LV-HIIE research is possible and to investigate if affective responses to the LV-HIIE protocol, subsequent intentions, and self-efficacy to repeat were related to self-reported tolerance of the intensity of exercise.MethodsUsing self-reported tolerance of the intensity of exercise, 41 healthy, physically active participants (25 female and 16 male; age 21.3 ± 1.0 years, body mass index 23.0 ± 2.9 kg.m2) were divided into low tolerance (LT, n = 14), middle tolerance (MT, n = 15), and high tolerance (HT, n = 12) groups. Participants completed a 20-min LV-HIIE circuit training video [2 × (10 ×30 s work, 15 s rest)] at home. Participants reported ratings of perceived exertion, affective valence, and perceived activation at baseline, during the protocol, immediately post-protocol, and during the cool down. 20-min after completion, respondents answered questions on exercise task self-efficacy and intentions to repeat LV-HIIE.ResultsThe study recruited n = 65 individuals, of whom n = 50 passed screening. Ultimately n = 41 (82%) completed the exercise protocol and data collection. Ratings of perceived exertion were not significantly different between groups (p = 0.56), indicating similar perceptions of task difficulty. There was no significant effect of tolerance on affective valence (p = 0.36) or felt arousal (p = 0.06). There was evidence of high individual variability in affective responses within and between participants. Subsequent intentions and self-efficacy to repeat the exercise protocol did not seem to be related to affective valence during or after the protocol.DiscussionRecruitment and data collection indicated that research into “at home” LV-HIIE is possible. High individual differences in affective responses suggest that LV-HEII may be appropriate for some but not all as an exercise option. Assessing self-reported tolerance of intensity of exercise may not appropriately identify whether or not LV-HIIE will be suitable for an individual.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use of 6 and 30 second Wingate anaerobic tests (WAnT), performance reliability of these protocols over repeated trials in active males and females has not been determined. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the performance reliability and test sensitivity of the 6 s and 30 s WAnT. METHODS: Twenty physically active participants (10 males and 10 females) completed a 6 s and 30 s WAnT against 7.5% body mass resistance on four occasions. RESULTS: Peak power output (PPO) and mean power output (MPO) did not differ across trials for either gender. Male PPO in both sprint durations demonstrated random variation (standard error of measurement (SEM)) ≤ 3.9% in all between-trials comparisons. For MPO, SEM was ≤ 2.9% in all comparisons. For females, random variation in PPO in both sprint durations was lower in trial 3-4 than earlier pairs of trials. MPO between trials in the 6-s sprint was variable, with the smallest variation between trials 1-2. For the 30-s sprint, MPO was more stable across trials. Across all four trials, only MPO in the 30-s test for males displayed good test sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, familiarisation may not be required to establish consistent performance in physically active males or females during the 6 and 30 s WAnT. Furthermore, general marginal test sensitivity in both tests and genders suggests that results of WAnT in physically active participants should not be used to investigate the genuine effect of an intervention.