Optimising Exercise Prescription: A Meta-Analysis Examining the Dose Response of Exercise Duration on Cardiorespiratory Fitness Following HIIT and MICT

Mattioni Maturana, F ORCID: 0000-0002-4221-6104, Zadon, NHA ORCID: 0000-0002-4499-0996, Cocks, M ORCID: 0000-0003-1671-8714, Nieß, AM ORCID: 0000-0002-6145-7069, Thijssen, DHJ ORCID: 0000-0002-7707-5567 and Dawson, EA ORCID: 0000-0002-5958-267X (2026) Optimising Exercise Prescription: A Meta-Analysis Examining the Dose Response of Exercise Duration on Cardiorespiratory Fitness Following HIIT and MICT. Sports Medicine. ISSN 0112-1642

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Abstract

Background
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is often promoted as a time-efficient alternative to moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) for improving cardiorespiratory fitness, yet the duration of HIIT sessions varies considerably across studies.

Objective
We aimed to characterise the dose–response relationship between exercise session duration and the improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness for HIIT and MICT.

Methods
A dose–response meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials comparing exercise duration in HIIT and MICT, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022335590). Effect sizes were calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis. The primary outcome was maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Secondary outcomes included blood pressure, lipid profiles, glucose metabolism markers and body composition measures. A one-stage random-effects dose–response meta-analysis was performed to examine the relationship between exercise duration and adaptations. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar; eligibility criteria for selecting studies were randomised controlled trials in humans, published in English and exercise interventions lasting at least 4 weeks.

Results
We identified 69 randomised controlled trials (2387 participants). High-intensity interval training elicited greater improvements in VO2max than MICT (d = 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.27–0.49, p < 0.001). High-intensity interval training demonstrated a non-linear dose–response relationship between exercise session duration and VO2max, with 80% of maximal effect (changes in VO2max = 3.45 mL/kg/min) achieved with only ~11 min/session (95% confidence interval 9.5–40.2). Moderate-intensity interval training showed a linear dose–response relationship between exercise session duration and VO2max, requiring ~52 min/session to achieve 80% of the maximal observed effect (95% confidence interval 30.4–55.8). The dose–response relationship was consistent across populations. High-intensity interval training and MICT had comparable effects in improving cardiometabolic risk factors.

Conclusions
High-intensity interval training demonstrated a non-linear dose response, with 80% of maximal effect on VO2max in ~11 min/session, whilst MICT required four to five times longer to reach similar responses. The different types of training had comparable effects on cardiometabolic risk factors.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4206 Public Health; 42 Health Sciences; Behavioral and Social Science; Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities; Cardiovascular; Prevention; Nutrition; Clinical Research; Physical Activity; 6.7 Physical; 0913 Mechanical Engineering; 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences; 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; Sport Sciences; 4201 Allied health and rehabilitation science; 4207 Sports science and exercise
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Springer
Date of acceptance:	6 August 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 October 2026
Date Deposited:	05 Oct 2026 15:15
Last Modified:	05 Oct 2026 15:15
DOI or ID number:	10.1007/s40279-026-02528-y
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29612

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