BACKGROUND

Overweight and obesity are associated with cardiometabolic risk in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Lifestyle adjustment, such as increasing physical activity, is a first-line strategy to treat PCOS. The current study aims to compare and examine the effect of high intensity intermittent training (HIIT) and combined (COM) training on some anthropometric indices and aerobic performance in PCOS females.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 45 women with PCOS divided into three groups receiving HIIT (n=15), COM interventions (n=15) or control group (n=15) for eight weeks. Some anthropometric indices factors including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), body fat percent (FP), and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as well as VO2 were measured at the baseline at the eighth week. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. Tukey post hoc tests were used to compare the pair differences.

RESULTS

After eight-week intervention, weight, BMI, WHR, FP, and VAT decreased significantly in both groups of COM and HIIT (P<0.05) relative to the control group. There were no differences between HIIT group and COM group in terms of these variables (P>0.05). VO2 increased significantly after COM and HIIT interventions relative to the control group (P=0.001); however, HIIT was statically more effective than COM (P=0.011).

CONCLUSION

The current study revealed that both HIIT and COM trainings could be beneficial in improving some anthropometric indices in addition to aerobic capacity, although HIIT was more effective on aerobic performance (registration number: IRCT20130812014333N143).