Home-based HIIT in type 2 diabetes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A physiological study investigating the use of a home-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programme for the treatment of type 2 diabetes
IRAS ID
278427
Contact name
Iskandar Idris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 24 days
Research summary
Increased participation in exercise is well known to improve the health of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and guidelines currently recommend performing at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. Unfortunately, these recommendations are not being achieved by the majority of people in the UK. The most commonly reported barriers to exercise are lack of time, high cost of exercise facilities and aversion to exercise in public.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of exercise that involves brief intense intervals alternating with short recovery periods. It has been shown to improve cardiovascular fitness, blood glucose control, blood pressure and heart function in people with T2D. Crucially, HIIT protocols require 30-60 minutes per week (less than half the recommended amount of time), but is just as effective as traditional exercise programmes.
Whilst HIIT potentially solves the issue with lack of time, most HIIT research is conducted in laboratories requiring specialist equipment, which does not address the other barriers outlined previously. Our department has developed a home-based HIIT programme that does not require expensive equipment. It has already been shown to improve the fitness of middle-aged healthy people. We aim to conduct this programme in people with T2D and determine whether home-based HIIT can improve their cardiovascular fitness, blood glucose control, muscle strength and muscle function.
The study will be conducted entirely within the University of Nottingham Clinical, Metabolic and Molecular Physiology Department, based in the Medical School Building of the Royal Derby Hospital. We will recruit people with T2D aged between 18-75 years old. Participants will either perform body-weight HIIT sessions 3 times a week (intervention group), or continue their usual daily lives (control group) for 12 weeks. Through the 12-week period, we will take measurements of cardiovascular fitness, blood glucose control, insulin sensitivity and muscle strength, structure & growth rates.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EM/0203
Date of REC Opinion
13 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion