High-intensity interval exercise lowers postprandial glucose concentrations more in obese adults than lean adults

To compare postprandial glucose responses to high-intensity interval exercise (HIE) between obese and lean individuals.Thirty healthy young adult males (15 obese, 15 lean) ate a standardised meal, then performed HIE (4 × 30-s Wingate cycling/4-min rest) or a no-exercise control trial (CON). Blood glucose was measured preprandially and up to 150 min postprandially.Compared to CON, HIE reduced postprandial glucose concentrations at 120-150 min in obese (p 0.001) and lean men (p 0.05), with greater reductions in obese than lean subjects at 120 (-27.0% vs. -8.3%), 135 (-31.9% vs. -15.7%), and 150 min (-21.8% vs. -10.6%). The total glucose area under the curve (AUC) for the testing period was lower with HIE than CON among obese men (p 0.05), but not lean men (p 0.05). We found moderate correlations between body mass and postprandial glucose changes (r = 0.39-0.44, p 0.05), and between glucose AUC and body mass and fat free mass (r = 0.39-0.48, p 0.05).Our findings suggest that HIE may act as a time-efficient lifestyle intervention strategy for improving obesity-related diabetes risk factors, and might play a role in primary diabetes prevention for the healthy but sedentary population.