HIIT the Road Jack: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of an Acute Bout of Cardiovascular High-Intensity Interval Training on Piano Learning
Question
Does an acute bout of cycling HIIT after piano melody practice enhance retention or transfer of explicit motor sequence learning compared with low-intensity interval cycling?
Summary
In 25 healthy non-musicians, one cycling HIIT bout after piano practice did not improve retention of the learned melody compared with low-intensity intervals, but it showed tentative transfer benefits one week later. Five of 13 HIIT participants could not complete the full protocol due to exhaustion.
Methodology
- Healthy right-handed non-musicians aged 18-35 years.
- 25 participants.
- Cycle ergometer.
- Work intervals: 3 min at 90% Wmax.
- Recovery: 2 min at 60% Wmax.
- Intensity: 90% Wmax work and 60% Wmax low intervals.
- 19 min.
- Single bout.
- Single acute session.
- Exploratory single-blind pseudo-randomized active-control study
- Retention, Transfer, and Exercise completion were tracked.
Outcomes
Retention
HIIT did not improve pitch or rhythm retention versus LIIT.
Pitch group x session p=0.334; rhythm group x session p=0.905.
Transfer
HIIT showed modest transfer advantages, but effects were small and not consistently sustained.
Pitch group x block p<0.001; block 5 p=0.044, block 6 p=0.072; rhythm group x block p<0.001 but no significant pairwise differences.
Completion
Five HIIT participants did not complete the full protocol.
5/13 failed due to volitional exhaustion; incomplete participants averaged RPE 18.4 and HRmax 184.2.
Insights
- Protocol completion is a key safety/tolerability endpoint for high-intensity cycling intervals.
- High active recovery at 60% Wmax may be unsuitable for low-fitness users.
- Claims about cognitive transfer should be tentative.
Limitations
- Small exploratory sample
- Underpowered for retention effects
- Experimenter not blinded
- Five incomplete HIIT sessions
- No multiple-comparison corrections
- Ceiling effects and high variability
Safety
- No adverse medical events were reported.
- Five of 13 HIIT participants failed to complete the prescribed protocol due to volitional exhaustion.
- After two early failures, the researchers added an exclusion criterion for people exercising less than once per week; GXT instructions included stopping for chest pain, dizziness, or faintness.