# The impact of 4-week high-intensity interval training on mental health and sleep quality in female college students with normal weight obesity: a randomized controlled trial

PMID: 41199311
Journal: Journal of translational medicine
Published: 2025 Nov 6
Authors: Fu J, Zhang W, Xu X, Mao X, Wang L, Cai M, Yang R

## Question

Does a 4-week high-intensity interval training program improve depression, anxiety, and sleep quality in female college students with normal weight obesity compared with health education/no training?

## Summary

Female college students with normal weight obesity who completed a 4-week supervised bodyweight HIIT program improved depression, anxiety, and sleep-quality questionnaire scores compared with a health-education control group. The HIIT sessions were frequent, five times per week, and included 40-second bodyweight exercises with 20-second rests. The study was short, all participants were young women from one university, and adverse events were monitored generally but not reported in detail.

## Population

- Female college students with normal weight obesity.
- Sample size: 35
- Age: About 19 years.
- Sex: Female.
- Health status: BMI 20-23 kg/m2 and body fat percentage >30%; no exercise contraindications.

## Methodology

- Randomized controlled trial with pre/post assessment.
- One-week adaptive training followed by 4 weeks of HIIT, 5 sessions/week.
- Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, China.
- Randomized and controlled study design.

## Protocol

- Bodyweight HIIT.
- Modality: Opening/closing jumps, squats, push-ups, bent-knee raises, step jumps, abdominal rolls, hip bridges, burpees, lunge squats.
- Work intervals: 40 s.
- Recovery: 20 s.
- Sets or repetitions: Three sets with 1-min inter-group rest.
- Intensity: >90% VO2max target.
- Session duration: About 34 min.
- Frequency: 5 sessions/week.
- Program length: 4 weeks.
- Progression: One-week adaptive training before the program.
- Health education control.
- Modality: No training.
- Program length: 4 weeks.

## Outcomes

### PHQ-9 depression score
Status: improved
HIIT reduced PHQ-9 while control did not change.

HIIT 5.8 +/- 4.2 to 3.2 +/- 2.7; time x group F=7.180, p=0.011; adjusted p=0.005.

### GAD-7 anxiety score
Status: improved
HIIT reduced GAD-7 while control did not change.

HIIT 5.1 +/- 5.3 to 2.8 +/- 2.9; time x group F=8.333, p=0.007; adjusted p=0.014.

### PSQI sleep quality
Status: improved
HIIT improved PSQI score while control did not.

HIIT 5.1 +/- 3.4 to 3.5 +/- 2.5; time x group F=11.692, p=0.002; adjusted p=0.007.

## Practical Insights

- A 40/20 bodyweight format is easy to translate into guided workouts.
- Frequent HIIT may support self-reported sleep and mood in a narrow young-adult group.
- The evidence is not sufficient to make clinical mental-health treatment claims.

## Limitations

- Small sample.
- Short 4-week intervention.
- Self-report outcomes.
- No long-term follow-up.
- Unclear intensity and attendance fidelity.

## Safety And Adherence

- Professional coaches supervised sessions.
- Trained personnel monitored participants in real time.
- No specific adverse events were reported.

## Original Sources

- [PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41199311/) (pubmed)
- [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-07276-7) (doi)
- [PMC full text](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12590694/) (full text)

## Agent Guidance

Preserve the paper-level scope of this note. Do not generalize beyond the population, protocol, measured outcomes, and limitations above.