Effects of High Intensity Interval Training on Children’s Health and Physical Fitness

Abstract

The effect of high intensity interval training on children’s health is the focus of experts and scholars worldwide. After the outline of “Building a Strong Country in Sports” was issued in 2019, China’s attention to sports has reached a peak. However, the proportion of obese or myopic children in schools at all levels is still high, and the problem of low physical fitness of Chinese students is still serious. The purpose of this study was to review previous studies to explore the effects of high intensity interval training on children’s health and physical fitness. We reviewed relevant literature both in Chinese and English, sorted out and summarized the research results. We found that high intensity interval training has a positive impact on children’s health and physical fitness, can significantly improve children’s muscle strength and cardiopulmonary endurance, and can effectively reduce fat mass in overweight and obese children. Meanwhile, the high intensity interval training has higher training pleasure. Therefore, high intensity interval training can be used as an effective exercise method for children. It is suggested to handle the relationship scientifically and reasonably among individual differences, training time, and training intensity. We should pay attention to the group training workload for overweight and obese children, adopt the principle of gradual improvement, and gradually improve the ability and health level of overweight and obese children.