Peripheral and Cerebral Vascular Responses Following High-Intensity Interval Exercise

Dr. Bert Bond and Max Weston present an overview on their study investigating the effects high-intensity interval exercise has on cerebrovascular health.

Physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and dementia. This benefit cannot be explained by changes in traditional CVD risk factors alone, and direct improvements in vascular health are thought to play a key role. However, our understanding of how exercise can be optimized for improvements in blood-vessel health is limited.

High-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) is known to improve peripheral vascular function, and there is a growing interest in the effects of HIIE on cerebrovascular health. However, it is not clear whether the acute improvements in peripheral vascular function following HIIE are also seen in the major blood-vessels of the brain.

In the Bond lab’s study, 30 minutes of HIIE completed at both 75% and 90% V̇O₂max improved peripheral vascular function 1 and 3h following exercise in healthy young adults, compared with work-matched continuous moderate-intensity exercise and a sedentary control condition. By contrast, cerebrovascular function was unchanged following all conditions. This is the first study to identify that acute improvements in peripheral vascular function following high-intensity interval exercise are not mirrored by improvements in cerebrovascular function in healthy young adults.