Journal of Sports Sciences

ISSN: 0264-0414 (Print) 1466-447X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjsp20

Author’s reply to Andreato et al: “Can we consider

that the moderate-intensity continuous training
results in higher total energy expenditure
comparable to high-intensity interval training?”

Gustavo Zaccaria Schaun, Stephanie Santana Pinto, Aline Borges De

Carvalho Praia & Cristine Lima Alberton

To cite this article: Gustavo Zaccaria Schaun, Stephanie Santana Pinto, Aline Borges
De Carvalho Praia & Cristine Lima Alberton (2019): Author’s reply to Andreato et al: “Can
we consider that the moderate-intensity continuous training results in higher total energy
expenditure comparable to high-intensity interval training?”, Journal of Sports Sciences, DOI:
10.1080/02640414.2019.1567448

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1567448

Published online: 15 Jan 2019.

Submit your article to this journal

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rjsp20
JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES
https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1567448

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Author’s reply to Andreato et al: “Can we consider that the moderate-intensity

continuous training results in higher total energy expenditure comparable to
high-intensity interval training?”
Gustavo Zaccaria Schaun , Stephanie Santana Pinto, Aline Borges De Carvalho Praia and Cristine Lima Alberton
Neuromuscular Assessment Laboratory, Physical Education School, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil

ARTICLE HISTORY Accepted 30 October 2018

Dear editor, aquatic environment, we opted to replicate the same HIIT and
CONT protocols on water to allow a certain degree of compar-
It was with great interest that we read the letter by Dr. Andreato
ison between both investigations (Schaun et al., 2018, 2017). In
and his colleagues (Andreato, Branco, & Esteves, 2018) on our
fact, even though both CONT protocols resulted in a not surpris-
most recently published article in the Journal of Sports Sciences
ing higher energy expenditure during the sessions (~228 ± 32 vs.
(Schaun, Pinto, Praia, & Alberton, 2018), and thank the opportu-
~40 ± 4 and 390 ± 65 vs. 55 ± 9 kcal, respectively), EPOC results’
nity to clarify some of the points raised by them.
behavior differed between the aforementioned investigations
The major concern raised by the authors was the significant
(22 ± 5 vs. 22 ± 8 and 26 ± 2 vs. 13 ± 10, respectively) and
difference between protocols and the absence of some type of
could be related to differences between the environments.
equivalence between them. We acknowledge that, from
The authors also expressed some concerns about our con-
a physiological perspective, equalization by some measure or
clusions, stating that “an increase in energy expenditure would
variable such as total volume or energy expenditure should be
be obtained in longer sessions, considering that HIIT provided
the preferred procedure. Research in the aquatic environment
higher energy expenditure per minute”. As already mentioned,
and the nature of our HIIT protocol, however, pose a challenge to
this possibility was not available because participants com-
it. Water aerobics routines are not performed on an ergometer
pleted the HIIT session without conditions to perform any
and, consequently, the precise workload determination becomes
additional set. Thus, if the exercise goal is to achieve
difficult. Moreover, if our HIIT session was to be matched based
a greater total energy expenditure our results support that
on CONT energy expenditure, the session would have had to be
a regular CONT water aerobics routine should be preferred to
longer (i.e., ~23 min), as highlighted by Dr. Andreato et al. As
the low-volume HIIT protocol investigated (as no conditioning
reported in our manuscript “participants concluded the HIIT pro-
coach or fitness instructor would prescribe a 5 min CONT
tocol without conditions to perform any additional set” and, there-
session).
fore, this possibility would be unfeasible. On the other hand, if
Dr. Andreato et al. went on to mention that “if EPOC [was]
equalized by HIIT energy expenditure, CONT would have had an
an important variable to be prioritized, HIIT would be a better
extremely brief duration (i.e., ~5 min). In any of these cases, the
choice, since it showed results similar to CONT, even with
equalization would not have reflected the true application of
a widely lower training volume” and we agree with them. In
these protocols in practice.
populations in which energy expenditure is a relevant out-
Extremely low-volume HIIT protocols have been gaining
come such as obese subjects, however, it is our understanding
notoriety in the scientific literature (Gibala, Little, Macdonald,
that total energy expenditure would be much more important
& Hawley, 2012) and are characterized by a relatively short
than EPOC per se (Laforgia, Withers, Shipp, & Gore, 1997).
duration when compared to CONT (e.g., Burgomaster et al.,
Accordingly, if energy expenditure is to be prioritized, it still
2008; McRae et al., 2012). Our laboratory recently demon-
seems to us that a CONT protocol should be preferred to an
strated that the HIIT and CONT protocols employed in the
extremely low-volume HIIT protocol because it is insufficient to
present investigation (Schaun et al., 2018) were able to
match the energy expenditure of a regular CONT protocol due
improve cardiorespiratory fitness to a similar extent, despite
to the reduced volume of the latter. This is important because
the marked differences in exercise volume, when performed
the process of body mass regulation is closely associated with
on land (Schaun, Pinto, Silva, Dolinski, & Alberton, 2018).
energetic balance, as highlighted by Dr. Andreato himself in
Nonetheless, extremely low-volume HIIT protocols have not
another letter to the editor on the same topic (Andreato,
yet received the same attention in the aquatic environment.
Coimbra, & de Carvalho, 2017).
During the aforementioned study (Schaun et al., 2018) we also
It should be clear though that our conclusion is limited to
investigated HIIT and CONT energy expenditure and EPOC
the HIIT protocol we investigated and lower intensity bouts or
(Schaun, Alberton, Ribeiro, & Pinto, 2017). Considering the lack
different effort:pause relationships might enhance total energy
of attention directed towards low-volume HIIT protocols in the
expenditure by allowing a greater exercise volume to be

CONTACT Gustavo Zaccaria Schaun gustavoschaun@hotmail.com

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 G. Z. SCHAUN ET AL.
performed. As an example, Olney et al. (2018) recently showed
that a protocol composed by six 20 s bouts at 140% Wmax
interspersed by 140 s at 20% Wmax had an energy expenditure
approximately three times that of our HIIT protocol (132 vs.
40 kcal), but still lower than their MICT regime (204 vs. 132 kcal).
In summary, we commend Dr. Andreato and his colleagues
for their initiative to highlight the importance of equalization.
Notwithstanding, this was never the purpose of our study.
Instead, our intent was to compare an extremely low-volume
HIIT protocol to a MICT protocol that is regularly employed in
water aerobics sessions, focusing on the true application of these
protocols in practice. As such, we reinforce our conclusion that
conditioning coaches and fitness instructors may prefer CONT
due to its greater total energy expenditure in comparison to the
extremely low-volume HIIT protocol investigated.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Gustavo Zaccaria Schaun http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-714X
References
Andreato, L. V., Branco, B. H. M., & Esteves, J. V. (2018). Can we consider
that the moderate-intensity continuous training results in higher total
energy expenditure comparable to high-intensity interval training?
Journal of Sports Sciences. [ahead of print].
Andreato, L. V., Coimbra, D. R., & de Carvalho, T. (2017). Letter to the editor:
High intensity interval training vs. moderate interval training: The lack of
equalisation, an ongoing problem. Obesity Reviews, 18(10), 1223–1224.
Burgomaster, K. A., Howarth, K. R., Phillips, S. M., Rakobowchuk, M.,
Macdonald, M. J., McGee, S. L., & Gibala, M. J. (2008). Similar metabolic
adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and tradi-
tional endurance training in humans. The Journal of Physiology, 586(1),
151–160.
Gibala, M. J., Little, J. P., Macdonald, M. J., & Hawley, J. A. (2012).
Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high-intensity interval train-
ing in health and disease. The Journal of Physiology, 590(5),
1077–1084.
Laforgia, J., Withers, R. T., Shipp, N. J., & Gore, C. J. (1997). Comparison of
energy expenditure elevations after submaximal and supramaximal
running. Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 82(2),
661–666.
McRae, G., Payne, A., Zelt, J. G. E., Scribbans, T. D., Jung, M. E., Little, J. P., &
Gurd, B. J. (2012). Extremely low volume, whole-body
aerobic-resistance training improves aerobic fitness and muscular
endurance in females. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism,
37(6), 1124–1131.
Olney, N., Wertz, T., LaPorta, Z., Mora, A., Serbas, J., & Astorino, T. A. (2018).
Comparison of acute physiological and psychological responses
between moderate-intensity continuous exercise and three regimes
of high-intensity interval training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research, 32(8), 2130–2138.
Schaun, G. Z., Alberton, C. L., Ribeiro, D. O., & Pinto, S. S. (2017). Acute
effects of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity con-
tinuous training sessions on cardiorespiratory parameters in healthy
young men. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 117(7),
1437–1444.
Schaun, G. Z., Pinto, S. S., Praia, A. B. D. C., & Alberton, C. L. (2018). Energy
expenditure and EPOC between water-based high-intensity interval
training and moderate-intensity continuous training sessions in healthy
women. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36(18), 2053–2060.
Schaun, G. Z., Pinto, S. S., Silva, M. R., Dolinski, D. B., & Alberton, C. L.
(2018). Whole-body high-intensity interval training induce similar
cardiorespiratory adaptations compared with traditional
high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous
training in healthy men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research, 32(10), 2730–2742.