Comparative Effects of Low- and High-Volume HIIT Versus Yoga on Psychological Health and Physical Fitness in Female College Students with Binge Eating: An 8-Week Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background

Binge eating (BE) is frequently associated with negative emotional states, obesity, and physical inactivity. Although yoga may improve binge eating and emotional symptoms, its effects on physical fitness remain unclear. In contrast, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been demonstrated to effectively enhance physical fitness. This study compared the effects of low-volume HIIT (LV-HIIT), high-volume HIIT (HV-HIIT), and yoga on binge eating, negative emotional states, and physical fitness in female college students with binge eating.

Methods

Fifty-five physically inactive female college students with binge eating (BES ≥ 18) were randomly assigned to LV-HIIT (n = 19), HV-HIIT (n = 18), or yoga (n = 18) for 8 weeks. The Binge Eating Scale (BES), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), body fat percentage, waist circumference, and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) were assessed before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using intention-to-treat linear mixed models, with per-protocol repeated-measures ANOVA as a supplementary analysis.

Results

After 8 weeks of intervention, significant improvements over time were observed across all groups in binge eating, negative emotional states, and cardiorespiratory fitness (all p < 0.05). Waist circumference and body fat percentage did not change significantly in the ITT analysis. No significant time × group interaction effects were detected for any outcome (all p > 0.05), indicating that the improvements did not differ significantly among the LV-HIIT, HV-HIIT, and yoga groups.

Conclusions

An 8-week intervention of LV-HIIT, HV-HIIT, and yoga was associated with improvements in binge eating behaviors, negative emotional states, and VO2max in inactive young women with binge eating, with no evidence of differential efficacy between interventions. LV-HIIT may be promising because of its shorter duration and higher adherence; however, this requires confirmation in larger trials.