Training responsiveness of cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness following moderate-intensity continuous training and high-intensity interval training in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Switch non-responding adults with IDD from moderate continuous training to high-intensity intervals to boost cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular health.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Twenty adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities rode bikes three times a week for a year. The first 12 months used steady, moderate pedaling. The next 12 weeks switched to short, hard bursts called high-intensity interval training, or HIIT.
Doctors measured heart-lung fitness and artery stiffness before and after each phase. No control group was used; each person served as their own baseline.
What they found
After the moderate year, only half the adults got fitter. Adding HIIT pushed that number to 80 percent. Arteries also became more flexible, lowering heart-disease risk.
In plain words, the hard bursts woke up bodies that had stopped responding to easier workouts.
How this fits with other research
Krentz et al. (2016) showed adults with ID can triple daily walking when paid with tokens. Their study proves fitness gains are possible; X et al. now show HOW to boost fitness when progress stalls.
Spriggs et al. (2015) added caregiver coaching to tech for anxiety. Like X et al., they layered a second step only when the first step fell short. Both papers support a ‘step-up’ service model: start simple, then intensify.
Fabbretti et al. (1997) trained staff to cut challenging behavior. While different in goal, it shares the same lesson: when one plan plateaus, change the plan, not the person.
Why it matters
If your adult clients stop making heart-lung gains after months of steady exercise, swap one session for 4-minute fast cycles with 3-minute rests. Track laps, heart rate, or time and watch for new progress. This small tweak can turn non-responders into success stories without extra staff or gear.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) prompts antiatherogenic adaptations in vascular function and structure. However, there is an extraordinary interindividual variability in response to a standard dose of exercise, wherein a substantial number of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) do not improve CRF. We (1) evaluated the effects of 12-month of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on CRF and arterial stiffness and (2) tested whether an additional 3-month of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) would add to improvements in CRF responsiveness and arterial stiffness. METHODS: Fifteen adults with mild-to-moderate IDD (male adults = 9, 30.1 ± 7.5 years old) met 3 days per week for 30 min MICT for 12 months, after which the incidence of CRF responsiveness was calculated (≥5.0% change in absolute peak VO2 ). Thereafter, responders and non-responders started HIIT for 3 months with identical daily training load/frequency. Peak VO2 , local and regional indices of arterial stiffness were assessed prior to and after each period. RESULTS: Sixty per cent of the participants were non-responders following MICT, but the incidence dropped to 20% following HIIT (P = 0.03). Absolute peak VO2 values reached significant difference from pre-intervention (+0.38 ± 0.08 L min-1 , P = 0.001) only when HIIT was added. Lower limb pulse wave velocity (PWV) decreased following MICT (-0.8 ± 1.1 m s-1 , P = 0.049), whereas central PWV only decreased following HIIT (-0.8 ± 0.9 m s-1 , P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiorespiratory fitness responsiveness and reductions in PWV to a 12-month MICT period in adults with IDD improved following a period of HIIT programme inducing higher metabolic stress.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2021 · doi:10.1111/jir.12894