The Met-Ex study started up in 2012. The aim is to examine whether high intensity interval training (HIT) yields greater beneficial effects on risk factors for metabolic syndrome than continuous moderate intensity exercise (CME). The study is designed with a 16-week exercise program and one and three year follow up. In addition, the importance of the volume of aerobic interval training remains unclear. It is unknown how little “one can get away with” and still gain beneficial cardiovascular effects. Therefore, we also want to determine whether 1×4 minutes of aerobic interval training at high intensity can confer beneficial effects compared to 4×4 minutes with high intensity and continuously moderate intensity exercise.
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This is an international multi-center study, meaning that we have several cooperating centers around the world. Currently Stavanger University Hospital (Norway), Technical University of Munich (Germany), University of Queensland (Australia), KJ Fisiosport (Ecuador), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and we here at NTNU (Norway) are gathering data for this study. At the moment 340 participants are included in the study, and we hope to reach 450 by the end of the 2015.
Hopefully this study will allow us to better define guidelines on exercise recommendations for individuals with cardiovascular risk factors.
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It has been challenging to organize such a large and ambitious study, but thanks to the expertise and dedication of our collaborators around the world it has been a pleasant experience to be in charge of this study so far.
We are still enrolling in Trondheim so if you are interested in joining this study, please contact: Marte Sømo Solberg (martsso@stud.ntnu.no) or Arnt Erik Tjønna (arnt.e.tjonna@ntnu.no) for more information.
Arnt Erik Tjønna, forsker ved CERG
Cardiac Exercise Research Group 