Psycho- physiologic Effects of High Intensity Interval Trainings in Aged Ovariectomized Rats: a Pilot Study

Menopause is one of the most important events in a woman's life that affects their physical and mental aspects. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological and psychological effects of high intensity interval trainings (HIIT) in aged ovariectomized rats. In this experimental study, 12 aged ovariectomized rats were randomly divided into two groups of six including HIIT and control. HIIT group received training for eight weeks, three sessions per week, and 9 interval (each interval 1 minute) with intensity of 90- 95% VO2max and one minute running between each interval with intensity of 50% VO2max. 24 hours after the last training session, weights, visceral fat mass, anxiety-like behaviors and depression were measured. To statistical analysis of data Shapiro- Wilk test, paired sample t- test and independent sample t-test were used (p≤ 0.05). Body weight (p = 0.002), visceral fat mass (p = 0.001) and duration of immobilization (p = 0.001) in HIIT training group were significantly lower than control group and percentage of elapsed time in the open arm (p = 0.003), the percentage of number of entrance to open arms (p = 0.03) and aerobic power (p = 0.001) in the HIIT group was significantly higher than the control group. It seems that HIIT have positive effects on the physiological and psychological factors of aged ovariectomized rats.