This study examined the immediate and sustained effects of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) bouts on inhibitory control in young adults. Participants (n = 41) engaged in (1) a session of HIIE, involving 10 one-minute runs on a treadmill at an intensity targeting 85–90% HR_max interspersed with self-paced walking at 60% HR_max; (2) a session of MICE, involving a 20 min run on a treadmill at an intensity of 60–70% HR_max; and (3) a control session, involving 24 min of resting on separate days in a counterbalanced order. Using a flanker task, inhibitory control was assessed before the intervention (t₀), immediately after the session (t₁), and then at 30 min (t₂), 60 min (t₃), and 90 min (t₄) after the session. During the flanker task, the response time (RT) for incongruent trials immediately after HIIE was significantly shortened compared to that before exercise. This shortened RT was sustained for 90 min post-exercise during recovery from HIIE. Interference scores of RT were also reduced after HIIE, benefitting inhibitory control, and were maintained for 90 min post-exercise. Reduced accuracy interference scores were recorded following HIIE compared to the control session. Improvements in inhibitory control elicited by HIIE were sustained for at least 90 min post-exercise. In contrast, an improvement in inhibitory control was not observed during the MICE session. HIIE might represent a time-efficient approach for enhancing inhibitory control.

This study examined the immediate and sustained effects of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) on cognitive flexibility in young adults. Participants (n = 56) engaged in (1) a session of HIIE, involving 10 sets of one-minute treadmill running at an intensity targeting 90% heart rate reserve (HRR) interspersed with self-paced walking at 50% HRR; (2) a session of MICE, involving a 20 min treadmill running at an intensity of 40–59% HRR; and (3) a control session, involving 24 min of resting on separate days in a counterbalanced order. Using a more-odd shifting task, cognitive flexibility was assessed before the intervention (t₀), immediately after the session (t₁), and then at 30 min (t₂) after the session. During the more-odd shifting task, the switch cost of response time (RT) immediately after the HIIE was significantly reduced compared to that before exercise, suggesting beneficial effects on cognitive flexibility. Additionally, the impacts of HIIE were maintained for 30 min post-exercise. However, improved cognitive flexibility was not observed until 30 min after the MICE intervention. HIIE might represent a time-efficient approach for enhancing cognitive flexibility.

This study investigated the immediate and delayed effects of moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on working memory. Fifty healthy young adults (mean age = 19.96 ± 1.03 years) engaged in (1) a MICE session, 20 min of continuous running on a treadmill at an intensity of 40–59% of heart rate reserve (HRR); (2) a HIIE session, 10 sets of 1 min running at an intensity of 90% HRR, interspersed by 1 min self-paced walking at 50% HRR; and (3) a control session, resting in a chair and reading books for 24 min. A spatial 2-back task was performed to assess working memory before, immediately after and 30 min after each intervention. Reaction time in the 2-back task was significantly reduced immediately after both MICE and HIIE interventions. The enhanced working memory associated with HIIE sustained for 30 min after the exercise, whereas the beneficial effects associated with MICE returned to the pre-exercise level at 30 min after the exercise. These results suggest that although both MICE and HIIE enhance working memory in young adults, the positive effect sustains longer in HIIE than that in MICE. The current study extends the existing knowledge base by suggesting that improvements in working memory with HIIE last longer than with MICE.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) on cognitive flexibility in young adults with differing levels of aerobic fitness. Sixty-six young adults were grouped into high- and low-fit groups based on their final running distance on the 20 m Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. Individuals participated in a 10 min HIIE, a 20 min HIIE, a 20 min MICE, and a control session (reading quietly in a chair) in a counterbalanced order. The more-odd shifting task was completed before and approximately 5 min after each intervention to assess cognitive flexibility. The results showed that young adults with a high fitness level gained greater benefits in terms of switch cost from the 20 min HIIE, while low-fitness participants benefited more from the 10 min HIIE and the 20 min MICE. These findings suggest that aerobic fitness may influence the effect of acute HIIE and MICE on cognitive flexibility. Young adults should consider individual fitness level when adopting time-effective and appropriate exercise routines to improve cognitive flexibility.

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), commonly assessed using maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), is an important health marker in children and adolescents. We compared the effects of different exercise types and examined dose-response associations with CRF. PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched from inception to June 2026 for randomized controlled trials involving participants younger than 18 years. All analyses were conducted after the final search. Interventions were classified as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), sprint interval training (SIT), high-intensity aerobic exercise (HAE), moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (MAE), combined exercise (CE), or resistance exercise (RE). We performed an arm-based Bayesian multilevel random-effects network meta-analysis and Bayesian meta-regression. Fifty-two trials involving 4, 308 participants were included. Compared with the control group, HIIT had the largest estimated improvement in CRF (mean difference [MD] = 2.50, 95% credible interval [CrI]: 1.46 to 3.51), followed by SIT (MD = 2.05, 95% CrI: 0.85 to 3.22), CE (MD = 1.95, 95% CrI: 0.87 to 2.98), and HAE (MD = 1.25, 95% CrI: 0.09 to 2.41). The intervals for MAE and RE included the null value. Dose-response analyses showed the highest posterior mean effects around 1,100 METy-min/week, 40 min/session, and a METy-based intensity of approximately 8.5 METy, although the weekly-dose estimate remained imprecise. Exercise interventions were associated with improved CRF in children and adolescents, with HIIT and SIT ranking most favorably. Study-level analyses suggested favorable patterns around 1,100 METy-min/week, 40 min/session, and 8.5 METy, although these should not be considered precise optimal prescriptions.