25 Mar HICT Leading to Improved Sleep Health in Women
Whilst it would be common knowledge possessing an adequate exercise and diet regime will lead to positive health outcomes (cardiovascular, metabolic, mental, etc).
Hardly an original thought.
However
A new study out of Hong Kong – investigating the effect of high intensity circuit training (HICT) combined with a sleep health (SH) intervention yielded greater improvements compared with each alone. The target demographic for this field of study were sedentary young women with poor SH (average age 23.5).
The participants were randomly assigned to receive the combined therapy, the HICT alone, SH intervention alone or the control, who would resume their original lifestyle.
The intervention –
HICT – 3 lab based body weight training sessions per week.
SH – a weekly individualized counseling session and use of a CBT therapy for Insomnia.
The study took place over 8 weeks where the following measures were taken.
Subjective sleep quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and objective sleep parameters via actigraphy (non-invasive method of monitoring sleep). With evaluations taking place at baseline and 48 post intervention cycle.
Additionally, secondary cardiometabolic health indicators were taken. (i.e. cholesterol, triglycerides and adiponectin).
The results were….
The combined group had greater improvement in sleep efficiency than the other groups, however, all intervention groups saw improvement in efficiency, latency and sleep duration.
Whilst this is a promising field of information, we must as scientists identify the limitations in the study. The use of a very niche subject group does limit the impact of the results. With the method of result collecting, actigraphy/subjective measure over PSG analysis can also leave some room for questioning accuracy/validity.
However, it is definitely something for the young women reading this to consider.
Source: Zhang B, Zheng C, Liao Q, et al. High-Intensity Circuit Training Plus Sleep Health Intervention for Sleep Improvement: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(2):e2556927. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.56927