High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in Paralympic Athletes. A narrative review

Introduction: High intensity interval training (HIIT) has gained space as a training methodology applied in the field of Para-lympic sport in athletes with physical and visual disabilities and cerebral palsy, showing favorable effects on physical fitness and sports performance. This training method uses high intensity intervals with periods of active or passive recovery at low intensity to work on body composition, aerobic capacity, muscular strength, speed, psychological changes and performance in Paralympic sports. Objective: To conduct a narrative review on the effects of the HIIT method in Paralympic athletes. Methodology: With a search strategy in a temporal window of 10 years (2013-2023), the exploration of articles in the databases PubMed, SciencieDirect, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, Dialnet and Google Scholar was carried out, using inclusion-exclusion criteria. Results: Eleven studies were included in collective and individual Paralympic sports, of which seven showed improvements in some of the psychological variables, physical condition and sports performance. Of the total number of studies, there are for in which no improvement was presented. Conclusions: It is highlighted that the HIIT method produces favorable effects on aerobic and anaerobic capacity, body composition and increased recruitment of muscle fibers when combined with strength and sprint training, with a prolonged periodization that benefits the physical condition and sports performance of para-athletes. Research is needed in other Paralympic sports, with larger homogeneous samples and extended training periods.