Acute effect of HIIT on testosterone and cortisol levels in healthy individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis Dote Montero, Manuel Carneiro Barrera, Almudena Ruiz Ruiz, Jonatan Amaro Gahete, Francisco José Aerobic interval training Steroid hormone Time-efficient training Training methodologies This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Universities (FPU14/04172, FPU16/01093 and FPU18/03357). This study was partially supported by the University of Granada - Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016 Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), Plan Propio de Investigacion 2018-Beca de iniciacion a la investigacion para estudiantes de masteres oficiales, and Plan Propio de Investigacion 2019-Programa Contratos-Puente, by the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidad, by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR, and by Redes Tematicas de Investigacion Cooperativa RETIC grant Red SAMID RD16/0022. To determine the acute effect of a single high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session on testosterone and cortisol levels in healthy individuals, a systematic search of studies was conducted in MEDLINE and Web of Science databases from inception to February 2020. Meta-analyses were performed to establish the acute effect of HIIT on testosterone and cortisol levels immediately after a single HIIT session; after 30 min and 60 min (primary outcomes); and after 120 min, 180 min, and 24 h (secondary outcomes, only for pre-post intervention groups). Potential effect-size modifiers were assessed by meta-regression analyses and analyses of variance. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane's risk of bias tool and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. The meta-analyses of 10 controlled studies (213 participants) and 50 pre-post intervention groups (677 participants) revealed a significant increase in testosterone immediately after a single HIIT session (d = 0.92 and 0.52, respectively), which disappeared after 30 min (d = 0.18 and -0.04), and returned to baseline values after 60 min (d = -0.37 and -0.16). Significant increases of cortisol were found immediately after (d = 2.17 and 0.64), after 30 min (d = 1.62 and 0.67) and 60 min (d = 1.32 and 0.27). Testosterone and cortisol levels decreased significantly after 120 min (d = -0.48 and -0.95, respectively) and 180 min (d = -0.29 and -1.08), and returned to baseline values after 24 h (d = 0.14 and -0.02). HIIT components and participant's characteristics seem to moderate the effect sizes. In conclusion, testosterone and cortisol increase immediately after a single HIIT session, then drop below baseline levels, and finally return to baseline values after 24 h. This meta-analysis provides a better understanding of the acute endocrine response to a single HIIT session, which would certainly be valuable for both clinicians and coaches in the prescription of exercise programs to improve health and performance. Testosterone and cortisol may be used as sensitive biomarkers to monitor the anabolic and catabolic response to HIIT. 2021-07-05T07:29:15Z 2021-07-05T07:29:15Z 2021-05-22 journal article Dote-Montero M... [et al.]. Acute effect of HIIT on testosterone and cortisol levels in healthy individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2021;00:1–23. [https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13999] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/69501 10.1111/sms.13999 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España Wiley-Blackwell Publishing