Studies suggest that acute exercise may be beneficial for executive control (Hillman et al, 2003). This result appears especially in the incongruent condition of the flanker test, where inhibitory control is more necessary. In addition, evidence suggests that complementary cardiorespiratory activity is positively related to executive functions in childhood.

To analyze the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and inhibitory control and compare the acute effects of two HITT protocols on the inhibitory control of schoolchildren

This trial included 21 children in the 4th year of a municipal school in the city of Belém. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using the 20-meter shuttle test. The volunteers ran at a pace set by a cell phone application that emitted beeps at specific intervals for each stage. The duration of the test depends on each person's cardiorespiratory fitness. Then, based on the level of cardiorespiratory fitness, the participants were divided into two groups (Good, n=10; Regular, n=11) The method used was the randomized crossover clinical trial, in which all participants performed two separate visits each other for a period of 72 hours. In each visit, the subjects were submitted to a different HIIT protocol: The Tabata protocol lasted 4 minutes with 8 series of 20 seconds of maximum effort and 10 seconds of rest. The Progressive protocol lasted 5 minutes, with 5 series of 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 30,40,50,60 and 20 seconds of passive rest respectively, the exercises used body weight and consisted of squats, jumps and races. And to evaluate the inhibitory control, the computerized Flanker test was used. The test was applied at rest, before HIIT, and repeated 11 minutes after performing the exercises. Results were analyzed by estimation statistics and results expressed as significance (p), confidence interval (95%) and effect size (g). Congruent and incongruent response time (RT) were analyzed.

The group with higher cardiorespiratory conditioning showed better performance in the reaction time of the incongruent condition after performing the HIIT Tabata protocol (p= 0.0458, g= -0.451, 95.0%CI -0.822, -0.0689). However, the same effect was not observed in the group of children with lower cardiorespiratory fitness (p= 0.339 -0.213 [95.0%CI -0.57, 0.357). No significant differences were found in the congruent condition of the inhibitory control test. The progressive HIIT protocol did not change the RT.

Our findings corroborate some previous findings that suggest that children with greater cardiorespiratory fitness respond more efficiently to an acute HIIT session by showing better inhibitory control

This study shows that HIIT Tabata can help improve inhibitory control in children with good cardiorespiratory fitness, being an easily accessible and short-term strategy that can be included in the routine of schools.