Moderate alcohol intake and heart rate variability adaptations to high-intensity interval training in healthy young adults: the BEER-HIIT study.

Authors

Ginés Navarro-Lomas, Alejandro De-la-O, Manuel Dote-Montero, Manuel J Castillo, Francisco J Amaro-Gahete, Abel Plaza-Florido

Published in

Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine. Volume 13. Pages 1920023. Epub Aug 25, 2026.

Abstract

It is unknown whether daily alcohol consumption influences training effects on heart rate variability (HRV). This study investigated: (i) the effects of a 10-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on HRV in healthy young adults; and (ii) the effects of daily alcohol consumption on HRV responses to exercise.
71 healthy young adults (18-40 years old; 52.1% women) participated in the BEER-HIIT study. We conducted a 10-week (2 days/week) controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03660579). Participants were allocated to 5 groups: a non-training group (N-T) and four HIIT groups. Participants in the training groups chose whether to consume alcohol. Those choosing alcohol were randomly allocated to receive beer (5.4%; T-Beer) or an equivalent amount of alcohol (vodka; T-Ethanol) in sparkling water. Those choosing no alcohol were randomly allocated to receive alcohol-free beer (0.0%; T-Zero) or sparkling water (T-Water). Training comprised eight weight-bearing exercises performed in circuit form. HRV was measured before and after the intervention.
No statistically significant between-group differences in HRV outcomes were detected after the intervention (all p > 0.05).
Our findings indicate that: (i) no statistically significant differences in HRV responses were detected following a 10-week HIIT program using weight-bearing exercises performed twice per week; and (ii) no statistically significant differences in HRV responses were observed among the assigned beverage intervention groups. These findings should be interpreted cautiously because HRV was a secondary outcome and the study was not specifically powered to detect differences in these parameters.

PMID:
42712702
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Sep 2026.

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