FIGURE 1.

Participants took part in three separate exercise visits in a randomized order, consisting of 30 min of moderate, steady-state exercise at 65% VO_2peak (MICT); four 4 min high intensity intervals at 85% HR_max (HIIT); and four 30 s supramaximal sprint intervals at 200% W_max (SIT). All protocols were preceded by 5 min of seated rest and a 5 min warm-up, and followed by 3 min of active recovery at 50 W and 15 min of seated passive recovery. The timing of blood sampling (red droplet), data averaging windows, and labels for analysis (green boxes) and the period used in area under the curve (AUC) analysis (pink bracket) are included for all protocols. Averaging was carried out over 30-second windows across the course of each exercise protocol (Ex) and during the initial and final minute of recovery (Reco) following each HIIT and SIT bout. The final 30-second recovery window in both HIIT and SIT was taken as the active recovery timepoint, in conjunction with the active recovery window (Active) in MICT. VO_2peak, maximum oxygen consumption; HR_max, maximum heart rate; W_max, maximum aerobic power.