In it together. A qualitative evaluation of participant experiences of a 10 week, group based, work place HIIT program for insufficiently active adults.

Using guidance from the RE-AIM evaluation framework, we aimed to qualitatively evaluate the participant experiences of a high intensity interval training (HIIT) workplace intervention. Twelve previously insufficiently active individuals (4 male, 8 females) were interviewed once as part of 3 focus groups. Perceptions of program satisfaction, barriers to and facilitators of adherence and persistence to exercise were explored. HIIT initiates interest because of its novelty, provides a sense of accomplishment and overcomes the barriers of perceived lack of time. The feeling of relatedness between the participants can attenuate negative unpleasant responses during the HIIT sessions. HIIT, in this workplace setting, is an acceptable intervention for physically inactive adults. However, participants were reluctant to maintain the same mode of exercise, believing that HIIT sessions were for the very fit. Key words: High-intensity interval training, evaluation, qualitative, health promotion, physical activity