Fig. 5

a Mean cortisol profile analyzed from saliva samples in two-hour intervals from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM for the assessments over time during BDC (black dotted line), ISO1-4 (grey continuous lines), and R (black dashed line). b Mean area under the curve (AUC) of the cortisol profiles over time (BDC, ISO1-4, R). c For exercise PROTOCOL effects comparing interval (INT, stripped bars) and continuous (CON, full bars) protocols, the mean at the beginning (INT1, CON1) and end (INT2, CON2) of each protocol is displayed. d AcuteEXERCISE effects from pre- (light grey) to post-exercise (dark grey) are shown. Means in (b–d) are indicated in black line or bar graphs, female individuals are shown in red shades, male individuals in blue shades. Error bars indicate standard deviation