After a night of too little sleep, a high-intensity interval (HIIT) session the next day helps limit the hit to glucose regulation that sleep loss causes.

noli's read

Stripped of the podcast tease ("this simple habit can save you"), the claim checks out across several randomized crossover trials. Total sleep deprivation impairs insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, and a HIIT program (2 weeks, 6 sessions) blunted the resulting rise in glucose and insulin after deprivation compared with no exercise (Frontiers in Physiology, 11 men). A second trial, using a single night of sleep restriction (4h) rather than total deprivation, found that one sprint-interval session improved the late insulin response after restriction, even if the improvement wasn't complete across the whole glucose tolerance test (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 19 men). The direction is consistent across both trials, but samples are small and protocols short: this holds up as a mechanism and a one-off catch-up move, not as a substitute for adequate sleep over time. Most relevant if you already train and occasionally hit a bad night.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.