Effects of 12 Weeks High-Intensity & Reduced-Volume Training in Elite Athletes

Abstract

It was investigated if high-intensity interval training (HIT) at the expense of total training volume improves performance, maximal oxygen uptake and swimming economy. 41 elite swimmers were randomly allocated to a control (CON) or HIT group. For 12 weeks both groups trained ∼12 h per week. HIT comprised ∼5 h vs. 1 h and total distance was ∼17 km vs. 35 km per week for HIT and CON, respectively. HIT was performed as 6-10×10-30 s maximal effort interspersed by 2–4 minutes of rest. Performance of 100 m all-out freestyle and 200 m freestyle was similar before and after the intervention in both HIT (60.4±4.0 vs. 60.3±4.0 s; n = 13 and 133.2±6.4 vs. 132.6±7.7 s; n = 14) and CON (60.2±3.7 vs. 60.6±3.8 s; n = 15 and 133.5±7.0 vs. 133.3±7.6 s; n = 15). Maximal oxygen uptake during swimming was similar before and after the intervention in both the HIT (4.0±0.9 vs. 3.8±1.0 l O2×min−1; n = 14) and CON (3.8±0.7 vs. 3.8±0.7 l O2×min−1; n = 11) group. Oxygen uptake determined at fixed submaximal speed was not significantly affected in either group by the intervention. Body fat % tended to increase (P = 0.09) in the HIT group (15.4±1.6% vs. 16.3±1.6%; P = 0.09; n = 16) and increased (P<0.05) in the CON group (13.9±1.5% vs. 14.9±1.5%; n = 17). A distance reduction of 50% and a more than doubled HIT amount for 12 weeks did neither improve nor compromise performance or physiological capacity in elite swimmers.

The Effects of Low-Volume, High-Intensity Training on Performance Parameters in Competitive Youth Swimmers

“…17 In order to investigate the effects of a HIT intervention, the swimming coach (21 years experience, Swim Ireland level 3 coach, multiple international medallists) of the team was asked to reduce mean weekly training volume by 50% and to increase mean weekly zone 3 training volume by 200%, based on previous studies. 9,18,19 The control group trained as normal using a HVT programme. The lead author was present during every session.…”

Effects of a commercially available branched-chain amino acid-alanine-carbohydrate-based sports supplement on perceived exertion and performance in high intensity endurance cycling tests

“…HIEC can be performed either at the beginning or at the end of training periods and protocols. In the present study, we applied HIEC to a 9-week program based on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), a widely used protocol to improve specific variables of endurance performance [27,28]. It is worth noting that, to date, to the best of our knowledge, no study has tested the effects of the consumption of a commercially available and established BCAA-alanine-CHO based supplement on HIEC over a medium-long endurance training period.…”

<p>Ultra-Short Race-Pace Training (USRPT) In Swimming: Current Perspectives</p>

“…There is evidence to suggest that USRPT is a derivative of HIT, 69,82 and there is peer-reviewed published literature to support the benefits of HIT in competitive swimmers. 22,27,73,[90][91][92][93][94] However, national and international level swimmers competing in sprint to distance events have been found to perform around 6-16% of their training as HIT 30,71 which is similar to the training patterns of other cyclical sports. 25,69,70 The remainder of their training comprises a variety of stimuli: LIT, MIT, RT and cross-training activities, of which there is a large amount of published literature to support.…”

“…Nugent et al 20 conducted a systematic review investigating the effects of HIT on performance in competitive swimmers. The seven eligible studies that were found during the review extended to a wide range of competitive swimmers and included youth swimmers, 27,90 elite swimmers, 91 university swimmers [92][93][94] and master swimmers. 73 The studies ranged in duration from 4 weeks to 4 years.…”

“…27,73,90,92 In addition, the majority of eligible studies did not investigate the effects of HIT on biomechanical parameters related to swimming technique. 73,[90][91][92] Biomechanical parameters such as SR, SL and SI have been consistently found to be among the strongest determinants of swimming performance. [5][6][7] Studies have found that as swimming intensity increases, SR increases 95,96 and SL decreases 95,96 while SI remains stable.…”