In‐season adaptations to intense intermittent training and sprint interval training in sub‐elite football players

Abstract

This study investigated the in-season effect of intensified training comparing the efficacy of duration-matched intense intermittent exercise training with sprint interval training in increasing intermittent running performance, sprint ability, and muscle content of proteins related to ion handling and metabolism in football players. After the first two weeks in the season, 22 sub-elite football players completed either 10 weeks of intense intermittent training using the 10-20-30 training concept (10-20-30, n = 12) or sprint interval training (SIT, n = 10; work/rest ratio: 6-s/54-s) three times weekly, with a ~20% reduction in weekly training time. Before and after the intervention, players performed a Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) and a 30-m sprint test. Furthermore, players had a muscle biopsy taken from the vastus lateralis. Yo-Yo IR1 performance increased by 330 m (95%CI: 178-482, P ≤ 0.01) in 10-20-30, whereas no change was observed in SIT. Sprint time did not change in 10-20-30 but decreased by 0.04 second (95%CI: 0.00-0.09, P ≤ 0.05) in SIT. Muscle content of HADHA (24%, P ≤ 0.01), PDH-E1α (40%, P ≤ 0.01), complex I-V of the electron transport chain (ETC) (51%, P ≤ 0.01) and Na + , K + -ATPase subunits α 2 (33%, P ≤ 0.05) and β 1 (27%, P ≤ 0.05) increased in 10-20-30, whereas content of DHPR (27%, P ≤ 0.01) and complex I-V of the ETC (31%, P ≤ 0.05) increased in SIT. Intense intermittent training, combining short sprints and a high aerobic load, is superior to regular sprint interval training in increasing intense intermittent running performance during a Yo-Yo IR1 test and muscle content of PDH-E1α and HADHA in sub-elite football players. K E Y W O R D S HIIT, HIT, oxidative metabolism, SIT, Soccer, speed endurance training

Effects of Linear Versus Changes of Direction Repeated Sprints on Intermittent High Intensity Running Performance in High-level Junior Football Players over an Entire Season: A Randomized Trial

“…However, although not statistically different, the largest improvement in the COD RS group was observed from pre- to mid-test (~7%), while the linear RS group experienced their largest improvements from mid- to post-test (~6%). As the RS exercise carried out with COD was unfamiliar for the COD RS group, the initial pre- to mid-test improvement may be attributed to the exercise being specific to the Yo-Yo IR2 test, as observed previously [43,44]. Additionally, as the players were familiar with linear RS exercise from their preseason preparations, the new stimuli of COD may also be the reason for this initial increase in the COD RS group.…”

“…Furthermore, time motion analysis has revealed over 700 changes of direction (COD) at high velocities during a football match [42]. As exercise modalities specific to the sport may be even more relevant for sport performance [29,43,44], RSs including COD may be more applicable than linear RSs for improving intermittent HIR in football [9,45,46,47,48,49,50,51]. However, the evidence base for the effect of COD RS exercise on intermittent HIR performance is sparse.…”

“…Moreover, as football involves both technical, tactical, and physical demands, incorporating all relevant exercise aspects in players’ exercise schedules is challenging [1,44]. Thus, implementing RSs into the everyday exercise schedule may be an effective strategy to tax both the anaerobic and aerobic energy system [1,24,25,44,53]. Previous studies have reported positive effects of implementing RS exercises both outside [26,40,47,54,55] and inside [38,44,51,56] the competitive season.…”

Half Soccer Season Induced Physical Conditioning Adaptations in Elite Youth Players

“…To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the relationships between physical conditioning markers before and after a half season in youth soccer players. Examination of these relationships seems of paramount importance [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] for optimal construction of the physical and sport-specific conditioning programs aiming to improve soccer performance in youth players. This study therefore investigated the physical fitness and anthropometrical training-induced changes that took place over the half season in two youth elite soccer teams.…”

Letter to the editor: In response to Gunnarsson et al. on improving the quality of exercise interventions

“…First, the 10-20-30 training model was published in 2012, and applied with runners (1) and soccer players (3). In the present study (2), the authors exposed 10 hypertensive men and 8 age-matched normotensive men to six weeks of 10-20-30 with 3-minute recovery between blocks.…”