Four weeks of off-season training improves peak oxygen consumption in female field hockey players

The purpose of the study was to examine the changes in peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and running economy (RE) following four-weeks of high intensity training and concurrent strength and conditioning during the off-season in collegiate female field hockey players. Fourteen female student-athletes (age 19.29 ± 0.91 years) were divided into two training groups, matched from baseline VO2peak: High Intensity Training (HITrun; n = 8) and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT; n = 6). Participants completed 12 training sessions. HITrun consisted of 30 min of high-intensity running, while HIIT consisted of a series of whole-body high intensity Tabata-style intervals (75-85% of age predicted maximum heart rate) for a total of four minutes. In addition to the interval training, the off-season training included six resistance training sessions, three team practices, and concluded with a team scrimmage. VO2peak was measured pre- and post-training to determine the effectiveness of the training program. A two-way mixed (group × time) ANOVA showed a main effect of time with a statistically significant difference in VO2peak from pre- to post-testing, F(1, 12) = 12.657, p = 0.004, partial ?2 = 0.041. Average (±SD) VO2peak increased from 44.64 ± 3.74 to 47.35 ± 3.16 mL·kg-1·min-1 for HIIT group and increased from 45.39 ± 2.80 to 48.22 ± 2.42 mL·kg-1·min-1 for HITrun group. Given the similar improvement in aerobic power, coaches and training staff may find the time saving element of HIIT-type conditioning programs attractive
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:sport games
Tagging:HIT HIIT
Published in:Sports
Language:English
Published: 2017
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/sports5040089
Volume:5
Issue:4-89
Pages:1-12
Document types:article
Level:advanced