The aim of this study was to examine the interactive effects of recovery mode and duration on subsequent repeated short sprint (RSS) performance. Ten male recreational athletes (age, 27.9 ± 5.0 years; height, 1.80 ± 0.07 m; mass, 81.6 ± 13.5 kg) performed 4 randomized trials consisting of a 30-second cycle sprint, followed by a specified recovery period (45 or 180 seconds), and a subsequent set of RSS (7 × 5 seconds, 20-second passive rest periods). Recovery mode was either active (AR; 70% of the power output at lactate threshold) or passive (PR). Mean heart rate and VO2 were significantly higher (p kleiner/gleich 0.05) in AR than in PR over both recovery durations. Although the difference in VO2 reached significance after 10-15 seconds, a significant (p kleiner/gleich 0.05) difference in heart rate was observed only after 26 seconds (45-second trials) - 75 seconds (180-second trials). Blood lactate was significantly (p kleiner/gleich 0.05) lower in AR than in PR only after 135 seconds (mean difference, 2.16 mmol/L; 95% likely range, 0.77-3.55 mmol/L). Mean peak power output in the RSS test was significantly (p kleiner/gleich 0.05) higher following PR45 than AR45 (12.0 ± 1.4 vs. 11.4 ± 1.4 W/kg) and following AR180 than PR180 (12.7 ± 1.2 vs. 12.0 ± 1.2 W/kg). In conclusion, when rest periods are short, a PR strategy appears to optimize subsequent RSS performance. However, as the recovery duration increases subsequent RSS performance appears to benefit from an AR strategy.
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