Open AccessFour Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves 5-km Run Performance
Author(s) -
Joshua Denham,
Simon A. Feros,
Brendan J. O’Brien
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of strength and conditioning research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.569
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1533-4287
pISSN - 1064-8011
DOI - 10.1519/jsc.0000000000000862
Subject(s) - sprint , cardiorespiratory fitness , interval training , vo2 max , time trial , physical therapy , medicine , endurance training , treadmill , high intensity interval training , training (meteorology) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , heart rate , blood pressure , physics , meteorology
Sprint interval training (SIT) rapidly improves cardiorespiratory fitness but demands less training time and volume than traditional endurance training. Although the health and fitness benefits caused by SIT have received considerable research focus, the effect of short-term SIT on 5-km run performance is unknown. Thirty healthy untrained participants (aged 18-25 years) were allocated to a control (n = 10) or a SIT (n = 20) group. Sprint interval training involved 3-8 sprints at maximal intensity, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Sprints were progressed to 8 by the 12th session. All participants completed a 5-km time trial on a public running track and an incremental treadmill test in an exercise physiology laboratory to determine 5-km run performance and maximum oxygen uptake, respectively, before and after the 4-week intervention. Relative to the controls, sprint interval-trained participants improved 5-km run performance by 4.5% (p < 0.001), and this was accompanied by improvements in absolute and relative maximum oxygen uptake (4.9%, p = 0.04 and 4.5%, p = 0.045, respectively). Therefore, short-term SIT significantly improves 5-km run performance in untrained young men. We believe that SIT is a time-efficient means of improving cardiorespiratory fitness and 5-km endurance performance.