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Sports
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Optimising Interval Training Prescription
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Optimising Interval Training Prescription

A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 28305

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. François Billaut

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Kinesiology, Laval University, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: hypoxic training; altitude; blood-flow restriction; interval training; performance enhancement; exercise tolerance; tissue oxygenation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High-intensity interval training (HIT) is one of the most effective training for improving performance in various sports. Extensive research has focused on understanding the acute and chronic effects of different forms of HIT to optimize prescription in athletes. A variety of peripheral, cardiovascular, and neural adaptations contribute to increase cardiorespiratory fitness, power, and endurance after HIT programs. However, sport scientists and coaches continue to explore innovative ways to increase the load (i.e., stress) imposed by such training sessions in order to further optimize physiological adaptations and produce greater athletic performance gains. For example, varied training characteristics, environmental, and nutritional manipulations have been demonstrated as superior training methods than HIIT alone. In this ever-changing high-performance sport context, it is essential to provide practitioners with new evidence-based information about effective stimuli to enhance the efficacy of HIT for varied athletic populations. This Special Issue therefore invites original research contributions that bring new knowledge about the use of external stimuli and/or manipulation of training variables to enhance the quality of acute and chronic interval and repeated-sprint training sessions for long-term adaptations in trained athletes. Contributions should also explore the physiological mechanisms at play to better comprehend performance gains.

Prof. François Billaut
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sports is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Performance enhancement
  • Training prescription
  • Interval training
  • Repeated-sprint exercise
  • Exercise tolerance
  • Athletes
  • Ergogenic aids

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

3 pages, 190 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue “Optimising Interval Training Prescription”
by François Billaut
Sports 2022, 10(6), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10060087 - 2 Jun 2022
Viewed by 1897
Abstract
High-intensity interval training, the so-called HIT, was popularized among athletes in the 1980′s and has been shown to be one of the most effective training modalities for improving athletic performance in various sports [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 2749 KiB  
Article
Can Popular High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Models Lead to Impossible Training Sessions?
by Jérémy Briand, Jonathan Tremblay and Guy Thibault
Sports 2022, 10(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10010010 - 6 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6376
Abstract
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a time-efficient training method suggested to improve health and fitness for the clinical population, healthy subjects, and athletes. Many parameters can impact the difficulty of HIIT sessions. This study aims to highlight and explain, through logical deductions, some [...] Read more.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a time-efficient training method suggested to improve health and fitness for the clinical population, healthy subjects, and athletes. Many parameters can impact the difficulty of HIIT sessions. This study aims to highlight and explain, through logical deductions, some limitations of the Skiba and Coggan models, widely used to prescribe HIIT sessions in cycling. We simulated 6198 different HIIT training sessions leading to exhaustion, according to the Skiba and Coggan-Modified (modification of the Coggan model with the introduction of an exhaustion criterion) models, for three fictitious athlete profiles (Time-Trialist, All-Rounder, Sprinter). The simulation revealed impossible sessions (i.e., requiring athletes to surpass their maximal power output over the exercise interval duration), characterized by a few short exercise intervals, performed in the severe and extreme intensity domains, alternating with long recovery bouts. The fraction of impossible sessions depends on the athlete profile and ranges between 4.4 and 22.9% for the Skiba model and 0.6 and 3.2% for the Coggan-Modified model. For practitioners using these HIIT models, this study highlights the importance of understanding these models’ inherent limitations and mathematical assumptions to draw adequate conclusions from their use to prescribe HIIT sessions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)
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12 pages, 880 KiB  
Article
Putative Role of MCT1 rs1049434 Polymorphism in High-Intensity Endurance Performance: Concept and Basis to Understand Possible Individualization Stimulus
by Xavier Ramírez de la Piscina-Viúdez, Jesús Álvarez-Herms, Diego A. Bonilla, Arkaitz Castañeda-Babarro, Jon Larruskain, Julen Díaz-Ramírez, Ildus I. Ahmetov, Alex Martínez-Ascensión, Richard B. Kreider and Adrián Odriozola-Martínez
Sports 2021, 9(10), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9100143 - 18 Oct 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4623
Abstract
Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) have been proposed as important mediators of the exchange between lactate (La−) producer and La− recipient (consumer) cells. Previous studies have suggested that the MCT1 A1470T genotype could be related to different physical performance phenotypes. This study [...] Read more.
Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) have been proposed as important mediators of the exchange between lactate (La−) producer and La− recipient (consumer) cells. Previous studies have suggested that the MCT1 A1470T genotype could be related to different physical performance phenotypes. This study followed the guidelines for Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association Studies (STREGA) and aimed to evaluate the distribution of the MCT1 polymorphism rs1049434 in endurance-trained athletes compared to the untrained population. Moreover, this study explored the potential influence of the polymorphism alleles phenotypes on high-intensity exercise performance. In a cross-sectional study fashion, a total of 85 triathletes from northern Spain were genotyped for MCT1 rs1049434 and compared to a control group of 107 healthy male participants (1000 Genomes Research Study for Iberian Populations in Spain). All athletes performed a 30 s Wingate all-out test (WAnT) on a cycle ergometer. Peak and mean power (absolute and relative) were measured. After verification of the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, the findings indicated that the MCT1 TT genotype was overrepresented in triathletes in comparison to the genotypic frequency of the general Spanish population. No significant associations were found between any MCT1 genotype and peak or mean power performance in the WAnT. Further studies are required to understand the relationship among MCT1 A1470T polymorphism, endurance-trained athletes, and high-intensity performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)
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12 pages, 997 KiB  
Article
Neuromuscular Adjustments Following Sprint Training with Ischemic Preconditioning in Endurance Athletes: Preliminary Data
by Stéphan Bouffard, Pénélope Paradis-Deschênes and François Billaut
Sports 2021, 9(9), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090124 - 2 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3499
Abstract
This preliminary study examined the effect of chronic ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on neuromuscular responses to high-intensity exercise. In a parallel-group design, twelve endurance-trained males (VO2max 60.0 ± 9.1 mL·kg−1·min−1) performed a 30-s Wingate test before, during, and [...] Read more.
This preliminary study examined the effect of chronic ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on neuromuscular responses to high-intensity exercise. In a parallel-group design, twelve endurance-trained males (VO2max 60.0 ± 9.1 mL·kg−1·min−1) performed a 30-s Wingate test before, during, and after 4 weeks of sprint-interval training. Training consisted of bi-weekly sessions of 4 to 7 supra-maximal all-out 30-s cycling bouts with 4.5 min of recovery, preceded by either IPC (3 × 5-min of compression at 220 mmHg/5-min reperfusion, IPC, n = 6) or placebo compressions (20 mmHg, PLA, n = 6). Mechanical indices and the root mean square and mean power frequency of the electromyographic signal from three lower-limb muscles were continuously measured during the Wingate tests. Data were averaged over six 5-s intervals and analyzed with Cohen’s effect sizes. Changes in peak power output were not different between groups. However, from mid- to post-training, IPC improved power output more than PLA in the 20 to 25-s interval (7.6 ± 10.0%, ES 0.51) and the 25 to 30-s interval (8.8 ± 11.2%, ES 0.58), as well as the fatigue index (10.0 ± 2.3%, ES 0.46). Concomitantly to this performance difference, IPC attenuated the decline in frequency spectrum throughout the Wingate (mean difference: 14.8%, ES range: 0.88–1.80). There was no difference in root mean square amplitude between groups. These preliminary results suggest that using IPC before sprint training may enhance performance during a 30-s Wingate test, and such gains occurred in the last 2 weeks of the intervention. This improvement may be due, in part, to neuromuscular adjustments induced by the chronic use of IPC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)
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15 pages, 2422 KiB  
Article
Blood-Flow Restricted Warm-Up Alters Muscle Hemodynamics and Oxygenation during Repeated Sprints in American Football Players
by Jean-François Fortin and François Billaut
Sports 2019, 7(5), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7050121 - 21 May 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5218
Abstract
Team-sport athletes and coaches use varied strategies to enhance repeated-sprint ability (RSA). Aside from physical training, a well-conducted warm-up enhances RSA via increased oxidative metabolism. Strategies that impede blood flow could potentiate the effects of a warm-up due to their effects on the [...] Read more.
Team-sport athletes and coaches use varied strategies to enhance repeated-sprint ability (RSA). Aside from physical training, a well-conducted warm-up enhances RSA via increased oxidative metabolism. Strategies that impede blood flow could potentiate the effects of a warm-up due to their effects on the endothelial and metabolic functions. This study investigated whether performing a warm-up combined with blood-flow restriction (WFR) induces ergogenic changes in blood volume, muscle oxygenation, and RSA. In a pair-matched, single-blind, pre-post parallel group design, 15 American football players completed an RSA test (12 × 20 m, 20 s rest), preceded by WFR or a regular warm-up (SHAM). Pressure was applied on the athletes’ upper thighs for ≈15 min using elastic bands. Both legs were wrapped at a perceived pressure of 7 and 3 out of 10 in WFR and SHAM, respectively. Changes in gastrocnemius muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) and total hemoglobin concentration ([THb]) were monitored with near-infrared spectroscopy. Cohen’s effect sizes (ES) were used to estimate the impact of WFR. WFR did not clearly alter best sprint time (ES −0.25), average speed (ES 0.25), total time (ES −0.12), and percent decrement score (ES 0.39). While WFR did not meaningfully alter average SmO2 and [THb], the intervention clearly increased the maximum [THb] and the minimum and maximum SmO2 during some of the 12 sprint/recovery periods (ES 0.34–1.43). Results indicate that WFR positively alters skeletal muscle hemodynamics during an RSA test. These physiological changes did not improve short-term RSA, but could be beneficial to players during longer activities such as games. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)
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13 pages, 848 KiB  
Article
Short-Time β-Alanine Supplementation on the Acute Strength Performance after High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise in Recreationally Trained Men
by Marcelo Conrado Freitas, Jason Cholewa, Valéria Panissa, Giovanni Quizzini, João Vitor de Oliveira, Caique Figueiredo, Luis Alberto Gobbo, Erico Caperuto, Nelo Eidy Zanchi, Fabio Lira and Fabrício Eduardo Rossi
Sports 2019, 7(5), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7050108 - 9 May 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4970
Abstract
(1) Background: We investigated the effects of 28 days of beta-alanine (β-alanine) supplementation on the acute interference effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) on lower-body resistance exercise performance, body composition, and strength when combined with a resistance training program. (2) Methods: Twenty-two males [...] Read more.
(1) Background: We investigated the effects of 28 days of beta-alanine (β-alanine) supplementation on the acute interference effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) on lower-body resistance exercise performance, body composition, and strength when combined with a resistance training program. (2) Methods: Twenty-two males were randomized into: β-alanine supplementation (6.4 g/day) or placebo (6.4 g/day maltodextrin) during 28 days. Total body water, intracellular and extracellular water, fat-free mass (FFM), and fat mass were assessed using bioelectrical impedance. Participants performed 5000-m HIIE (1:1 effort and rest ratio) followed by resistance exercise (four sets of 80% at 45° leg press until muscular failure) at baseline and after 28 days. The resistance training program consisted of three sets of 10 to 12 RM with 90 s of rest, four days per week. (3) Results: For the post-HIIE leg press volume, higher values were observed post-training than pre-training, but no group x time interaction was observed. There was a non-significant trend for an interaction in the FFM change (β-alanine = 2.8% versus placebo = 1.0%, p = 0.072). (4) Conclusion: Twenty-eight days of β-alanine supplementation did not prevent acute strength loss during resistance exercise after high-intensity interval exercise, nor increase strength or hypertrophic adaptations associated with resistance training. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimising Interval Training Prescription)
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