%0 Journal Article
%T Effects of 12 Weeks High-Intensity & Reduced-Volume Training in Elite Athletes
%A Anders Kilen
%A Tanja Hultengren Larsson
%A Majke J£¿rgensen
%A Lars Johansen
%A Susanne J£¿rgensen
%A Nikolai B. Nordsborg
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2014
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0095025
%X It was investigated if high-intensity interval training (HIT) at the expense of total training volume improves performance, maximal oxygen uptake and swimming economy. 41 elite swimmers were randomly allocated to a control (CON) or HIT group. For 12 weeks both groups trained ~12 h per week. HIT comprised ~5 h vs. 1 h and total distance was ~17 km vs. 35 km per week for HIT and CON, respectively. HIT was performed as 6-10¡Á10-30 s maximal effort interspersed by 2¨C4 minutes of rest. Performance of 100 m all-out freestyle and 200 m freestyle was similar before and after the intervention in both HIT (60.4¡À4.0 vs. 60.3¡À4.0 s; n = 13 and 133.2¡À6.4 vs. 132.6¡À7.7 s; n = 14) and CON (60.2¡À3.7 vs. 60.6¡À3.8 s; n = 15 and 133.5¡À7.0 vs. 133.3¡À7.6 s; n = 15). Maximal oxygen uptake during swimming was similar before and after the intervention in both the HIT (4.0¡À0.9 vs. 3.8¡À1.0 l O2¡Ámin£¿1; n = 14) and CON (3.8¡À0.7 vs. 3.8¡À0.7 l O2¡Ámin£¿1; n = 11) group. Oxygen uptake determined at fixed submaximal speed was not significantly affected in either group by the intervention. Body fat % tended to increase (P = 0.09) in the HIT group (15.4¡À1.6% vs. 16.3¡À1.6%; P = 0.09; n = 16) and increased (P<0.05) in the CON group (13.9¡À1.5% vs. 14.9¡À1.5%; n = 17). A distance reduction of 50% and a more than doubled HIT amount for 12 weeks did neither improve nor compromise performance or physiological capacity in elite swimmers.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0095025