Effects of High Intensity and Sprint Interval Training Frequency on 1.5 Mile Run Times in Air Force ROTC Cadets
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Plan B and other Reports Graduate Studies 5-2016 Effects of High Intensity and Sprint Interval Training Frequency on 1.5 Mile Run Times in Air Force ROTC Cadets Jared Hill Dahle Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports Recommended Citation Dahle, Jared Hill, "Effects of High Intensity and Sprint Interval Training Frequency on 1.5 Mile Run Times in Air Force ROTC Cadets" (2016). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports. 806. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/806 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Plan B and other Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 1 Effects of High Intensity and Sprint Interval Training Frequency on 1.5 Mile Run Times in Air Force ROTC Cadets Jared H. Dahle Dale R. Wagner Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA Running head: Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training Corresponding author contact information: Jared H. Dahle PO Box 103 Millville UT 84326 435-799-7686 [email protected] No funding was received for this work from any of the following organizations: National Institutes of Health (NIH); Welcome Trust; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); or any other organization. Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 2 Effects of High Intensity and Sprint Interval Training Frequency on 1.5 Mile Run Times in Air Force ROTC Cadets Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 3 ABSTRACT The effects of varying high intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT) frequency on 1.5 mile (2.4km) run performance in Air Force ROTC cadets were studied. Twenty-seven cadets (21.6 ± 2.8 years) were stratified then randomly assigned to 3 groups: a high frequency group (HF) that performed HIIT/SIT 3x week, a low frequency group (LF) that performed HIIT/SIT 2x week, and a continuous training group (CG) that performed moderate intensity training 3x week. HIIT workouts consisted of 4 x 3 min intervals at 90-100% of velocity at maximal oxygen consumption (vVO2 max) with 4 min of active recovery between sets. SIT workouts consisted of 4 x 30s all out sprints with 4 min active recovery between sets. Baseline 1.5 mile run performance was measured, then retested at 6 and 10 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, all groups significantly improved in mean 1.5 mile run time (LF, 7.3% + 4.2, p<0.001; HF, 9.7% + 3.5, p<0.001; CG, 8.7% + 4.8, p<0.001). No significant differences between groups were found at any point in time (p>0.05). Additional workouts beyond the 6-week point yielded no significant gains in run performance for any group. In conclusion, 2 days per week of combined HIIT/SIT training was as effective at improving 1.5 mile run performance as either 3 days/week of HIIT/SIT or continuous training, and the majority of initial performance gains from HIIT were achieved within the first 6 weeks of training. Keywords: velocity at VO2max, continuous training, military, anaerobic exercise Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 4 INTRODUCTION High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a term used to describe repeated bouts of exercise at a maximal, or near maximal level, interspersed with recovery periods. Over several decades, a large body of research has shown that HIIT is capable of eliciting physiological adaptations similar to lower intensity continuous training (1,19,30), but may do so with a smaller training volume (9,18,26). In recent years, HIIT has become an appealing training option within the military due to its potential to decrease overuse injuries (7,21,22,23). However a lack of performance-oriented HIIT studies conducted on military populations and unclear programming guidelines for its implementation pose a challenge for military trainers trying to incorporate it into a comprehensive fitness program. As HIIT’s popularity expands outside the world of collegiate and professional sports, it is important to further investigate its relevance to the unique fitness demands of non-athlete populations, such as the military. In order to more effectively integrate HIIT into a military training regimen, two important gaps in the literature need to be addressed. First, building successful HIIT protocols requires knowledge of how to manipulate complex combinations of acute and non-acute training variables (6,25). Previous HIIT studies have focused mainly on acute variables such as interval and rest intensities (3,5,13,31) and interval and rest lengths (2,15,28). Far less attention has been given to non-acute variables, such as the optimal training frequency for HIIT. While many studies have focused on the effects of frequency in endurance training, our literature review found only two studies that investigated the impact of weekly HIIT frequency as the independent variable, while holding other training variables constant (11,20). Hatle et al. (20) compared a 4x/week HIIT frequency to an 8x/week frequency that used treadmill running as the exercise Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 5 modality. They found that although improvements in VO2 max were delayed in the high frequency group, neither group’s mean improvement was superior (between-group difference, p=0.319). Dalleck et al. (11) explored the effects of SIT frequency at much lower levels on lactate threshold (LT) and demonstrated that improvements in LT could be achieved with only 1- 2 days/week of SIT. However, there was a dose-response relationship, with the 2x/week frequency eliciting significantly larger effects on LT than the 1x/week protocol (p<0.05). From a practical perspective, most military members would be unlikely to train 8x/week, and the dose- response relationship for LT suggests that 1x/week of stand-alone SIT may not be an ideal level either. Research that compared the lower ends of effective frequency (for example, 2x/week vs 3x/week) has not been conducted but may be more useful for establishing programming guidelines. Second, the majority of studies, to date, have measured physiological changes elicited by HIIT, especially improvements in VO2 max (1,19), but have not addressed the extent to which these changes translate into actual performance gains. This is problematic since VO2 max increases do not necessarily correspond with performance improvement (12). Military fitness requirements focus heavily on running ability, usually at mid-distances of 1.5-3 miles (2.4-4.8 km), but only eight studies were discovered that measured actual performance gains on mid-distance running events in any population (2,13,14,15,26,29,31,32) with four of the eight using training procedures that would be impractical to follow in a military field setting (2,15,31,32). The generalizability of these studies to a military population is also uncertain since they used untrained, recreationally active, and well-trained athletes as their subjects. The military population is unique due to its combat-related training and physical requirements that focus on Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 6 both muscular strength and cardiovascular fitness, making it unclear where they would fall within the categories of subjects typically tested. Although other military branches have published limited HIIT research relating to injury prevention (7,21,22,23), the Air Force has no HIIT-related studies conducted on its population. Additionally, the Air Force uses a 1.5 mile run as its official measure of cardiovascular fitness, a distance which, to our knowledge, has not been studied in any HIIT research. Therefore, the primary aim of the present study was to measure the effects of varying HIIT frequency in an Air Force population on 1.5 mile running performance. We hypothesized that varying the weekly frequency of HIIT between 2x and 3x per week would not significantly affect run performance. Furthermore, we hypothesized that participants performing HIIT would show greater improvement on 1.5 mile run times than a continuous training group which performed moderate intensity cardiovascular training. Although not the primary focus of the present study, another aim was to establish a reasonable estimate for running improvement over the course of 15 workouts in an Air Force population using HIIT. METHODS Experimental Approach to the Problem While the variety of HIIT designs is almost limitless, two approaches have been frequently repeated in studies with successful outcomes and were selected for use in the present study. First is a sprint interval training (SIT) protocol employing 30s sprints at maximal effort followed by 4 min recovery periods. Previous studies have investigated this protocol for varying lengths of time, to include 2 weeks (8,18), 4 weeks (3), 6 weeks (26) and 8 weeks (29) all with training Frequency of High Intensity Interval Training 7 frequencies of 2-3 x week. A second approach uses velocity at VO2 max (vVO2 max), which is the minimum running velocity required in order to achieve VO2 max during exercise. Previous studies have used vVO2 max as a means of individualizing the intensity to the athlete and typically employ protocols that run participants at speeds between 80-120% vVO2 max (2,13,15,31). Participants were recruited from the University Air Force ROTC detachment. Knowing the cadets would be involved in free-living physical activity related to school and ROTC outside the study, each participant’s free-living activity data were gathered and controlled for by stratifying cadets prior to randomization. The collected data included type, frequency, time, and intensity of activities in which the cadets engaged apart from their regularly scheduled unit fitness.