What is Best Practice for Training Intensity and Duration Distribution in Endurance Athletes?

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Seiler
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Endurance Athletes ◽  
Trained Athlete ◽  
Training Intensity ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
Low Intensity

Successful endurance training involves the manipulation of training intensity, duration, and frequency, with the implicit goals of maximizing performance, minimizing risk of negative training outcomes, and timing peak fitness and performances to be achieved when they matter most. Numerous descriptive studies of the training characteristics of nationally or internationally competitive endurance athletes training 10 to 13 times per week seem to converge on a typical intensity distribution in which about 80% of training sessions are performed at low intensity (2 mM blood lactate), with about 20% dominated by periods of high-intensity work, such as interval training at approx. 90% VO2max. Endurance athletes appear to self-organize toward a high-volume training approach with careful application of high-intensity training incorporated throughout the training cycle. Training intensification studies performed on already well-trained athletes do not provide any convincing evidence that a greater emphasis on high-intensity interval training in this highly trained athlete population gives long-term performance gains. The predominance of low-intensity, long-duration training, in combination with fewer, highly intensive bouts may be complementary in terms of optimizing adaptive signaling and technical mastery at an acceptable level of stress.

Perspectives and Determinants for Training-Intensity Distribution in Elite Endurance Athletes

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1151-1156
Author(s):  
Jan G. Bourgois ◽  
Gil Bourgois ◽  
Jan Boone
Keyword(s):  
Intensity Distribution ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Ventilatory Threshold ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Endurance Athletes ◽  
Training Intensity ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Intensity Training ◽  
Over Time

Training-intensity distribution (TID), or the intensity of training and its distribution over time, has been considered an important determinant of the outcome of a training program in elite endurance athletes. The polarized and pyramidal TID, both characterized by a high amount of low-intensity training (below the first lactate or ventilatory threshold), but with different contributions of threshold training (between the first and second lactate or ventilatory threshold) and high-intensity training (above the second lactate or ventilatory threshold), have been reported most frequently in elite endurance athletes. However, the choice between these 2 TIDs is not straightforward. This article describes the historical, evolutionary, and physiological perspectives of the success of the polarized and pyramidal TID and proposes determinants that should be taken into account when choosing the most appropriate TID.

Effects of Increased Load of Low- Versus High-Intensity Endurance Training on Performance and Physiological Adaptations in Endurance Athletes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Rune K. Talsnes ◽  
Roland van den Tillaar ◽  
Øyvind Sandbakk
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Uptake ◽  
Endurance Training ◽  
Maximal Oxygen Uptake ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Time Trial ◽  
Endurance Athletes ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Intensity Training

Purpose: To compare the effects of increased load of low- versus high-intensity endurance training on performance and physiological adaptations in well-trained endurance athletes. Methods: Following an 8-week preintervention period, 51 (36 men and 15 women) junior cross-country skiers and biathletes were randomly allocated into a low-intensity (LIG, n = 26) or high-intensity training group (HIG, n = 25) for an 8-week intervention period, load balanced using the overall training impulse score. Both groups performed an uphill running time trial and were assessed for laboratory performance and physiological profiling in treadmill running and roller-ski skating preintervention and postintervention. Results: Preintervention to postintervention changes in running time trial did not differ between groups (P = .44), with significant improvements in HIG (−2.3% [3.2%], P = .01) but not in LIG (−1.5% [2.9%], P = .20). There were no differences between groups in peak speed changes when incremental running and roller-ski skating to exhaustion (P = .30 and P = .20, respectively), with both modes being significantly improved in HIG (2.2% [3.1%] and 2.5% [3.4%], both P < .01) and in roller-ski skating for LIG (1.5% [2.4%], P < .01). There was a between-group difference in running maximal oxygen uptake changes (P = .04), tending to improve in HIG (3.0% [6.4%], P = .09) but not in LIG (−0.7% [4.6%], P = .25). Changes in roller-ski skating peak oxygen uptake differed between groups (P = .02), with significant improvements in HIG (3.6% [5.4%], P = .01) but not in LIG (−0.1% [0.17%], P = .62). Conclusion: There was no significant difference in performance adaptations between increased load of low- versus high-intensity training in well-trained endurance athletes, although both methods improved performance. However, increased load of high-intensity training elicited better maximal oxygen uptake adaptations compared to increased load of low-intensity training.

Effect of Six Weeks of Sprint Interval Training on Mood and Perceived Health in Women at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric C. Freese ◽  
Rachelle M. Acitelli ◽  
Nicholas H. Gist ◽  
Kirk J. Cureton ◽  
Ellen M. Evans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
At Risk ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Perceived Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Sprint Interval Training ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
Before And After

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether 6 weeks of sprint interval training (SIT) is associated with changes in mood and perceived health in women at risk for developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). Physically inactive women (30–65 years) were randomized to 6 weeks of nutrition meetings and SIT (n = 23; 3 bouts/week of 4–8 30-s cycle sprints with 4-min recovery) or a nonexercise control condition (CON; n = 24). Before and after the 6-week intervention, perceived health status and mood were assessed. Clinically relevant increases in role-physical scores (ES = 0.64) and vitality (ES = 0.52) were found after 6 weeks of SIT compared with a nonexercise control group. For middle-aged women at risk for MetS, it is concluded that high-intensity, low-volume SIT (1) increases feelings of vitality and perceptions of having fewer physical limitations and (2) does not induce mood disturbances as occurs with high-volume, high-intensity training.

Manipulating training intensity and volume in already well-trained rats: effect on skeletal muscle oxidative and glycolytic enzymes and buffering capacity

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 434-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. Laursen ◽  
Susan A. Marsh ◽  
David G. Jenkins ◽  
Jeff S. Coombes
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Citrate Synthase ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Buffering Capacity ◽  
Time To Exhaustion ◽  
Preliminary Training ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
High Intensity Interval

Well-trained endurance athletes undergo periods of high-intensity interval training (HIT) or high-volume training (HVT) to improve exercise performance, but little is known about the mechanistic changes that occur during this time. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of HIT and HVT on the activities of citrate synthase (CS) and phosphofructokinase (PFK), and on intramuscular buffering capacity (βm) in already well-trained rats. At 4 weeks of age, Wistar rats were divided into sedentary (SED; n = 18) and exercise training groups (n = 38). Following a 10 week preliminary training program, trained rats were divided randomly into 3 further groups that completed 4 additional weeks of continued endurance (CON, n = 14), high-intensity training (HIT, n = 12), or high-volume training (HVT, n = 12). Soleus (SOL), red and white gastrocnemius (RG and WG), and red and white vastus (RV and WV) muscles were removed 24–48 h after a final run-to-fatigue performance test (30 m·min–1; 25% grade) to determine the activities of CS, PFK, and βm. No differences in run time to exhaustion were found between the groups. However the HIT group possessed CS and PFK activities and βm in WV muscle that were 60%, 24%, and 10% higher, respectively (all p < 0.05), compared with the HVT group; differences were not found between the HIT and CON groups. Although no differences in run performance were found, HIT compared with HVT in already well-trained rats resulted in significantly higher oxidative and glycolytic capacities of fast-contracting fibres. No differences were shown in fast-contracting muscle between HIT and CON.

scholarly journals Effect of four different forms of high intensity training on BDNF response to Wingate and Graded Exercise Test

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Murawska-Ciałowicz ◽  
Gilmara Gomes de Assis ◽  
Filipe Manuel Clemente ◽  
Yuri Feito ◽  
Petr Stastny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Exercise Test ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Minute Ventilation ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
Wingate Anaerobic Test ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
Graded Exercise Test ◽  
Graded Exercise ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Intensity Training

AbstractThis study examined the effects of a nine-week intervention of four different high-intensity training modalities [high-intensity functional training (HIFT), high-intensity interval training (HIIT), high-intensity power training (HIPT), and high-intensity endurance training (HIET)] on the resting concentration of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). In addition, we evaluated the BDNF responses to Graded Exercise Test (GXT) and Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) in men. Thirty-five healthy individuals with body mass index 25.55 ± 2.35 kg/m2 voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly assigned into four training groups. During nine-weeks they completed three exercise sessions per week for one-hour. BDNF was analyzed before and after a GXT and WAnT in two stages: (stage 0—before training and stage 9—after nine weeks of training). At stage 0, an increase in BDNF concentration was observed in HIFT (33%; p < 0.05), HIPT (36%; p < 0.05) and HIIT (38%; p < 0.05) after GXT. Even though HIET showed an increase in BDNF (10%) this was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). At stage 9, higher BDNF levels after GXT were seen only for the HIFT (30%; p < 0.05) and HIIT (18%; p < 0.05) groups. Reduction in BDNF levels were noted after the WAnT in stage 0 for HIFT (− 47%; p < 0.01), HIPT (− 49%; p < 0.001), HIET (− 18%; p < 0.05)], with no changes in the HIIT group (− 2%). At stage 9, BDNF was also reduced after WAnT, although these changes were lower compared to stage 0. The reduced level of BDNF was noted in the HIFT (− 28%; p < 0.05), and HIPT (− 19%;p < 0.05) groups. Additionally, all groups saw an improvement in VO2max (8%; p < 0.001), while BDNF was also correlated with lactate and minute ventilation and selected WAnT parameters. Our research has shown that resting values of BDNF after nine weeks of different forms of high-intensity training (HIT) have not changed or were reduced. Resting BDNF measured at 3th (before GXT at stage 9) and 6th day after long lasting HITs (before WAnT at stage 9) did not differed (before GXT), but in comparison to the resting value before WAnT at the baseline state, was lower in three groups. It appears that BDNF levels after one bout of exercise is depended on duration time, intensity and type of test/exercise.

Is high-intensity interval training a time-efficient exercise strategy to improve health and fitness?

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna B. Gillen ◽  
Martin J. Gibala
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Oxidative Capacity ◽  
High Intensity Interval Training ◽  
Exercise Participation ◽  
Cardiometabolic Disorders ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
High Intensity Interval

Growing research suggests that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a time-efficient exercise strategy to improve cardiorespiratory and metabolic health. “All out” HIIT models such as Wingate-type exercise are particularly effective, but this type of training may not be safe, tolerable or practical for many individuals. Recent studies, however, have revealed the potential for other models of HIIT, which may be more feasible but are still time-efficient, to stimulate adaptations similar to more demanding low-volume HIIT models and high-volume endurance-type training. As little as 3 HIIT sessions per week, involving ≤10 min of intense exercise within a time commitment of ≤30 min per session, including warm-up, recovery between intervals and cool down, has been shown to improve aerobic capacity, skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, exercise tolerance and markers of disease risk after only a few weeks in both healthy individuals and people with cardiometabolic disorders. Additional research is warranted, as studies conducted have been relatively short-term, with a limited number of measurements performed on small groups of subjects. However, given that “lack of time” remains one of the most commonly cited barriers to regular exercise participation, low-volume HIIT is a time-efficient exercise strategy that warrants consideration by health practitioners and fitness professionals.

scholarly journals Impairment of Cycling Capacity in the Heat in Well-Trained Endurance Athletes After High-Intensity Short-Term Heat Acclimation

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1058-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Reeve ◽  
Ralph Gordon ◽  
Paul B. Laursen ◽  
Jason K.W. Lee ◽  
Christopher J. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
Heat Acclimation ◽  
Endurance Athletes ◽  
Stress Tests ◽  
High Intensity Interval Training ◽  
Short Term ◽  
High Intensity Interval ◽  
C 50 ◽  
Perceived Strain

Purpose: To investigate the effects of short-term, high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) heat acclimation (HA). Methods: Male cyclists/triathletes were assigned into either an HA (n = 13) or a comparison (COMP, n = 10) group. HA completed 3 cycling heat stress tests (HSTs) to exhaustion (60% Wmax; HST1, pre-HA; HST2, post-HA; HST3, 7 d post-HA). HA consisted of 30-min bouts of HIIT cycling (6 min at 50% Wmax, then 12 × 1-min 100%-Wmax bouts with 1-min rests between bouts) on 5 consecutive days. COMP completed HST1 and HST2 only. HST and HA trials were conducted in 35°C/50% relative humidity. Cycling capacity and physiological and perceptual data were recorded. Results: Cycling capacity was impaired after HIIT HA (77.2 [34.2] min vs 56.2 [24.4] min, P = .03) and did not return to baseline after 7 d of no HA (59.2 [37.4] min). Capacity in HST1 and HST2 was similar in COMP (43.5 [8.3] min vs 46.8 [15.7] min, P = .54). HIIT HA lowered resting rectal (37.0°C [0.3°C] vs 36.8°C [0.2°C], P = .05) and body temperature (36.0°C [0.3°C] vs 35.8°C [0.3°C], P = .03) in HST2 compared with HST1 and lowered mean skin temperature (35.4°C [0.5°C] vs 35.1°C [0.3°C], P = .02) and perceived strain on day 5 compared with day 1 of HA. All other data were unaffected. Conclusions: Cycling capacity was impaired in the heat after 5 d of consecutive HIIT HA despite some heat adaptation. Based on data, this approach is not recommended for athletes preparing to compete in the heat; however, it is possible that it may be beneficial if a state of overreaching is avoided.

scholarly journals Enjoyment In Low Intensity Continuous Training Versus High Intensity Interval Training In An Iso-caloric Design

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 387
Author(s):  
Sigurd Pedersen ◽  
Tord Markussen Hammer ◽  
Tommy Hamsund ◽  
Mathilde Nordhus Kristiansen ◽  
Edvard Hamnvik Sagelv
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Intensity Interval Training ◽  
Continuous Training ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
High Intensity Interval

scholarly journals Comparison of Long and Short High-Intensity Interval Exercise Bouts on Running Performance, Physiological and Perceptual Responses

2017 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. E20-E27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sverre Valstad ◽  
Erna von Heimburg ◽  
Boye Welde ◽  
Roland van den Tillaar
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Short Interval ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
Running Performance ◽  
Interval Exercise ◽  
Short Intervals ◽  
High Intensity Training ◽  
High Intensity Interval ◽  
Intensity Training

AbstractThis study compared the effects of long (4×4 min) and short intervals (4×8×20 s) of high-intensity interval exercise bouts (HIIT) on running performance, physiological and perceptual responses, and excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Twelve healthy college students (8 men, 4 women; mean age=22±2 years) performed long (90–95% of peak heart rate) and short intervals (maximal intensity) of high-intensity training (running on a non-motorized treadmill) with the same total duration on separate days. The total volume of consumed oxygen during recovery was the same in both cases (P=0.21), whereas the short intervals of high-intensity training were performed at a faster mean running velocity (3.5±0.18 vs. 2.95±0.07 m/s) and at a lower RPEbreath compared with the long intervals of high-intensity training. The blood lactate concentration also tended to be lower during the short intervals of high-intensity training, indicating that short-interval training was perceived to be easier than long-interval training, even though the cardiovascular and metabolic responses are similar. Furthermore, EPOC lasted significantly longer (83.4±3.2 vs. 61.3±27.9 min, P=0.016) and tended to be higher (8.02±4.22=vs. 5.70±3.75 L O2, P=0.053) after short intervals than after long intervals of training.

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