Active Recovery Induces Greater Endurance Adaptations When Performing Sprint Interval Training

• Published in: Journal of strength and conditioning research 2019-04, Vol.33 (4), p.922-930
• Main Authors: Yamagishi, Takaki, Babraj, John
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adaptation, Physiological; Adult; Bicycling - physiology; Endurance; Exercise Test; Female; Heart Rate; High-Intensity Interval Training; Humans; Interval training; Male; Original Research; Oxygen Consumption; Physical Endurance - physiology; Recovery (Medical); Recovery of Function; Rest; Rest - physiology; Strength training; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1064-8011; 1533-4287
• DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002787

ABSTRACTYamagishi, T and Babraj, J. Active recovery induces greater endurance adaptations when performing sprint interval training. J Strength Cond Res 33(4)922–930, 2019—This study sought to determine effects of recovery intensity on endurance adaptations during sprint interval training (SIT). Fourteen healthy young adults (male9 and female5) were allocated to 1 of 2 training groupsactive recovery group (ARG, male4 and female3) or passive recovery group (PRG, male5 and female2). After having completed a 2-week control period, both groups performed 6 sessions of 4- to 6 30-second sprints interspersed with 4-minute recovery over 2 weeks. However, only ARG cycled at 40% V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak during the 4-minute recovery periods, while PRG rested on the bike or cycled unloaded. After the 2-week training intervention, both groups improved 10-km time-trial performance to a similar extent (ARG8.6%, d = 1.60, p = 0.006; PRG6.7%, d = 0.96, p = 0.048) without gains in V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak. However, critical power was increased by ARG only (7.9%, d = 1.75, p = 0.015) with a tendency of increased maximal incremental power output (5.3%, d = 0.88, p = 0.063). During the training, active recovery maintained V[Combining Dot Above]O2 and heart rate at a higher level compared with passive recovery (V[Combining Dot Above]O2p = 0.005, HRp = 0.018), suggesting greater cardiorespiratory demands with the active recovery. This study demonstrated that greater endurance performance adaptations are induced with active recovery when performing SIT over a short time frame. The findings of the current study indicate that, with active recovery, individuals can gain greater training benefits without increasing total training commitment time. Further studies are required to determine whether differences are seen with recovery intensity over a longer period.