Repeated sprint activity
field hockey players can sharpen quickly
Time compression in modern life makes it
difficult for the aspiring hockey player to balance work and or study and life stresses. There are now time-friendly protocols such as High
Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) available to strength and conditioning coaches when framing exercise intervention
strategies. According to Gibala & McGee, (2008) HIIT is a potent time-efficient strategy to induce numerous
metabolic adaptations usually associated with traditional endurance training.
Their research has shown that a relatively small number of training sessions
(around six) of HIIT over a 2 week training period or an equivalent total of
only 15 minutes of highly intense exercise, can increase skeletal muscle
oxidative capacity and improve endurance performance. Gormley, Swain, HighSpina, Dowling, Kotipalli, & Gandrakota,(2008) also
showed that when the volume of exercise is controlled, higher intensities of
exercise are more effective for improving maximal oxygen consumption than lower
intensities of exercise in healthy, young adults. Contrary to previously held popular beliefs
amongst the wider community,
short-burst, intense exercise activity not only yields high fitness
gains but has also been found to be
enjoyable with the bonus of enabling session completion in short times. Bartlett, et al., 2011 studied
a group of athletes training using HIIT and moderate intensity continuous
running regimes and showed clearly that ratings of perceived enjoyment after
exercise were higher following interval running compared with continuous
running. (Paton & Hopkins, 2004) concluded that HIIT (along with explosive
resistance training) when incorporated into training programs of low intensity
produces substantive performance gains. The specific physiological performance
parameters that stand to be improved by adopting HIIT into an exercise program
include peak maximal oxygen consumption, first and second ventilatory
thresholds and anaerobic capacity; (Laursen, Shing, Peake,
Coombes, & Jenkins, 2005). (Macdougall,
et al., 1998) demonstrated that after HIIT,
significant improvements were seen in supramaximal treadmill run time, repeated
sprint performance and maximum oxygen consumption; the proportion of type II
muscle fibres increased significantly. These results demonstrate that 6 weeks
of short sprint training can improve endurance, sprint and repeated sprint
ability in participants.
For field hockey players in particular, the
game specific benefits to be accrued by aligning HIIT with the (RSA) base
pattern of the sport are significant. Hockey players are required to repeat
high intensity sprints in quick succession when playing. If the physiological and
metabolic responses of repeated-sprint protocols are to be specific and
relevant to field-based team sports, then the sprint and recovery durations
should replicate the movement patterns of these sports (Spencer,
Bishop, Dawson, & Goodman, 2005). Although
the mean recovery time between sprints is approximately two minutes during the
game of hockey (i.e. a mean of 30 ± 12 sprints
performed during the 70-minute game), nearly 25% of the recovery periods
between sprints were of <21 seconds in duration. The definition of a repeated-sprint
bout used here by Spencer et al., (2005) was a minimum of three sprints with a
mean recovery duration between sprinting of <21 seconds. The mean number of repeated-sprint bouts
reported during the elite field-hockey game was 4 ± 1 and 2.1
and the mean
recovery time between sprints was 14.9 ± 5.5 seconds. From
the same study, the average maximal sprint duration is 4 seconds. These
findings need to be applied to a structured hockey-specific HIIT program
designed to improve RSA performance.
Although the generic program shared in this article is limited to a 5 week period, studies completed by Burgomaster, et al., (2008) suggests
high-intensity interval training is a time-efficient strategy to increase
skeletal-muscle oxidative capacity and induce specific metabolic adaptations
during exercise that are comparable to traditional endurance training. This
finding is consistent with the work of Hunter, O’Brien,
Mooney, Berry, Young & Down (2011), that showed
intermittent peak and peak running speeds along with a 300m shuttle performance
run improved significantly amongst Australian Rules footballers subjected to a 4 week repeated sprint training program. Along with framing an appropriate
duration for any exercise intervention program intended to significantly
improve RSA total work output, the fidelity of the prescription is also crucial
in optimising performance gains.
Edge, Bishop, Goodman, & Dawson (2005), ran a study with twenty female athletes and assessed pre- and post-training, for maximum oxygen uptake, lactate
threshold (LT), and RSA (using a protocol of five repetitions of sex second
maximal sprints, every thirty seconds). Before and immediately after the RSA test,
muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis. Participants were matched
on RSA, randomly placed into the HIT group of ten members or moderate intensity
continuous training (MIT) group of ten members and completed a five week cycle
training program with training sessions held three days per week. They performed
either HIT or MIT sessions as part of the program. The researchers found that both
groups had significant improvements in oxygen uptake and LT, with no
significant differences between them. Both groups also had significant
increases in RSA total work but there was a significantly greater increase
following HIT than MIT (13 vs 8.5%, respectively; P < 0.05).
This suggests, along with the work of Spencer et al., (2005) that any program
designed to improve RSA output needs to be based on a tailored HIIT program
rather than MIT.
Designed specifically to cater for
the physiological and metabolic
responses of higher grade club level hockey, the intervention
program uses repeated-sprint protocols with sprint and recovery durations that
aim to replicate the movement burdens of the sport; Spencer, Bishop, Dawson,
& Goodman (2005). This capacity-focused program aims to extend the length of time that
the anaerobic alactic system contributes to game related running activity.
Although the program is limited to a 5 week period only, studies completed by (Burgomaster,
et al., 2008) suggests
that high-intensity interval training is a time-efficient strategy to increase
skeletal-muscle oxidative capacity and induce specific metabolic adaptations
during exercise that are comparable to traditional endurance training.
The participants were restricted to work periods of 10 to
12 seconds maximum, with a rest period set at 6-10
times the duration of the work period to start and slowly moved towards 4 times
the work interval by the end of the program. For example, a program session
with a 10 second sprint has a rest time of 50-60 seconds, on average; of course these can be tweaked based on whatever RSA-focused standard fitness testing you have employed reveas about fitness levels. Participants are encouraged to complete the interval work so that the pace or power output
for each work segment of the interval is consistent. Once the participants can complete a full
training session with less than a 10% speed drop from their first interval to
their last interval they are in a better position to cope with a decrease in the rest period. The
rest period is generally less than that used in field hockey speed and agility work. The
work volume was calibrated according to total work time; a target volume of 4-6
minutes pre-set was accomplished by participants doing several sets of 60s-80s
work per set. At the end of each set participants
took a 5- 10 minute active recovery break, comprising of a walk or slow jog. A very basic work and
recovery guide for the program follows in the table below.
Table HIIT-RSA intervention program
detail
Week
|
Session
|
Work
|
Rest
|
Pause
|
1
|
1
|
10 x 8s
|
60s
|
6 minutes
|
12 x 6s
|
40s
|
6 minutes
|
||
8 x 10s
|
60s
|
6 minutes
|
||
2
|
1
|
12 x 5s
|
40s
|
6 minutes
|
10 x 3s
|
30s
|
6 minutes
|
||
8 x 5s
|
40s
|
6 minutes
|
||
2
|
12 x 8s
|
75s
|
6 minutes
|
|
12 x 6s
|
40s
|
6 minutes
|
||
10 x 8s
|
70s
|
6 minutes
|
||
3
|
1
|
12 x 5s
|
30s
|
5 minutes
|
12 x 3s
|
30s
|
5 minutes
|
||
10 x 5s
|
40s
|
5 minutes
|
||
8 x 8s
|
75s
|
5 minutes
|
||
2
|
12 x 8s
|
60s
|
5 minutes
|
|
12 x 6s
|
35s
|
5 minutes
|
||
12 x 5s
|
65s
|
5 minutes
|
||
6 x 129s
|
75s
|
5 minutes
|
||
4
|
1
|
10 x 5s
|
25s
|
5 minutes
|
10 x 3s
|
25s
|
5 minutes
|
||
12 x 5s
|
30s
|
5 minutes
|
||
12 x 3s
|
20s
|
5 minutes
|
||
2
|
12 x 8s
|
60s
|
5 minutes
|
|
12 x 6s
|
30s
|
5 minutes
|
||
12 x 10s
|
60s
|
5 minutes
|
||
6 x 12s
|
65s
|
5 minutes
|
||
5
|
1
|
10 x 5s
|
25s
|
4 minutes
|
10 x 3s
|
25s
|
4 minutes
|
||
12 x 5s
|
30s
|
4 minutes
|
||
12 x 3s
|
20s
|
4 minutes
|
||
10 x 8s
|
50s
|
4 minutes
|
||
2
|
12 x 8s
|
50s
|
4 minutes
|
|
12 x 6s
|
30s
|
4 minutes
|
||
12 x 10s
|
50s
|
4 minutes
|
||
6 x 12s
|
60s
|
4 minutes
|
||
8 x 6s
|
30s
|
4 minutes
|
