Cyclists, Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Sprint, Low-intensity cycling, Skeletal muscle, Endurance performance
Brief summary
To investigate the effects of Including 30-s sprints during low-intensity cycling exercises during a training camp on performance and muscle/blood characterisitcs in elite cyclists
Detailed description
Inclusion of sprint intervals during low-intensity training (LIT) sessions has been suggested as a potential mean to improve endurance performance in elite cyclists, facilitated by muscular or systemic physiological adaptations. So far, the effects of such training has been studied exclusively in context of short-lasting low-intensity sessions, representing a scenario with suboptimal ecological validity for such highly trained athetes. This study will investigate the effects of including sprints during prolonged LIT-sessions sessions during a 14-day training camp focusing on LIT, followed by 10 days recovery (REC), on performance and performance-related measures in elite cyclists. During the training camp, a sprint training group will conduct 12x30-s maximal sprints during five LIT sessions, whereas a control group will perform distance-matched LIT-only. Overall, the training camp will lead to substantial increases in training load compared to habitual training in both intervention groups, followed by subsequent reductions during REC. Performance tests will be conducted before the training camp (T0) and after REC (T2). Muscle biopsies, hematological measures and stress/recovery questionnaires will be collected Pre (T0) and after the camp (T1). The study was pre-registered at Norwegian Center for Research Data (14/08/2017, Norwegian): http://pvo.nsd.no/prosjekt/55322
Interventions
BEHAVIORALInclusion of sprints during low-intensity cycling during a 14-day training camp (high training load)
Inclusion of 12x30-s maximal sprints during five low-intensity cycling sessions with long duration (\>fours hours per session). Five sessions will be performed as low-intensity cycling-only (Controll sessions, distance matched). All other sessions will be performed as low-intensity sessions and adjusted according to each participants training load goal to reach an increase of \ 50% in load compared to habitual training.
BEHAVIORALLow-intensity cycling during a 14-day training camp (high training load)
Five low-intensity cycling sessions (\>four hours per session), distance-matched to sprint group.
BEHAVIORALRecovery for 10 days (low training load)
Habitual low-intensity cycling (\>0.5-2 hours per session)
Sponsors
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Investigating the effects of including sprints during low-intensity training sessions during a 14-d training camp with increased training load on performance and muscle/blood biology
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* VO2max \> 65ml/kg/min
Exclusion criteria
* VO2max \< 65ml/kg/min * Average endurance training per week \>10hrs/wk during the four weeks leading up to the study
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Performance during a 5-minute all-out cycling test | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, after REC) | Mean power output measured during a 5-minute all-out cycling test performed at the end of a \ 2 hour long exercise protocol |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint performance | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, after REC) | Mean power output measured during four consecutive 30-s maximal sprints |
| Maximal oxygen uptake | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Maximal oxygen consumption measured during an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion |
| Maximal aerobic power output | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Maximal aerobic power output measured as mean power output during the last minute of an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion |
| Gross efficiency (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Contribution of total energy turnover to power output in the fresh and fatigued state incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps) |
| Gross efficiency (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Contribution of total energy turnover to power output in the fresh and fatigued state incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps) |
| Power output at lactate threshold (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Power output at 4 mmol blood lactate concentration measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps) |
| Power output at lactate threshold (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Power output at 4 mmol blood lactate concentration measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps) |
| Fractional utilization of VO2max (incremental test) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Fractional utilization of VO2max measured at 4 mmol blood lactate concentrations measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps) |
| Fractional utilization of VO2max (5-min test) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Fractional utilization of VO2max measured during the 5-min test |
| Protein abundance in skeletal muscle | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Protein abundances in m. vastus lateralis measured using western blotting |
| Haemoglobin mass (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g) |
| Haemoglobin mass (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g) |
| Blood volume (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Blood volume (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Plasma volume (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Plasma volume (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Red blood cell volume (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Mean corposcular volume (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Mean corposcular volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Mean corposcular volume (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Mean corposcular volume measured using CO rebreathing |
| Hematocrit (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Hematocrit measured using centrifugation |
| Hematocrit (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Hematocrit measured using centrifugation |
| Body mass (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Body mass (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Enzyme activity in skeletal muscle | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Enzyme activity in m. vastus lateralis measured using ELISA kits (I.e., CS and PFK) |
| Lean body mass (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Lean body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Lean body mass (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Lean body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Fat mass (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Fat mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Fat mass (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Fat mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry |
| Session rate of percieved exertion | Throughout the training camp (14 days) | Session rate of percieved exertion (sRPE) measured after each exercise involving sprints/control exercise using a 9-point scale ranging from very, very demotivated to very, very motivated (1 to 9) |
| Stress-recovery state (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Recovery state of participants measured using Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-36-R-Sport, 36 questions, 7-point scale ranging from 0/never to 6/always) |
| Stress-recovery state (recovery/REC) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC) | Recovery state of participants measured using Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-36-R-Sport, 36 questions, 7-point scale ranging from 0/never to 6/always) |
| Red blood cell volume (training camp) | Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1) | Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Training load | From four weeks prior to the intervention and throughout the study, an average of 52 days | Training load calculated as time spent in different heart rate zones using the individualized TRIMP method |
Countries
Norway
Outcome results
None listed