Title: A Comparative Study of Effect of High Intensity Interval Training and Slow Continuous Training on the Aerobic performance in Adult Healthy Untrained Male Volunteers
Authors: Dr Vivekanand Upadhyay, Dr J S Sandhu
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i1.01
Introduction: Endurance is a key requirement for overall physical fitness and most other organised sports. Coaches have different favourite methods to train for endurance, and jury is divided on which is the best of them. Aim: This study aims to compare the effects of two popular methods of endurance training, High Intensity Interval Training and Slow Continuous Training. Hypothesis: High Intensity Interval Training provides better gain in endurance than Slow Continuous Training in untrained adult male over a six week training protocol. Methods: During the period 2010 – 2013, 238 young adult healthy male volunteers were randomly divided into HIIT and SCT groups. Both groups were provided supervised training as per protocol given below. Each session additionally incorporated warm up and cool down. HIIT: 03 sessions/ week for 06 weeks at velocity equal to maximum velocity achieved in pre experiment beep test, with Training/Active rest in ratio of 1:1 (30s/30s), 05 reps per set, 04 sets per session with 03 min rest between sets SCT: 05 sessions of 30 min each per week for 06 weeks, at velocity equal to 60 – 70% of maximum velocity achieved in pre experiment beep test Endurance using beep test was measured just before administering the experimental protocols, at 3 weeks interval and upon conclusion of study at 6 weeks. VO2max was calculated using VO2max calculator provided at the official website http://www.thebeeptest.com/calculator.htm. The results were compared for statistical significance. Results: Mean pre test VO2max levels of both HIIT and SCT were comparable (34.29mL/kg vs 37.12mL/kg). After three weeks of training, HIIT group showed higher enhancement in VO2max (13.87% vs 8.76%) than SCT group. After six weeks of training, HIIT group continued to have higher gain in VO2max (20.75% vs 15.19%) than SCT group. The study shows that High Intensity Interval Training provides superior gain in endurance than Slow Continuous Training. Conclusion: High Intensity Interval Training provides superior gain in aerobic capacity than Slow Continuous Training over 6 weeks of training using lesser training time. Keywords: High Intensity Interval Training, Slow Continous Training, Endurance, HIIT, SCT, Aerobic Performance, VO2max
Abstract
