PurposeThe aim of this study was to test the effects of sprint interval training (SIT) on cardiorespiratory fitness and aerobic performance measures in young females.MethodsEight healthy, untrained females (age 21 ± 1 years; height 165 ± 5 cm; body mass 63 ± 6 kg) completed cycling peak oxygen uptake (( dot{V}{text{O}}_{2} ) peak), 10-km cycling time trial (TT) and critical power (CP) tests pre- and post-SIT. SIT protocol included 4 × 30-s “all-out” cycling efforts against 7 % body mass interspersed with 4 min of active recovery performed twice per week for 4 weeks (eight sessions in total).ResultsThere was no significant difference in ( dot{V}{text{O}}_{2} ) peak following SIT compared to the control period (control period: 31.7 ± 3.0 ml kg?1 min?1; post-SIT: 30.9 ± 4.5 ml kg?1 min?1; p > 0.05), but SIT significantly improved time to exhaustion (TTE) (control period: 710 ± 101 s; post-SIT: 798 ± 127 s; p = 0.00), 10-km cycling TT (control period: 1055 ± 129 s; post-SIT: 997 ± 110 s; p = 0.004) and CP (control period: 1.8 ± 0.3 W kg?1; post-SIT: 2.3 ± 0.6 W kg?1; p = 0.01).ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that young untrained females are responsive to SIT as measured by TTE, 10-km cycling TT and CP tests. However, eight sessions of SIT over 4 weeks are not enough to provide sufficient training stimulus to increase ( dot{V}{text{O}}_{2} ) peak. |