Superior Physiological Adaptations After a Microcycle of Short Intervals Versus Long Intervals in Cyclists

Purpose: To compare the effects of a 1-week high-intensity aerobic-training shock microcycle composed of either 5 short-interval sessions (SI; n = 9, 5 series with 12 x 30-s work intervals interspersed with 15-s recovery and 3-min recovery between series) or 5 long-interval sessions (LI; n = 8, 6 series of 5-min work intervals with 2.5-min recovery between series) on indicators of endurance performance in well-trained cyclists. Methods: Before and following 6 days with standardized training loads after the 1-week high-intensity aerobic-training shock microcycle, both groups were tested in physiological determinants of endurance performance. Results: From pretraining to posttraining, SI achieved a larger improvement than LI in maximal oxygen uptake (5.7%; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-10.3; P =.015) and power output at a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol.L-1 (3.8%; 95% confidence interval, 0.2-7.4; P =.038). There were no group differences in changes of fractional use of maximal oxygen uptake at a workload corresponding to a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol.L-1, gross efficiency, or the 1-minute peak power output from the maximal- oxygen-uptake test. Conclusion: The SI protocol may induce superior changes in indicators of endurance performance compared with the LI protocol, indicating that SI can be a good strategy during a 1-week high-intensity aerobictraining shock microcycle in well-trained cyclists.

Automated summary

This study compared the effects of short-interval training and long-interval training on endurance performance in cyclists. The results showed that short-interval training led to greater improvements in maximal oxygen uptake and power output at a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol.L-1 compared to long-interval training.