Effects of Including Sprints During Low-intensity Cycling Exercises on Performance and Muscle/Blood Characteristics

Healthy Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Including 30-s Sprints During Low-intensity Cycling Exercises During a Training Camp on Performance and Muscle/Blood Characterisitcs

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04640883
• Other study ID #: Trainome 2017#011
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 23, 2017
• Est. completion date: December 23, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: November 2020
• Source: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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

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

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 18
• Est. completion date: December 23, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: December 23, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Male
• Age group: 18 Years to 40 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cyclists
• Healthy

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Inclusion 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.
• Low-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.
• Recovery for 10 days (low training load)
Habitual low-intensity cycling (>0.5-2 hours per session)

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Norway	Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences	Lillehammer

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Norway, 

References & Publications (40)

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* Note: There are 40 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Training load	Training load calculated as time spent in different heart rate zones using the individualized TRIMP method	From four weeks prior to the intervention and throughout the study, an average of 52 days
Primary	Performance during a 5-minute all-out cycling test	Mean power output measured during a 5-minute all-out cycling test performed at the end of a ~2 hour long exercise protocol	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, after REC)
Secondary	Sprint performance	Mean power output measured during four consecutive 30-s maximal sprints	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, after REC)
Secondary	Maximal oxygen uptake	Maximal oxygen consumption measured during an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Maximal aerobic power output	Maximal aerobic power output measured as mean power output during the last minute of an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Gross efficiency (training camp)	Contribution of total energy turnover to power output in the fresh and fatigued state incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Gross efficiency (recovery/REC)	Contribution of total energy turnover to power output in the fresh and fatigued state incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Power output at lactate threshold (training camp)	Power output at 4 mmol blood lactate concentration measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Power output at lactate threshold (recovery/REC)	Power output at 4 mmol blood lactate concentration measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Fractional utilization of VO2max (incremental test)	Fractional utilization of VO2max measured at 4 mmol blood lactate concentrations measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Fractional utilization of VO2max (5-min test)	Fractional utilization of VO2max measured during the 5-min test	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Protein abundance in skeletal muscle	Protein abundances in m. vastus lateralis measured using western blotting	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Haemoglobin mass (training camp)	Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Haemoglobin mass (recovery/REC)	Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Blood volume (training camp)	Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Blood volume (recovery/REC)	Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Plasma volume (training camp)	Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Plasma volume (recovery/REC)	Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Red blood cell volume (training camp)	Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Red blood cell volume (recovery/REC)	Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Mean corposcular volume (training camp)	Mean corposcular volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Mean corposcular volume (recovery/REC)	Mean corposcular volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Hematocrit (training camp)	Hematocrit measured using centrifugation	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Hematocrit (recovery/REC)	Hematocrit measured using centrifugation	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Body mass (training camp)	Body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Body mass (recovery/REC)	Body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Enzyme activity in skeletal muscle	Enzyme activity in m. vastus lateralis measured using ELISA kits (I.e., CS and PFK)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Lean body mass (training camp)	Lean body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Lean body mass (recovery/REC)	Lean body mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Fat mass (training camp)	Fat mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Fat mass (recovery/REC)	Fat mass (kg) measured using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)
Secondary	Session rate of percieved exertion	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)	Throughout the training camp (14 days)
Secondary	Stress-recovery state (training camp)	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)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the training camp (T1)
Secondary	Stress-recovery state (recovery/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)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T2, i.e. after REC)