Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness according to High-Intensity Interval Training Frequency in Youth Soccer Players in the Last Stage of Rehabilitation

Shuren Yan, Yonghwan Kim () and Yongchul Choi ()
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Shuren Yan: Department of Physical Education, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang 471934, China
Yonghwan Kim: Department of Physical Education, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, Republic of Korea
Yongchul Choi: Department of Physical Education, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-11

Abstract: In the last stage of rehabilitation, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for improving physical fitness is appropriate for return-to-play; however, some youth athletes visit the rehabilitation center less frequently due to conflict with their distance to center, and academic schedule. We tested the effects of short-term low-frequency HIIT in 54 youth male soccer players, after dividing them into a low-frequency group (LFG, n = 27 players) and a high-frequency group (HFG, n = 27 players). Muscle mass and body fat were measured using a body composition test, and VO 2 peak and exercise duration were measured using a treadmill. Five sets of anaerobic peak power and fatigue were measured repeatedly using the Wingate test. To evaluate knee joint muscle function, 60°/s, 180°/s, and 240°/s were measured using the isokinetic muscle function equipment. HIIT sessions were conducted twice a week for LFG and five times a week for HFG for 4 weeks. In this study, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann–Whitney U test were mainly used for analysis. Significant improvements in VO 2 peak, anaerobic peak power, and knee strength were observed after intervention in both groups ( p < 0.05). In the post test, there were significant differences between groups in VO 2 peak (LFG, 56.4 vs. HFG, 57.1 mL/kg/min; p = 0.035), exercise duration (LFG, 972.3 vs. HFG, 990.4 s; p = 0.041), Wingate anaerobic peak power 5 sets (LFG, 606.3 vs. HFG, 629.3 Watt; p = 0.039), and muscle function test 240°/s (LFG, 68.5 vs. HFG, 70.2 Jouls; p = 0.010). However, neither group showed significant changes in body composition, such as muscle mass or body fat ( p > 0.05). In conclusion, although it is a short-term training, the effect of HIIT was shown in the HFG as well as LFG. Although HFG improved physical fitness, significant improvement was also achieved in LFG. Therefore, in the last stage of rehabilitation, low frequency as well as high frequency HIIT would be an appropriate training method to improve physical fitness for youth soccer players.

Keywords: youth soccer players; high intensity interval training; VO 2 peak; anaerobic power; isokinetic strength; body composition; training frequency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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