The 10/7 HIIT Shock Cycle Study: Effectiveness of 10 HIIT Sessions in 7 Days

University of Salzburg33 enrolled

Overview

A randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the effects of two versions of 10 high intensity interval trainings (HIIT) within a 7-day shock microcycle on endurance performance, well-being, health, stress and recovery in trained athletes.

Thirty-six trained endurance athletes will be recruited and randomly assigned to either a "high volume (HIIT-HV)" group, a "low volume (HIIT-LV)" group, or a control group. All participants will be monitored before (9 days), during (7 days), and after (14 days) a 7-day training intervention, for 30 days. Participants in both intervention groups will complete 10 HIIT sessions within the period of 7 days, with an additional 30 minutes of low-intensity training exclusively in HIIT-HV. HIIT sessions consist of aerobic HIIT, i.e., 5x4min at 90-95% of maximal heart rate interspersed by 2.5 min active recovery periods. To determine the effects of the intervention, performance diagnostics, and a 5 kilometer time trial will be conducted before and after the intervention. In addition, participants are closely monitored for general health, stress, fatigue, recovery, neuromuscular performance, executive functions and sleep.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy Athlete Performance

Interventions

ExerciseOTHER

high-intensity interval training sessions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 45 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Female or male * aged 18-45 years * Proof of physical fitness (e.g. sports medical examination required) for measurements with higher intensities (e.g. endurance tests, competition simulation) * Competition experience at the national or international level in an endurance sport * VO2max ≥50ml/kg/min for females; ≥55 ml/kg/min for males or a 5-kilometer (km) time trial performance of ≤ 20:00 min (female), or ≤ 18:30 min (male) Exclusion Criteria: * Systemic disease or other known pathology in the organs: heart, lungs, kidney, stomach, spleen, liver, gall bladder, and intestines. * Evidence of pulmonary disease: forced expiratory volume in one second/forced expiratory volume \< 70% with/without symptoms (cough, sputum) or other evidence of pulmonologic disease. * Diabetes II. * Neurological or psychological disease of any kind. * Currently undergoing medical or psycho-therapeutic treatment. * Health condition that does not allow regular participation in the training forms (e.g. acute illnesses such as fever or other flu-like infections within the last 7 days before the start of the study), orthopedic diseases, injuries to the muscular, bone, joint or tendon apparatus within the last three months. * Alcohol or drug abuse. * Already high training volume with high intensity training (more than 2 weekly training sessions of high-intensity training)

Locations (1)

University of Salzburg

Salzburg, Austria

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Endurance performance I

Change of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max in ml/min/kg) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Endurance performance II

Change of peak performance (Ppeak in Watt) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Endurance performance III

Change of 5 kilometer time trial performance (in sec) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 20 to 22 days (the assessment is conducted once before, and once after the intervention)

Endurance performance IV

Change of lactate threshold (in km/h) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Endurance performance V

Change of ventilatory thresholds (in km/h) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Endurance performance VI

Change of running economy (in ml/min/kg) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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Change of questionnaire scores - well-being

Change of questionnaire scores compared to baseline and group as determined by a Visual-Analogue-Scale (from 0-100 millimeters). Higher scores indicate poorer well-being.

Time frame: 30 days (questionnaires will be given to participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of questionnaire scores - muscular fatigue

Change of questionnaire scores compared to baseline and group as determined by a Visual-Analogue-Scale (from 0-100 millimeters). Higher scores indicate higher degree of fatigue.

Time frame: 30 days (questionnaires will be given to participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of questionnaire scores - vitality

Change of questionnaire scores compared to baseline and group as determined by a Likert-Scale (from 0-10). Higher scores indicate higher vitality.

Time frame: 30 days (questionnaires will be given to participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of questionnaire scores - rate of fatigue

Change of questionnaire scores compared to baseline and group as determined by a Likert-Scale (from 0-10). Higher scores indicate higher degree of fatigue.

Time frame: 30 days (questionnaires will be given to participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of questionnaire scores - sleep quality

Change of questionnaire scores compared to baseline and group as determined by a Likert-Scale (from 1-7). Higher scores indicate poorer sleep.

Time frame: 30 days (questionnaires will be given to participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of blood count

Change of blood count concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of cell-free DNA

Change of cell-free DNA concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of creatine kinase

Change of creatine kinase concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of urea

Change of urea concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of blood lactate

Change of blood lactate concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of cytokines

Change of cytokine concentrations compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of miRNA

Change of miRNA compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (blood is drawn from participants several times before, during, and after the intervention.)

Change of neuromuscular performance

Change of neuromuscular performance (counter movement jump height in cm) measured on a contact plate (AMTI, Watertown, USA) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (neuromuscular performance is assessed several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Change of body weight

Change of body weight in kg compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Change of fat free mass

Change of fat free mass in kg compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Change of fat mass

Change of fat mass in kg compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Change of forced expiratory volume

Change of forced expiratory volume in liters compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 10 to 21 days (assessment is conducted once before the intervention and repeated three times afterwards, i.e. 3, 7 and 14 days after the completion of the intervention)

Change of power output during exercise

Change of power output in Watt (as determined via Stryd, Boulder, USA) during the intervention compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 7 days

Change of sleep quality I - GPS watch

Change of sleep quality compared to baseline and group as determined by a GPS (Global Positioning System) watch

Time frame: 30 days (sleep is assessed several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Change of sleep quality II - ABIOS App

Change of sleep quality compared to baseline and group as determined by the ABIOS (Algorithmik Biodata System) application

Time frame: 30 days (sleep is assessed several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Correlations between sleep quality devices

To determine the correlations between different sleep monitoring devices, i.e. the GPS watch (see outcome 27), the ABIOS system (see outcome 28) and the sleep quality questionnaire (see outcome 11)

Time frame: 30 days

Change of parameters recorded by an electrocardiogram - mean heart rate

Change of mean heart rate compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (an electrocardiogram is written several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Change of parameters recorded by an electrocardiogram - heart rate variability

Change of heart rate variability (root mean sum of squared distance in ms) compared to baseline and group

Time frame: 30 days (an electrocardiogram is written several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Change of executive functions - Eriksen flanker task

Change of executive functions compared to baseline and group. This is recorded through a modified Eriksen flanker task consisting of 108 images showing five white arrows on a black screen.

Time frame: 30 days (executive functions are tested several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Change of executive functions - 2 back task

Change of executive functions compared to baseline and group. This is assessed through a 2-back task showing dots on a dice, numbers and geometrical figures.

Time frame: 30 days (executive functions are tested several times before, during, and after the intervention)

Cardiac ultrasound

Description of an athlete cohort regarding cardiac chamber volume (in ml, determined via EPIQ CVX, X5-1, Philips Healthcare, Andover, MA, USA)

Time frame: 1 day (this outcome will be determined once before study start)

Adherence to training program

Adherence to the HIIT training programs (determined as the ratio of training sessions performed to prescribed training sessions). This is determined by the researchers by checking the training data of the athletes. For example, if 9 out of 10 sessions were performed, this means 90% adherence.

Time frame: 7 days

The 10/7 HIIT Shock Cycle Study: Effectiveness of 10 HIIT Sessions in 7 Days

Overview

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes