european college of sport science

HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE IN CHILDREN: RESULTS FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES
OP-PH05 Physiology 5
SPERLICH, B., HAEGELE, M., ACHTZEHN, S., DE MAREES, M., MESTER, J.
GERMAN SPORT UNIVERSITY COLOGNE, THE GERMAN RESEARCH CENTRE OF ELITE SPORT, GERMAN SPORT UNIVERSITY COLOGNE, GER-
MANY
INTRODUCTION: Recent studies of high intensity training (HIT) in different endurance related sports (GIBALA et al. 2007, FAUDE et al. 2008,
MacMILLAN 2004) with adult athletes document that HIT leads to similar or even the same physiology adaptations in respectively shorter
exercise time compared to high volume training (HVT). Current publications show positive effects on mitochondrial efficiency and lipid
metabolism after HIT (DAUSSIN et al 2008). Studies regarding HIT in children are rare. The goal of the study was to compare HIT vs HVT in
two different disciplines with different metabolic demands on physiological and performance related parameters in children.
METHOD: Two studies in swimming (A, n= 27, 9-12yrs) and soccer (B, n=19, 14 yrs) were conducted: In both studies the participants were
divided into two groups in order to compare the effects of HIT vs HVT. A: Before and after the training intervention maximal oxygen uptake
and power output at 4 mmol/L lactate (Lac) were assessed. All participants performed a 2km-test, a 100m test with logging of post lactate
kinetics as well as a 6x50m interval-test in a 50m pool. B): Before and after the mesocycle maximal oxygen uptake was assessed. All
participants performed a 1km run, as well as a 20m, 30m and 40m sprints. Jumping performance was measured in a drop and counter
movement jump. RESULT: A): Training: Workload for HIT was set at ~93% of personal best time corresponding to average lactate values of
5.2±1.2 mmol/l Lactate. HVT was set at 83% of personal best time with average lactate values of 2.3±0.5 mmol/l Lactate. HIT training
volume was set at 57x50m, 57x100, 15x200m and 3x300m intervals (total: 27,3 km, time per session:60 minutes). HVT training volume
was: 89x100m, 62x200m, 53x300m, 19x400m and 4x800m intervals (57,3km, time per session:90 minutes). No statistical differences
were found for any physiological variable between the groups. Competition performance showed an increase of 9% for HVT and 14.3%
for HIT.
B): Mean HR during HIT was 25.3% at 90-100% HRmax, 39.3% at 80-90% HRmax, 20.7% at 70-80% HRmax, 11.6% at 60-70% HRmax and
3.2%