The Effect of Two Different Interval Training Programs on Physiological and Performance Indices

Background: Interval training is a one of the most common methods used by athletes to enhance aerobic and anaerobic capabilities.

Aim: To compare the effect of an increasing distance interval training program and a decreasing distance interval training program, matched for total distance, on aerobic and anaerobic physiological indices.

Methods: Forty physical education students were randomly assigned to either the increasing or decreasing distance interval-training group, and completed two similar relevant sets of tests before and after six weeks of training. One training program consisted of increasing distance interval training (100-200-300-400-500m) and the other decreasing distance interval training (500-400-300-200-100m).

Results: While both training programs led to a significant improvement in aerobic capacity (p0.05), the improvement in the decreasing distance training group was significantly greater than in the increasing distance training group (14.5 ± 3.6 vs. 7.8± 3.18 %, p0.05). Also, while both training programs led to a significant improvement in all anaerobic indices (p0.05), the improvements of peak power (15.7 ± 7.84 vs. 8.9 ± 4.7), mean power (10.6 ± 5.4 vs. 6.8 ± 4.4), and fatigue index (18.2 ± 10.9 vs. 7.0 ± 14.2) were significantly greater in the decreasing distance training group compared to the increasing distance training group (p0.05).

Discussion: The present study demonstrated that six weeks of an increasing and decreasing interval training programs significantly improved aerobic and anaerobic performance indices. More importantly, the study`s findings revealed that the decreasing interval training program induces greater improvement than the increasing distance interval training protocol in both of these indices as well.