Effects of sprint interval training on elite Judoists.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sprint interval training (SIT) compared to control group (CG). 29 Judoists were assigned to SIT group (n=11, age 20.00±1.10 years) and CG (n=18, age 19.94±1.16 years). There were no significant changes in body fat and aerobic performance (VO2max, HRmax, and HR after Judo match) after 4 and 8 weeks. However, anaerobic peak power and mean power in SIT group was significantly increased by 16% and 17% at 4 weeks and by 17% and 22% at 8 weeks compared to baseline values (p<0.05). At 8 weeks, blood lactate concentration after graded exercise was significantly decreased in SIT group compared to CG after 10 and 15 min of recovery (p< 0.05). After Judo match, triglyceride and epinephrine were significantly increased in CG compared to SIT group (p<0.05) at 4 and 8 weeks. Otherwise, there were no significant changes of total cholesterol, albumin, FFA, and norepinephrine in both groups. We suggested that SIT program for elite Judoists would be effective to increase anaerobic power in a short period during off-season training. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.