Physiologic and mechanical responses to clustered vs. traditional sprint interval exercise approaches

PurposeThis study compared responses to a traditional 30-s all-out sprint interval exercise (SIE) session, compared to two SIE sessions divided into clusters, with the aim to assess which of these sessions would result in higher peak oxygen uptake (V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2peak), longer time at V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2 >= respiratory compensation point (RCP), and greater peak power output during SIE (PPOSIE).MethodsTwelve trained males (19 +/- 1 years; 176 +/- 5 cm; 65.9 +/- 6 kg; V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2max: 54.0 +/- 6.2 mL kg-1 min-1) performed three work-matched all-out cycling SIE sessions with a load of 7.5% body mass: (1) SIE30: 4 repetitions of 30-s work with 240-s recovery; (2) SIE15: 4 repetitions of 15-s work with 15-s recovery, plus 15-s work with 225-s recovery; (3) SIE10: 4 repetitions of 10-s work with 10-s recovery, plus 10-s work and 10-s recovery, plus 10-s work with 220-s recovery.ResultsPPOSIE for SIE30 (697 +/- 71 W) was lower than for SIE15 (732 +/- 63 W; p = 0.001) and SIE10 (752 +/- 75 W; p = 0.001). V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2peak response for SIE30 (46.5 +/- 6.6 mL kg-1 min-1) was lower than for SIE15 (51.9 +/- 4.8 mL kg-1 min-1; p = 0.04) and SIE10 (50.9 +/- 5.6 mL kg-1 min-1; p = 0.01). Time spent at V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2 >= RCP was shorter for SIE30 (32.9 +/- 35.9 s) compared to SIE15 (95.0 +/- 52.0 s; p = 0.001) and SIE10 (62.9 +/- 46.1 s; p = 0.010). No differences were identified for these variables between SIE15 and SIE10 (p = 0.270).ConclusionCompared to the SIE30 session, the clustering-based SIE protocols resulted in higher PPOSIE values, a greater V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2peak response, and longer time spent at V-center dot\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\dot{\text{V}}}$$\end{document}O2 >= RCP.Thus, clustering methods can maximize the above-mentioned responses and be appealing alternatives to the traditional 30-s SIE session.