Purpose: Sprint interval training (SIT) provides a strong stimulus for improving cardiovascular fitness, which is among the key markers for premature mortality. Recent literature demonstrated that SIT protocols with as few as two stacked 20 s Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) cycle sprints provide sufficient training stimulus for a robust increase in maximal aerobic power. However, this effect is lost when only one bout is performed. This suggests training adaptation is still dependent on the volume of SIT. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of three dispersed 30 s WAnT bouts, done over a day but interspersed with 4 hours of recovery time, on selected cardiometabolic health markers.
Methods: Eighteen sedentary women, age 36±8 years, were recruited and underwent 8 weeks of supervised training using the WAnT protocol, 3 days a week. Criterion measure of cardiovascular fitness (ie, V̇O2peak), skinfolds and blood lipids such as triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured before and after training intervention.
Results: V̇O2peak improved by a mean of 14.0% after training (21.7±5.7 vs 24.7±5.7 mL/kg/min, p<0.01). No significant change was observed for body fat and lipid profile.
Conclusion: Performing three dispersed WAnT bouts with a 4-hour recovery period between bouts throughout a day, 3 days per week for 8 weeks provides sufficient training stimulus for a robust increase in V̇O2peak, which is comparable with other previous SIT protocols with very short recovery intervals. However, no other changes in the other cardiometabolic health markers were detected.
Keywords: aerobic fitness; cardiovascular fitness; exercise; metabolic health; sedentary.