Effects of 3-Week Work-Matched High-Intensity Intermittent Cycling Training with Different Cadences on VO2max in University Athletes

Nobuyasu Tomabechi; Kazuki Takizawa; Keisuke Shibata; Masao Mizuno

doi:10.3390/sports6040107

Effects of 3-Week Work-Matched High-Intensity Intermittent Cycling Training with Different Cadences on VO_2max in University Athletes

Sports (Basel). 2018 Sep 29;6(4):107. doi: 10.3390/sports6040107.

Authors

Nobuyasu Tomabechi^{1

2}, Kazuki Takizawa³, Keisuke Shibata^{4

5}, Masao Mizuno⁶

Affiliations

¹ Sports Training Center, Nippon Sport Science University, Setagaya, Tokyo 158-8508, Japan. nobuyasu.tomabechi@gmail.com.
² Graduate School of Education, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0811, Japan. nobuyasu.tomabechi@gmail.com.
³ Institute of Physical Development Research, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0061, Japan. takizawa@pd-r.org.
⁴ Graduate School of Education, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0811, Japan. k-shibata@rakuno.ac.jp.
⁵ Department of Sustainable Agriculture, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Sciences, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-0836, Japan. k-shibata@rakuno.ac.jp.
⁶ Faculty of Education, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0811, Japan. mizuno@edu.hokudai.ac.jp.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify the effects of 3-week work-matched high-intensity intermittent cycling training (HIICT) with different cadences on the VO_2max of university athletes. Eighteen university athletes performed HIICT with either 60 rpm (n = 9) or 120 rpm (n = 9). The HIICT consisted of eight sets of 20 s exercise with a 10 s passive rest between each set. The initial training intensity was set at 135% of VO_2max and was decreased by 5% every two sets. Athletes in both groups performed nine sessions of HIICT during a 3-week period. The total workload and achievement rate of the workload calculated before experiments in each group were used for analysis. VO_2max was measured pre- and post-training. After 3 weeks of training, no significant differences in the total workload and the achievement rate of the workload were found between the two groups. VO_2max similarly increased in both groups from pre- to post-training (p = 0.016), with no significant differences between the groups (p = 0.680). These results suggest that cadence during HIICT is not a training variable affecting the effect of VO_2max.

Keywords: aerobic capacity; graded-exercise test; total workload.