Effects of six weeks sprint-strength and agility training

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Publish Ahead of Print DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002212

Effects of six weeks sprint-strength and agility training on body composition, cardiovascular and physiological parameters of male field hockey players

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(Original research)

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Running head: Six weeks sprint-strength and agility training in field hockey players

Author information Name of Authors

Dept./Institute Address

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Dr. Hanjabam Barun Senior Demonstrator, Department of Physiology, All

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S. No

Sharma

India Institute of Medical Sciences, New-Delhi, India.

Past: Sports Medicine Doctor, Department of Sports & Exercise Medicine, Sports Sciences & Fitness Centre,

Dr. Jyotsna Kailashiya

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North-East Regional Centre (NERC), Sports Authority of India (SAI), Imphal, Manipur, India. Email: [email protected]

Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected] (corresponding author)

Copyright ª 2017 National Strength and Conditioning Association

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Abstract Optimal physiological and cardiovascular characteristics are essential for optimal physical performance. Different types of training regimes affect these characteristics and lead to trainee’s adaptation and changes in relevant parameters. In present

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interventional study we have evaluated effects of six weeks sprint-strength & agility training on such parameters. Twenty four young Indian national hockey players

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volunteered for this study. BW(weight), BMI, BF (%body fat), LBM (lean body mass), rHR (resting heart rate), rBP (blood pressure), rDP (double-product), P/power (using Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test), VJ (vertical jump), SP (seated shot-put

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test), BS (ball-hitting speed), Tm (505-agility test) & VO2max were measured, and changes (d) after specified training regime were studied. The training proved to be ‘short yet effective’. Significant improvements after training were found in body composition, cardiovascular, aerobic, anaerobic, strength, agility and performance related parameters; but not in BW, BMI, P/LBM, SP/LBM & VO2max/LBM. dVJ was associated with dTm; dSP with dVO2max which also related with drHR, drBP &

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drDP. dBS was more among those with lower initial BW, BMI & BF. dBS, along with

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dVO2max/LBM, was more mainly among those with lower initial anaerobic-aerobic fitness. The findings will be useful for coaches, sports managers, players and also for general population for better, individual and/or sport based designing of short yet effective training programs and monitoring of outcomes. Specific physiological parameter improvement targeted training can also be designed based on this research. Key words: Double-Product, Vertical Jump, Ball-Hitting Speed, 505-Agility Test, VO2max, Training Adaptation.


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INTRODUCTION Many physiological and cardiovascular characteristics like body weight, lean body mass (LBM), percentage body fat, heart rate, blood pressure, muscle strength etc undergo adaptive changes as result of training. Training also influences endurance,

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aerobic and anaerobic capacity and physical performance (10, 16). It has been known since long that exercise and training improves performance of individuals, especially

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in field sports (6, 24). Different individuals need different training regimes for optimal performance according to their body type, current fitness status, physical requirements and type of sport or physical activity. Currently there is increased demand of personalized training regime to fit these criteria’s to promote physical fitness and

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performance. Previous research on soccer, basketball, baseball, handball, tennis etc show that different training regimes and programs may affect adaptations differently, and show different outcomes, as per requirement and physiological demand of trainee and type of sport (4, 30). Thus, studying and monitoring different training regimes of various durations and their outcomes becomes fundamental in field of human

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performance and gives an interesting area to explore.

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Field-hockey is an intermittent endurance sports which requires high aerobic fitness, anaerobic power, strength, agility in addition to optimal skills & body composition (9, 10, 35, 44, 45). To meet these physiological demands for optimal performance as well as for promoting general health status, appropriate training along with repeated monitoring has to be done. Coaches and health experts require effective training regimes to boost all above relevant parameters of the players for optimal performance.


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Many studies on training adaptation have been published, but the effectiveness of short term training on field hockey players has not been studied much, that too about sprintstrength and agility training (20, 23, 40). There is also need of more precisely regulated, individual and sports based targeted training regimes and guidelines for

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coaches to improve the desired characteristics in players as well as general population (34). Hence, in this interventional study, we have tried to find the effects of six weeks

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specialized program including sprint-strength and agility training on physiological, cardiovascular and performance related parameters of national level field hockey players. We hypothesized that this short training of only 6 weeks should result in improvement in the studied parameters. To best of our knowledge, no such study has

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been previously reported. The findings of this study will help coaches, sports management personnel and trainees to design and incorporate effective and targeted training regime of suitable duration for desired and better outcome of players.

METHODS

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Experimental approach to the problem

Specific short duration (6 weeks) training regime was designed to include sprint-

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strength and agility exercises in this interventional study. The training intervention consisted of 2 sessions of 11-22 yards straight sprints/day; free weights and machine based 8-10 isotonic resistance exercises affecting major muscle groups at 70-90% of one repetition maximum, 1-3 sets & 6-12 repetitions/day; and 2 sessions of 30-yard Tdrills & Zig-Zag drills. The players were given rest of 3 minutes between each session of exercises (16). The training was of ≤3 hours duration/day, and given 3 times a week


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for 6 weeks (July to August). Apart from general warm-up exercises, no other training programs were given to the subjects during study period. Selected anthropometric and physiological variables were measured at 0th & 6th week.

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Subjects The study was conducted in Sports Sciences & Fitness Centre, North-East Regional

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Centre (NERC), Sports Authority of India (SAI), Imphal, India. Twenty four healthy male field-hockey trainees (age: 15.71±1.60; range 13 to 20 years) of NERC-SAI, in the preparation phase and participated up to any recognized national competitions participated in this study. All the players stayed in the same hostel, and were given

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similar diet and field hockey training under the same coaches. Purpose, methods, risks and benefits of this study were communicated to all subjects. Informed consent was taken both from the players and their parents/legal guardians. The study was approved by the Institute’s Ethical Committee. The trainees found unfit in pre-participatory physical and medical evaluation and those with no written-informed consent were

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excluded. This 6 weeks training program was started when all participants returned from one month holiday having rest period. Before holidays they were given field

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hockey related techniques and skills training and other training namely aerobic,

anaerobic and strength training as per the macro cycle of training and competition.


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Procedures All parameters were measured according to previously reported standard procedures (17, 18, 42) (19, 42). All the tests were performed in morning about the same time

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(±1hour), after clearly explaining both the purpose and procedures to the players. The players reported after a sound sleep of 8 hours and light breakfast, with no physical

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exertion for 12 hours before the testing. No solid food intake or caffeinated drinks however, was allowed within 4 hours of the tests. Wherever appropriate, familiarization sessions were given, and the best performance was taken from 2-3 attempts in each testing after maximal encouragement and motivation, and sufficient

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rest and recovery period in between. The measured parameters were subdivided into following groups.

Anthropometry and body composition parameters. Body heights (HT in cm) of the players were measured using a stadiometer (Seca220, UK) nearest to 0.1cm. A

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bioelectrical impedance machine (TANITA Body Composition Analyzer, TBF310 Model, Japan) was used to measure body weight (BW in kg), percentage body fat (BF)

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and lean body mass (LBM in kg). Age and height of the players were entered in the instrument, then they were asked to stand erect barefoot on the foot pad of the instrument with minimum clothing till the values showed on the panel and recorded paper came out with full data. BMI (kg/m2) was calculated as BW/HT2.


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Cardiovascular parameters. The players were trained and instructed to take their own resting heart rate (rHR) manually from carotid pulse just after waking up, while still in bed, from a relaxing night’s sleep (42). Resting blood pressure (rBP): systolic blood pressure (rSBP) & diastolic blood pressure (rDBP) were measured using a

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mercury sphygmomanometer after a sitting rest of 10 min before commencing other testing: an average of three readings was taken. Double-product (rDP in mmHg/min)

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was calculated as rSBP multiplied by rHR (16).

Aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) was used to measure maximum power (Pmax in W), average power (Pavg in W) and

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fatigue index (FI in W/s) following the standard methodology reported earlier (1, 18, 49). Briefly, the players were instructed to do 6 sprints with maximum efforts on a distance of 35 meters. A 10-second passive recovery pause was given between each sprint. The power and FI were calculated according to the following equations: power = body mass x distance² ÷ time³ and fatigue index = (maximal power - minimum

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power) ÷ total time of 6 sprints.

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Aerobic variable (maximal oxygen uptake or VO2max in ml/kgBW/min) was

predicted using Beep test or 20-meter multistage shuttle run test, following the standard methodology (29). The players were asked to run 20 meter back and forth with touching the 20-meter line. A prerecorded sound signal was played at the same time, with the frequency of the signal increasing from a starting speed of 8.5 km/hour by 0.5 km/hour per minute. The stage number when the players could no longer


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maintain the pace was noted. The following equations were used for estimation of VO2max in ml/kg body weight/min: (i) VO2max = 31.025 + 3.238X – 3.248Y + 0.1536XY (for