Date of Award

5-2015

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology

First Advisor

James Hokanson, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Erik Lind, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Deborah VanLangen, Ph.D.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the aerobic benefits and changes in running economy (RE) following a fourweek whole-body high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program on an athletic female population. Participants: Fourteen female student-athletes volunteered to participate in the study. Design: Participants reported on two occasions for VO2max and RE testing and were divided into two training groups based upon baseline VO2max: Endurance (END; n=6) and HIIT (n=8). Participants completed 12 total training sessions. During each session, END completed 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity running, while HIIT completed a total of four minutes of whole-body intervals. Measures: Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was measured and RE was calculated during pre- and post-testing to determine whether aerobic or RE improvements had resulted from either experimental treatment. Analysis: Two two-way mixed (group x time) ANOVAs were used to compare HIIT and END pre- and post-testing changes in VO2max and RE. IBM SPSS version 22.0 was used to run the statistical tests, with an alpha level of 0.05. Conclusion: Although HIIT did not increase aerobic capacity to a greater extent than endurance training, with a significantly shorter time commitment, high-intensity interval training was an effective stimulus for improving aerobic conditioning in the female athlete participants in their nontraditional season.

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