Decremental Exercise: a New Training Approach?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Exercise Performance of Fit Athletes
• Interventions: Other: DECT; Other: HIIT

• Registration Number: NCT03155152
• Lead Sponsor: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Brief Summary

Different types of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions are used by athletes in order to improve their physical performance, but innovative approaches to training are lacking. Therefore, in Part A of this study the physiological response to a standard HIIT and a new decremental exercise training (DECT) will be compared in runners and cyclists. Next, in Part B the training effects of a 4-week block of the HIIT and DECT will be compared.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-05-12
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-05-15
• Study First Posted: 2017-05-16
• Study Start: 2017-06-01
• Status Verified: 2019-02
• Primary Completion: 2019-12-11
• Study Completion: 2019-12-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-03-17
• Last Update Posted: 2020-03-18

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 55

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: 18-40 years
• Healthy, i.e. normal physical and mental status (not taking any medication on a regular basis for more than a month, except contraceptive medication)
• Normal Body-Mass-Index (BMI): 18.5-24.9 kg·m-2
• Well-trained athletes: V̇O2max > 55.1 ml·min-1·kg-1 for men and > 50.1 ml·min-1·kg-1 for women
• Normal lung function
• Non-smoking
• Willing to adhere to the general study rules

Exclusion Criteria

• Women who are pregnant or breast feeding
• Intention to become pregnant during the course of the study
• Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol abuse
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, etc. of the participant
• Previous enrolment into the same part (A or B) of the current study
• Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons
• Acute or chronic illness
• Intake of medications affecting performance or the respiratory, cardiovascular or neuromuscular system
• Insufficient training history (<3 yrs of participation in competitive cycling/running) or training volume (<40 km running/week or 150 km cycling/week) in the previous 6 months
• Recent (<3 months) history of orthopaedic injury or participation in structured high-intensity training blocks

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
DECT Group	DECT	The DECT session consists of four bouts of 4 min high-intensity "decremental" exercise with 3 min of active recovery between bouts. Load is progressively decreased throughout each exercise bout. The training period will last for a total of 4 weeks, with three weekly sessions of supervised training
HIIT Group	HIIT	The HIIT session consists of four bouts of 4 min high-intensity "decremental" exercise with 3 min of active recovery between bouts. Load is kept constant throughout each exercise bout. The training period will last for a total of 4 weeks, with three weekly sessions of supervised training

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in exercise performance	measured before and after the 4-week training block, during a time-trial (40 km cycling or 10 km running)	Time taken to cover a fixed distance, in minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in maximal oxygen uptake	Measured during a maximal incremental exercise test before and after the 4-week training block	Measured in ml/kg/min
Average oxygen uptake	The two training session are performed within one week	Average oxygen uptake measured during the four 4-min bouts of high-intensity exercise of a session of HIIT and DECT

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Exercise Physiology Lab, Institute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport, ETH Zurich; 🇨🇭 Zurich, ZH, Switzerland