The effects of whole body high-intensity interval training on collegiate female soccer players 2016

Soccer is considered a high intensity sport that requires a high level of both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. A whole body high-intensity interval training adaptation has been shown to benefit both of these systems over a short period of time. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a five week whole-body high intensity interval training program on female collegiate soccer players performance in speed, acceleration, agility, vertical jump, aerobic capacity, physical self perception, and physical enjoyment. Participants were from the SUNY Cortland women’s soccer team who participated in a five- week training protocol three days a week of either four minute, whole-body high intensity interval training (HIIT) or repeated sprint training added to a resistance training program. The participants went through pre- and post-testing of speed, acceleration, agility, vertical jump, aerobic capactity (measured through the beep test), and a physical self perception questionnaire. Their physical activity enjoyment was taken over the five-weeks using the PACES questionnaire. A mixed methods ANOVA was run on all physiological performance and psychological data with significance set a p \u3c 0.05. The results of the study indicated no significant interactions between the HIIT group and repeated sprint group on all measures. There were significant improvements pre- to post-testing within the overall sample in acceleration, vertical jump, agility, and aerobic capacity. It was also found that there was a significantly more enjoyment in the first week of training in the repeated sprint group than in the HIIT group. However the repeated sprint group’s enjoyment decreased over the next three weeks while the HIIT group’s enjoyment increased. These results show that an addition of four minutes of whole body HIIT to a resistance training program can help to increase soccer specific performance as well as physical enjoyment in female soccer players while cutting down on the time it takes to perform this training