Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of
training frequency on performance and some physiological responses during a
6-day taper. After 18 weeks of training, 9 male middle-distance runners were
assigned to a high frequency taper (HFT, n = 5) or a
moderate frequency taper (MFT, n = 4), consisting of
training daily or resting every third day of the taper. Taper consisted of an
80 % nonlinear progressive reduction in high intensity interval
training. Blood samples were obtained, and 800m performance and peak blood
lactate ([La]peak) measured before and after taper.
Performance improved significantly after HFT (121.8 ± 4.7
vs 124.2 ± 4.9 s, p < 0.05), but
not after MFT (126.6 ± 2.8 vs
127.1 ± 2.1 s). Neutrophils
(2.89 ± 0.68 vs 2.56 ± 0.61
103 × mm-3), granulocytes
(3.08 ± 0.70 vs 2.77 ± 0.66
103 × mm-3), haptoglobin
(79.7 ± 47.9 vs
60.7 ± 33.6 mg × dl-1),
total testosterone (7.39 ± 1.67 vs
5.52 ± 0.88 µg × l-1)
and [La]peak (15.5 ± 1.5 vs
14.4 ± 2.0 mmol × l-1)
significantly increased with taper. [La]peak correlated
with performance time before taper (r = -0.76,
p < 0.05), and change in [La]peak with
change in serum cortisol (r = -0.75,
p < 0.05) and total testosterone:cortisol ratio
(r = 0.82, p < 0.01). In conclusion,
training daily during a 6-day taper brought about significant performance
gains, whereas resting every third day did not. High
[La]peak and a hormonal milieu propitious to anabolic
processes seemed to be necessary for optimum performance.
Key words
Granulocytes - haptoglobin - testosterone - cortisol - lactate
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I. Mujika, Ph. D.
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