Effects of Unloaded Sprint and Heavy Sled Training on Sprint Performance in Physically Active Women
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Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effects of unresisted versus heavy sled sprint training (0% vs 40% body mass [BM]) on sprint performance in women. Moreover, the effects of the aforementioned loads on resisted sprint and jump performance were analyzed. Methods: Twenty-eight physically active women were randomly allocated into 2 groups: unloaded sprint training group (G0%, n = 14), and resisted sprint training with 40% BM group (G40%, n = 14). Pretraining and posttraining assessments included countermovement jump, unloaded 30-m sprint, and 20-m sprint with 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% BM. Times to cover 0 to 10 (T10), 0 to 20 (T20), 0 to 30 (T30), 10 to 20 (T10–20), 20 to 30 (T20–30), and 10 to 30 m (T10–30) were recorded. Both groups were trained once a week for 8 weeks and completed the same training program, but with different loads (0% vs 40% BM). Results: No significant time × group interactions were observed. For unloaded sprint performance, G0% showed significant (P = .027) decreases only in T10–20, while G40% attained significant decreases in T30 (P = .021), T10–30 (P = .015), and T20–30 (P = .003). Regarding resisted sprint performance, G0% showed significant (P = .010) improvements only for the 20% BM condition. The G40% group attained significant improvements in all loading conditions (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% BM). Both groups showed significant improvements (P < .001) in countermovement jump height. Conclusions: In physically active women, no significant differences in sprint and countermovement jump performance were detected after 8 weeks of resisted and unresisted sprint training programs. Future studies should, therefore, be devoted to how sprint training should be individualized to maximize performance.
Pareja-Blanco, Sáez de Villarreal, Mora-Custodio, and Rodríguez-Rosell are with Physical Performance and Sports Research Center, and Pareja-Blanco, Sáez de Villarreal, Mora-Custodio, Asián-Clemente, and Rodríguez-Rosell, the Dept of Sport and Informatics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain. Bachero-Mena is with the Dept of Physical Education and Sport, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain. Loturco is with the NAR—Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, Brazil; the Dept of Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; and the University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Wales, United Kingdom.
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