Webinar: Latest Training Ideas to Improve Repeated-Sprint Ability

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Short-duration sprints, interspersed with brief recoveries, are common during most team sports. The ability to recover and to reproduce performance in subsequent sprints has been termed repeated-sprint ability (RSA). RSA is therefore an important fitness requirement of team-sport athletes and it is important to better understand training strategies that can improve this fitness component. Surprisingly, however, there has been little research about the best training methods to improve RSA. In the absence of strong scientific evidence, two principal training theories have emerged. One is based on the concept of training specificity and maintains that the best way to train RSA is to perform repeated sprints. The second proposes that training interventions which target the main factors limiting RSA may be a more effective approach.

The aim of this presentation is to critically analyse training strategies to improve both RSA and the underlying factors responsible for fatigue during repeated sprints. This presentation will highlight that there is not one type of training that can be recommended to best improve RSA and all of the factors believed to be responsible for performance decrements during repeated-sprint tasks. This is not surprising as RSA is a complex fitness component which depends on both metabolic (e.g., oxidative capacity, PCr recovery and H+ buffering) and neural factors (e.g., muscle activation and recruitment strategies) among others. While different training strategies can be used in order to improve each of these potential limiting factors, and in turn RSA, two key recommendations emerge; it is important to include: 1) some training to improve single-sprint performance (e.g., ‘traditional’ sprint training and strength/power training), and 2) some high-intensity (80-90% VO2max) interval training to best improve the ability to recover between sprints.