Resumen de A Protocol of Intermittent Exercise (Shuttle Runs) to Train Young Basketball Players

Ivan Zadro, Luigino Sepulcri, Stefano Lazzer, Rudy Fregolent, Paola Zamparo

• The purpose of this study was to set up a protocol of intermittent exercise to train young basketball players. Twenty-one players were asked to complete (a) an incremental test to determine maximal oxygen uptake ([latin capital V with dot above]O2max), the speed at the ventilatory threshold (vthr) and the energy cost of �linear� running (Cr) and (b) an intermittent test composed of 10 shuttle runs of 10-second duration and 30-seconds of recovery (total duration: about 6 minutes). The exercise intensity (the running speed, vi) was set at 130% of vthr. During the intermittent tests, oxygen uptake ([latin capital V with dot above]O2) and blood lactate concentration (Lab) were measured. The average pretraining [latin capital V with dot above]O2 calculated for a single bout (131 ± 9 ml·min-1 kg-1) was about 2.4 times greater than the subjects' measured [latin capital V with dot above]O2max (54.7 ± 4.6 ml·min-1·kg-1). The net energy cost of running (9.2 ± 0.9 J·m-1·kg-1) was about 2.4 times higher than that measured at constant �linear� speed (3.9 ± 0.3 J·m-1·kg-1). The intermittent test was repeated after 7 weeks of training: 9 subjects (control group [CG]) maintained their traditional training schedule, whereas for 12 subjects (experimental group [EG]) part of the training was replaced by intermittent exercise (the same shuttle test as described above). After training, the [latin capital V with dot above]O2 measured during the intermittent test was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in both groups (-10.9% in EG and - 4.6 in CG %), whereas Lab decreased significantly only for EG (-31.5%). These data suggest that this training protocol is effective in reducing lactate accumulation in young basketball players.