Early phase changes by concurrent endurance and strength training

Introduction

Strength, endurance, and power are major components of athletic performance. Sale et al. [2] believes that concurrent strength and endurance training may result in an antagonism of the training responses, whereas published books [1] advise athletes to train for strength, and endurance simultaneously. There are limited data available regarding trained individuals and even less concerning athletes, providing information about the physiological compatibility of concurrent strength and endurance training. The purpose of this study was to examine the physiological effects of simultaneous strength and endurance training by considering: a) the sport specific requirements by applying sport specific exercises, b) the training status of each athlete, and c) the importance of adequate rest periods, which were relative to the specific training phase (i.e. maximum strength, power, and muscular endurance phase).

Methods

26 male basketball-players were matched for stature, body composition, and physical activity level. Subjects completed different training programs for 7 weeks, 4 days*week-1. 1) Strength group, (S; n= 7) strength-training. 2) Endurance group, (E; n= 7) endurance training. 3) Strength and endurance group (S+E; n= 7) combined strength and endurance training. 4) Control group (C; n= 5) had no training. The student t-test for paired data was used to detect possible significant differences between test and retest scores (p<.05). All criterion measures (Wingate anaerobic test, vertical jump, 1 RM effort for major muscles, VO2max) have been compared (pretraining) with the aid of the analysis of variance test (1- way ANOVA) and if significant the Tukey’s post hoc test was used.

Results

S+E group revealed greater gains in VO2max (12.9% vs. 6.8%) and lower post training value for % of body fat (11.35% diff.) compared to the endurance group. S+E group had a better post-training performance for vertical jump (1.51% diff.) and anaerobic power (1.50% difference) than S group.

Discussion / Conclusions

Concurrent strength and endurance regimen of this investigation does not have any antagonistic effect. It resulted in significant increases regarding power, strength, and maximum aerobic capacity. However, during a simultaneous strength and endurance-training program, it is important to take in serious consideration the sport specific requirements, the training status of each athlete, and the importance of adequate rest periods, in order injuries and over training to be avoided.

References

[1]. Dintiman G., Ward B., and Tellez T. (1998). Sports Speed #1 Program for Athletes (2nd edition). Champaign IL, Human Kinetics.
[2]. Sale D.G., Jacobs J, McDougal J.D., and Garner S. (1990). Med. Sci. Sports and Exerc., 22, 348-356.