More Research On HIIT For Swimmers
The recent interest in High Impact Interval Training(HIIT) is encouraging a lot of research in the area which will hopefully pin point the sweet spot that needs to be made to get the right balance between utilizing HIIT training in combination with traditional training methods.
A recently published study from the University of Copenhagen, where two groups of elite swimmers, the first group continued to train with high volume traditional training, the second group were prescribed 12 weeks of reduced volume, high intensity training.
The findings of the study showed that the group of swimmers that reduced their volume of training and performed the high intensity training, made a positive impact on both their stress levels and their recovery, while not impacting their performance.
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The high intensity training the study prescribed, it included:
- 6 to 10 reps of 10 to 30 seconds of maximal effort
- 2 to 4 minutes of recover between each rep
- All testing was done in freestyle, but all strokes were allowed in training.
All training should be directed to meet the swimmers goals, but one of the authors of the study did suggest to carefully monitor stress and recovery during stressful times to ensure that the swimmer is allowing sufficient time for recovery.
