The effects of 20-m repeated sprint training on aerobic capacity in college volleyball players

Study aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a repeated sprint training program in addition to volleyball training on the aerobic capacity of college volleyball players.

Materials and methods: Eighteen male volleyball players were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 9, age: 21.2 ± 1.3 years) or a control (n = 9, age: 21.2 ± 1.6 years) group. Both groups followed a traditional volleyball training program three times per week for 6 weeks. The experimental group additionally performed a repeated sprint training protocol immediately before each volleyball training session. The repeated sprint training consisted of 1-3 sets of 5 × 20 m maximal sprints with 20 seconds of active recovery between sprints and 4 min of passive recovery between sets. Before and after the 6-week training period, all participants performed an incremental treadmill test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) and time to exhaustion, and the repeated sprint test (10 × 20 m with a 20‑second recovery between each sprint).

Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements in VO_2max (+7.1 ± 4.8%; p = 0.001) and running time to exhaustion (+15.8 ± 6.8%; p = 0.004) after training. The best 20-m sprint time (−2.3 ± 2.5%; p = 0.029), mean sprint time (−5.3 ± 3.1%; p = 0.001) and fatigue index (−34.1 ± 28.2%; p = 0.012) also improved significantly in the experimental group. None of these variables changed significantly in the control group (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: The current findings indicate that the addition of a repeated sprint training program can improve both the aerobic capacity and anaerobic performance of college volleyball players.