The Impact of High-Intensity Interval Training (Hiit) On the Aerobic Capacity of National Football Players

Abstract

Background:  Football is the world’s most popular game in number of participants and spectators. Simple in its principal rules and essential equipment, the sport can be played almost everywhere, from official football playing fields to gymnasiums, streets, school playgrounds, parks or beaches. The training of this prestigious sport transformed from endurance to high-intensity bursts internationally, that need to be implemented in developing countries like Pakistan. 

Objectives: The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of high-intensity interval training on the cardiovascular fitness of national football players determined through aerobic capacity.

Methodology: This was an 8weeks experimental study, wherein a total of 36 professional football male players, aged between 18 to 35 years were recruited who went through a high-intensity interval training program. The athletes with any trauma, injury were excluded from this study.  The trainers and coaches were also excluded. A total of 40 training sessions (5 sessions per week) were conducted with each session lasted for 90 minutes. The pre-post analysis of cardiovascular fitness was analyzed through the SPSS-25 version. The results were presented in graphs and tables.

Results: Results showed that there was a significant impact of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the Aerobic capacity of players. The null hypothesis was rejected based on the results of one sample t-test (p-value<0.005).

Conclusion:    This study concludes that eight-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) significantly improved the cardiovascular fitness of national football players.