Improving Cardiorespiratory and Muscular Endurance in Futsal Extracurricular Participants the Impact of a Four Week Interval Training Program

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of a four-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocol on increasing cardiorespiratory and muscle endurance in futsal extracurricular activities. There were 40 students aged between 15-20 years with both sexes, who were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group, which received their routine training schedule compared to the HIIT program, respectively. Cardiorespiratory endurance was quantified using a submaximal treadmill test to estimate VO2max, while muscular endurance was assessed with push-up and sit-up tests. Results indicated that the intervention group experienced significant improvements in VO2max (from 45.2 ± 4.1 to 50.3 ± 4.5 mL/kg/min, p < 0.001) and in both push-up (from 15.2 ± 3.4 to 22.5 ± 4.1 repetitions, p < 0.001) and sit-up tests (from 20.1 ± 4.2 to 28.3 ± 5.0 repetitions, p < 0.001). On the other hand, the control group showed no significant differences in any of the parameters evaluated. The findings suggest that a clearly structured HIIT program is effective in improving both cardiorespiratory and muscular endurance in futsal players and that it has immense potential as an effective training modality for attaining maximal athletic performance in sports involving intermittent high-intensity efforts. The results of this study are valuable for futsal as well as other sport categories' trainers and coaches who wish to improve physical characteristics of sportsmen. The long-term consequences as well as physiological rationale of HIIT on endurance performance need to be explored through further studies.