• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Learn

Age, Endurance, and Explosive Power Improve Repeated Sprint Ability

A new study asks what athletic qualities can help sprint ability.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on May 13, 2014

The development of repeated sprint ability in youth athletes is a long-standing practice that seems to be on the rise. In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers asked what athletic qualities are necessary for optimal repeated sprint ability.

Repeated sprint ability is exactly what it sounds like. Most importantly, it’s the ability to maintain speed and power in the face of highly fatiguing game conditions. In the new study, the researchers examined basketball players who performed moderate- to high-intensity sprints on an average of every 21 seconds during a basketball game.

Since changing velocity and direction are both very demanding on the energy systems of the body, skill will often break down as fatigue sets in. If an athlete has a high capacity for repeated sprint ability, then he or she will experience less fatigue from the demands of basketball, and thus will execute superior skills through the course of a game or practice. Developing these qualities while also improving repeated sprint ability could make or break the success of an athlete.

In the Journal study, the researchers weren’t developing a program to push repeated sprint ability to the next level. For now, they wanted to find out which athletes have this ability, and what other traits might be responsible for greater athletic talents.

The basketball players in the study were given a battery of tests, including assessments of physical characteristics like height, weight, and body fat percentage. The players were also tested on three athletic activities: a shuttle sprint, a vertical leap, and a longer shuttle run. These results were tallied on up to six different occasions for each player across two seasons.

Age was the first of three significant qualities affecting repeated sprint ability. Between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, sprint ability increased and then hit a plateau. At a young age like this, the development of repeated sprint ability probably speaks both to increasing neurological sophistication that comes normally as we age, as well as to increasing experience in athletics.

Not surprisingly, both lower body explosive power and aerobic endurance also contributed strongly to repeated sprint ability. This correlation makes sense based simply on what repeated sprint ability is: a power maneuver performed repeatedly over the course of a game.

Armed with that information, researchers and coaches can now develop ways to find out if repeated sprint ability can be achieved with a well-designed program. Those programs will include both power and endurance in the legs, and plenty of skill work and practice, especially in youth athletes.

References:

1. Sanne Wierike, et. al., “Development of Repeated Sprint Ability in Talented Youth Basketball Players,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(4), 2014.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

babylifter
Young to Really Young: Beginning Olympic Weightlifting
sportstrainerforyoungathletes
The Definitive Guide to Picking a Sports Performance Trainer
hiphingeforyoungathletes
Young Athletes Must Hip Hinge
turningkidsintoathletes
Can We Turn Couch Potato Kids into Athletes?

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Derek Lunsford, Nick Walker, And Other Men’s Open Stars Will Guest Pose at 2023 Pittsburgh Pro

Shaun Clarida Wants To Break Flex Lewis’ 212 Olympia Title Record

The Best Bodybuilding Workout for Each Body Part

Jay Cutler Shares How To Construct An “Olympia” Chest

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About