Effect of a Short HIIT Program with Specific Techniques on Physical Condition and Activity during Simulated Combat in National-Level Boxers

Tomás Herrera-Valenzuela,Johan Carter,Pablo Valdés-Badilla,Elvis Leiva,Alex Ojeda-Aravena,Emerson Franchini

doi:10.3390/su13168746

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of an additional short-duration HIIT program using boxing-specific techniques on activity during a simulated competition. Additionally, we investigated the impact on physical fitness, specifically aerobic performance and lower-body muscle power. Sixteen boxers were randomized into a control (n = 8) or experimental groups (n = 8). The experimental protocol consisted of 3 blocks of 5 repetitions of 30s all-out effort, with 6s recovery between repetitions and 1 min rest interval between blocks, conducted 3 days per week for 4 weeks. A two-way (group, two levels; moment, two levels) analysis of variance with repeated measurements in the second factor was used. For the experimental group, there was a change in body mass (ES = −0.13 (trivial)), body fat percentage (ES = −0.12 (trivial)), VO2max (ES = +0.42 (small)), CMJ (ES = +0.12 (trivial)), CMJ-left (ES = −0.11 (trivial)), CMJ-right (ES = +0.22 (trivial)), actions (ES = +0.68 (moderate)), time (ES = −0.29 (small)) and punches (ES = +0.56 (moderate)). For the control group, there was a change in body mass (ES = +0.04 (trivial)), body fat percentage (ES = −0.12 (trivial)), VO2max (ES = +0.11 (trivial)), CMJ (ES = −0.27 (small)), CMJ-left (ES = −0.39 (small)), CMJ-right (ES = +0.08 (trivial)), actions (ES = +0.08 (trivial)), time (ES = −0.65 (moderate)) and punches (ES = −0.57 (moderate)). The punches variable was significant concerning group-by-time interaction (F1,14 = 11.630; p = 0.004; n2 = 0.454). The present study indicated that the addition of a boxing-specific HIIT program is effective to increase the number of punches during a simulated match.

Highlights

We hypothesized that the additional short-duration highintensity interval training (HIIT) program using boxing-specific techniques would induce better physical conditioning and activity during simulated combat in national-level boxers
We hypothesized that the additional short-duration HIIT program using boxing-specific techniques would induce better physical conditioning and actions and increased activity during simulated combat in national-level boxers
Our results suggest that adherence to a HIIT program using boxing-specific techniques with free combinations (3 blocks with 5 repetitions of 30 s by 6 s of rest, with a recovery time of 1 min between blocks, 3 times a week for 4 weeks) would be effective to increase the number of punches during simulated combat, but it was not sufficient to produce significant improvements in the physical performance of boxers

Summary

Introduction

The predominant energy system comes from the oxidative system (77%), responsible for the recovery processes between effort during combat, followed by the ATP–PC (phosphagen system, 19%), accountable for the highintensity scoring actions, and 4% is attributed to the glycolytic system [1]. This distribution is directly linked to the intermittent characteristics of boxing competition, Sustainability 2021, 13, 8746. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8746 as the work-to-rest ratio in high-level boxing official matches is 18:1 [2,3]. Boxer’s lower-body muscle power is frequently evaluated through jump tests such as the countermovement jump with arms (CMJ-arm), achieving values between 41.7 and 43.6 cm for males [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion