The Effect of High Interval Intensity Training (HIIT) on the Performance of Basketball Players 10-15 Years Old

Abstract

Basketball is a game of seconds. A characteristic of this sport is the high intensity, the pressure of one or more different opponents, and very short recovery times. From a physiological-biomechanical point of view, basketball is classified among the sports activities with alternating aerobic-anaerobic energy commitment, with district demands of medium to high strength and endurance. Based on the High Interval Intensity Training Program (HIIT), in 8 weeks in a group of children aged 10-15, taking into account the efficiency of time, we look up to help the athletic youth progress, offering the improvement of other important skills, such as coordination skills, speed, and performance. This study aims to identify the biomechanical variables that directly affect their progress. In this study participated 15 subjects (age: 12.53 ± 2.09; height: 1.59 ± 0.10; body mass: 49.82 ± 16.78; BMI: 19.21 ± 3.98), basketball players of the basketball team "Sonia Basket." To achieve this aim, the CMJ (countermovement jump) and SJ (squat jump) vertical jump tests were performed on the force platform. The evaluation of the data was made using statistical analysis processing methods. The independent t-test results revealed a statistical improvement of 3 cm in the maximum height in the CMJ test and 90N in the maximum force in the SJ test due to the method called "HIIT." The results of this study of the HIIT method show a positive physical and physiological development of the players in such a way as to offer them the opportunity to express the highest level of performance in the game of basketball. If this training method is used for an even longer time, the results will be many times higher and will affect even more the improvements of all biomechanical parameters.