The effect of six-week bodyweight high-intensity interval training on the performance of young female athletes

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the impact of high-intensity interval training with bodyweight on the physical performance of young female athletes. Thirteen young female athletes participated in the study. Participants performed HIIT with bodyweight three times a week for six weeks, following five months of standardized training. The study examined participants' aerobic and anaerobic performance, including their countermovement jump (CMJ), 30-meter sprint, change of direction (COD), flexibility, weight, and body mass index (BMI). The study was designed as a single-blind, posttest-only, single-group repeated measurement study. All analyses were conducted with a 95% confidence interval, and a significance level was accepted as α = 0.05. The effect size (ES) was calculated according to Cohen's effect size. The study revealed statistically significant differences in all outputs except for BMI (p < 0.05). Bodyweight HIIT had a large to small effect on the following parameters: VO2max (d = 1.48), Illinois COD test (d = 0.93), 30-meter sprint (d = 0.78), CMJ (d = 0.75), flexibility (d = 0.63), BMI (d = 0.62), peak power (d = 0.61), weight loss (d = 0.58), mean power (d = 0.55). The study results indicated that HIIT with bodyweight could improve the performance of young female athletes.