PurposeTo describe training variations across the annual cycle in Olympic and World Champion endurance athletes, and determine whether these athletes used tapering strategies in line with recommendations in the literature.MethodsEleven elite XC skiers and biathletes (4 male; 28±1 yr, 85±5 mL. min−1. kg−1 , 7 female, 25±4 yr, 73±3 mL. min−1. kg−1 ) reported one year of day-to-day training leading up to the most successful competition of their career. Training data were divided into periodization and peaking phases and distributed into training forms, intensity zones and endurance activity forms.ResultsAthletes trained ∼800 h/500 sessions.year−1, including ∼500 h. year−1 of sport-specific training. Ninety-four percent of all training was executed as aerobic endurance training. Of this, ∼90% was low intensity training (LIT, below the first lactate threshold) and 10% high intensity training (HIT, above the first lactate threshold) by time. Categorically, 23% of training sessions were characterized as HIT with primary portions executed at or above the first lactate turn point. Training volume and specificity distribution conformed to a traditional periodization model, but absolute volume of HIT remained stable across phases. However, HIT training patterns tended to become more polarized in the competition phase. Training volume, frequency and intensity remained unchanged from pre-peaking to peaking period, but there was a 32±15% (P<.01) volume reduction from the preparation period to peaking phase.ConclusionsThe annual training data for these Olympic and World champion XC skiers and biathletes conforms to previously reported training patterns of elite endurance athletes. During the competition phase, training became more sport-specific, with 92% performed as XC skiing. However, they did not follow suggested tapering practice derived from short-term experimental studies. Only three out of 11 athletes took a rest day during the final 5 days prior to their most successful competition.

Despite a voluminous body of research devoted to sprint training, our understanding of the training process leading to a world-class sprint performance is limited. The objective of this review is to integrate scientific and best practice literature regarding the training and development of elite sprint performance. Sprint performance is heavily dependent upon genetic traits, and the annual within-athlete performance differences are lower than the typical variation, the smallest worthwhile change, and the influence of external conditions such as wind, monitoring methodologies, etc. Still, key underlying determinants (e.g., power, technique, and sprint-specific endurance) are trainable. In this review, we describe how well-known training principles (progression, specificity, variation/periodization, and individualization) and varying training methods (e.g., sprinting/running, technical training, strength/power, plyometric training) are used in a sprint training context. Indeed, there is a considerable gap between science and best practice in how training principles and methods are applied. While the vast majority of sprint-related studies are performed on young team sport athletes and focus on brief sprints with maximal intensity and short recoveries, elite sprinters perform sprinting/running over a broad range of distances and with varying intensity and recovery periods. Within best practice, there is a stronger link between choice of training component (i.e., modality, duration, intensity, recovery, session rate) and the intended purpose of the training session compared with the “one-size-fits-all” approach in scientific literature. This review provides a point of departure for scientists and practitioners regarding the training and development of elite sprint performance and can serve as a position statement for outlining state-of-the-art sprint training recommendations and for generation of new hypotheses to be tested in future research.

Purpose: The overall objective of this thesis was to investigate the role and development of sprinting speed in soccer. Six original studies plus a published review have been completed towards with this objective.Valid and reliable measurement of sprint times is a prerequisite to reliably detect true changes in sprinting performance. Therefore, the purpose of study I was to quantify potential sprint time differences between single beamed (SB) and dual beamed (DB) timing systems. The aim of study II was to compare different sprint start positions and generate correction factors between popular timing triggering methods on 40 m sprint. The results from these two methodological studies secured a fundamental platform for interpretation of further sprint data in the thesis. The purpose of studies III and IV was to use a large database of soccer athlete sprint and countermovement jump (CMJ) tests collected under highly standardized conditions over 15 years to estimate generalizable differences in sprinting speed and jumping height as a function of: 1) athlete playing level, 2) field position, and 3) age. Additionally, we also evaluated the evolution of sprint and CMJ ability among male professionals and female elite players in Norwegian soccer over a 15 year period. The purpose of study VI was to investigate the effect of training at 90% sprint speed on maximal and repeated sprinting performance in soccer. The aim of study VII was two fold: 1) To compare the effects of training at 90 and 100% sprint speed on maximal and repeated sprint performance, and 2) to compare the effects of directly supervised sprint training versus unsupervised training on maximal and repeated sprint performance. Results: Simultaneous measurements with SB and DB timing revealed that coefficient of variation (CV) was 0.4 and 0.7% for 0-20 m and 20-40 m sprint times, respectively, while SEM was 0.01 s for both distances when arm and leg motion was controlled for (study I, phase 1), During normal sprint action (study I, phase 2), CV increased to 1.4 and 1.2% for 0-20 m and 20-40 m splits, respectively, while SEM was 0.02 s for both distances. During normal sprint action, absolute time differences for 0-20 m sprint times ranged from -0.05 to 0.06 s between SB and DB timing. Compared to block starts reacting to gunfire, hand release, standing photo cell start and foot release start yielded 0.17 ±0.09, 0.27 ±0.12 and 0.69 ±0.11 s faster times respectively over 40 m (study II). In study III and IV, data from a large sample of athletes tested under identical conditions demonstrated small to large differences in sprinting times across playing standards. CMJ performance was practically identical among male national teams and 1 st -2 nd division players. Forwards were faster than defenders, midfielders and goalkeepers, respectively. Sprint performance peaked in the age range 20-28 years for male professional players, while no differences in sprinting velocity were observed among female age categories. Furthermore, the data revealed a small but si...

The main aim of this study was to investigate the training characteristics of the most successful female cross-country skier ever during the best period of her career. The participant won six gold medals at the Olympic Games, 18 gold medals at the World Championship, and 110 World Cup victories. Day-to-day training diary data, interviews, and physiological tests were analyzed. Training data was systemized by training form (endurance, strength, and speed), intensity [low- (LIT), moderate- (MIT), and high-intensity training (HIT)], and mode (running, cycling, and skiing/roller skiing), followed by a division into different periodization phases. Specific sessions utilized in the various periodization periods and the day-to-day periodization of training, in connection with altitude camps and tapering toward major championships, were also analyzed. Following a 12-year nonlinear increase in training load, the annual training volume during the five consecutive successful years stabilized at 937 ± 25 h, distributed across 543 ± 9 sessions. During these 5 years, total training time was distributed as 90.6% endurance-, 8.0% strength-, and 1.4% speed-training, with endurance-training time consisting of 92.3 ± 0.3% LIT, 2.9 ± 0.5% MIT, and 4.8 ± 0.5% HIT. Total LIT-time consisted of 21% warm-up, 14% sessions <90 min, and 65% long-duration sessions >90 min. While the total number of LIT sessions remained stable across phases (32 sessions), total LIT-time was reduced from GP (76 h/month) to SP (68 h/month) and CP (55 h/month). MIT-time decreased from GP (2.8 h/month) to SP (2.2 h/month) and CP (1 h/month). HIT-time increased from GP (2.8 h/month) to SP (3.2 h/month) and CP (4.7 h/month). Altitude training accounted for 18–25% of annual training volume and performed across relatively short training camps (≤16 days) with a clear reduction of HIT training, but increased total and LIT volume compared to sea-level training. Training before international championships included a 2-week increase in LIT and strength volume followed by a gradual reduction of training volume and increased HIT during the last week. This study provides unique data on the world's most successful female cross-country skier's long-term training process, including novel information about the distribution of and interplay between sessions of different forms, intensities, and exercise modes throughout the annual season.

Supplemental digital content is available in the text.