Sports Med (2014) 44:1625–1628 DOI 10.1007/s40279-014-0271-x

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dr. Boullosa’s Forgotten Pieces Don’t Fit the Puzzle: A Response to Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen Daniel A. Boullosa • Laurinda Abreu

Published online: 7 October 2014  Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

To the Editor, We would like to take the opportunity to comment on the response by Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen [1]. In their response [1], the authors tried to defend their first elaboration on the topic [2, 3] more based on a principle of authority than on scientific evidence. For instance, Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen claimed that their ‘‘approach is used across a considerable number of (team) sports worldwide’’, (…) and that ‘‘the anaerobic speed reserve approach is taught in well-established and respected strength and conditioning courses throughout the world’’ [1]. The main point here is that their anaerobic speed reserve (ASR) approach is not yet supported by sufficient scientific evidence as we will illustrate in this letter. In fact, we would like to encourage Sports Medicine readers to read the cited articles for an appropriate review of the discussion [1, 4]. Of note, those cited articles are more based on scientific evidence from real training interventions than on personal observations. The authors argued that they did not elaborate in their review on the influence of protocol design for determination of the velocity associated with maximum oxygen consumption (vVO2max) on performance prediction as ‘‘such discourse would be superfluous within the context of the review’’, whereas within the same oxymoron paragraph they previously stated that Sect. 2.5 of their review

D. A. Boullosa (&) Post-Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasilia, QS 07, LT1 S/N-Sala 111-Bloco G, ´ guas Claras, DF, Brazil 71966-700 A e-mail: [email protected] L. Abreu Lavadores, Vigo, Spain

‘‘extends to more than a full page of printed text describing in detail the history, theory, as well as measurement techniques (…) in both the laboratory and the field to determine appropriate values’’ [1]. These contradictory arguments demonstrate that the authors ignore that testing protocols are not designed solely for training prescription but also for performance prediction [5], more specifically in endurance sports in which competitive performances are strongly linked to physiological characteristics [6]. The authors revealed to the audience their personal observation that the difference between methods for maximum sprinting speed (MSS) determination is lower than *2 % and thus suggested that the determination of ASR is less likely to be affected by variations in MSS compared with variations (*20 %) of vVO2max [1]. However, if we take into consideration the typical error of these parameters [1, 2, 7, 8], it is evident that inter-individual differences as exemplified by the authors in their response letter [1] could be exceeded by intra-individual differences (see Fig. 1). This observation strongly questions the use of the ASR approach for training individualisation. Moreover, their justification is astonishing given that minimal differences in MSS do result in strong differences on match activities thresholds, as relative values provide very different sprint sequences during matches when compared with absolute values [9–11]. Regarding the previous suggestion on MSS determination with sufficient recovery (*3–5 min) after incremental tests [12], it was evident that this training solution was suggested only to endurance athletes, therefore the validity of such an approach in team sports warrants further investigation. Meanwhile, it seems the authors ignore the fact that fatigue and recovery phenomena after incremental tests [12, 13] are very different

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Fig. 1 Comparative illustration of inter-individual differences and intra-individual variation in work-intensity ranges when considering two athletes with the same velocity at maximal oxygen uptake (vVO2max), but different maximal sprinting speed (MSS) [1]. Player A: 29, 21 and 18 km/h; Player B: 32, 22 and 18 km/h; for MSS, final velocity reached during the 30–15 Intermittent Fitness Test (VIFT), and vVO2max, respectively [1]. Groups of bars refer to (from left to right): VIFT expressed as a percentage of the anaerobic speed reserve (ASR); the vVO2max expressed as a percentage of the VIFT and the VIFT expressed as a percentage of the vVO2max. Black bars represent the difference between Player A and Player B values, with the label above showing the individual rounded scores. Light grey bars

represent the individual range of values for Player A; the height of the bars is the difference between maximum and minimum values obtained after considering the typical error of measurement [1, 2, 7, 8] for all performance parameters (i.e. vVO2max, VIFT and MSS); values between square brackets above the bars show the lower and upper limits of the individual range (i.e. the extreme values from the whole obtained set for Player A). Dark grey bars represent the individual range of values for player B, and were obtained as just described for A. Despite the standardisation of relative exercise intensity at the individual level [1], the illustration shows that intra-individual variation could clearly be greater than differences between players with different ‘‘locomotor profiles’’

from those of match activities [14, 15] and 5-km running time trials [16, 17]. The authors stated that Dr. Boullosa failed ‘‘to consider separately the physiological and neuromuscular requirements’’ (sic) [1] of training sessions and competitive situations when reference was made to the key role of acceleration capacity in team sports [18]. This is an example of the erroneous attribution of ideas in their response letter as we do not forget that the neuromuscular system is a physiological system. Contrary to this, it would be necessary to highlight the necessity of appropriate testing methods that provide simultaneously physical and physiological data for a better characterization of training adaptations [5]. In this regard, whereas the key role of accelerations in different team sports has been reported [19–21], it still remains to be clarified as to the link between physiological components of acceleration capacity [22–25] and physiological adaptations after high-intensity interval training (HIIT) modalities. These future studies should be conducted considering differences between physical capacities such as acceleration and agility [26, 27], standards [28, 29], playing positions [9,

30], and genders [31] in every intermittent sport. Most studies in this area are conducted with samples with very specific characteristics that do not guarantee the validity of studies’ findings in different training settings. For instance, maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) did not correlate with intermittent running ability in professional futsal players [32] while the opposite is true in football players [33]. These examples [32, 33] highlight the importance of recording both performance and physiological parameters [4] for a better understanding of athletes’ training adaptations. This is another example of the audacity of the ASR approach, which is based on a few studies with young soccer players [8, 34]. Finally, it seems the authors did not understand [1] the formula recently proposed by Tschakert and Hofmann [35]. This new equation [35] would allow the comparison of external workloads of different HIIT protocols with consideration not only of the volume but also the intensity of work and relief intervals. This is a key point for HIIT prescription as most studies in this area have been conducted with important differences in external workloads

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A Response to Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen

that obviously would influence internal workloads in a different manner. In fact, we previously reported no differences in aerobic and jump capacities after interval and continuous training of externally equated loads [36]. However, as it was previously suggested [4], the influence of other training contents and incidental physical activity with reference to our ancestors’ physical activity pattern should be also considered for appropriate comparisons [37]. Contrary to the authors’ reply [1], these aspects have not been suggested in the classical article by Bouchard and Rankinen [38], whereas the referred article by Baquet et al. [39] only suggested the influence of physical activity on endurance adaptations after endurance regimes in children. Moreover, the authors erroneously quoted the recent excellent study by Stoggl and Sperlich [40], as this study only evaluated the effect of intensity distribution on endurance capacity. Further, the previously cited [4] study by Faude et al. [41] was conducted in football players who trained more capacities than endurance athletes. It should be pointed out that the methodological approximation to sports requiring a minimum level in different physical capacities apart from aerobic capacity (e.g. football [42], futsal [43]) is very different to that of those sports requiring maximal values in aerobic capacity (e.g. endurance running, cycling [40]). Meanwhile, Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen will have to wait for more scientific evidence to better support the usefulness of the ASR approach for HIIT prescription in different sports. Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr. Oliver Faude and Dr. Eduardo Fontes for their valuable comments on a preliminary version of the letter. This letter did not receive any financial support. There are no conflicts of interest.

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Dr. Boullosa's forgotten pieces don't fit the puzzle: a response to Dr. Buchheit and Dr. Laursen.

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