Repeated Sprints and the Relationship with Anaerobic and Aerobic Fitness of Basketball Athletes

IntroductionBasketball is characterized as predominantly anaerobic, with elite athletes often subjected to more than 2,700 actions of intermittent characteristics, which involve walking, running, sprinting, and jumping (Scanlan, Dascombe, & Reaburn, 2011). From the point of view of high-intensity actions, time-motion studies have reported that 28.49%-49.06% of the actions are sprint (Abdelkrim, Fazaa, & Ati, 2007; McInnes et al., 1995), which is considered as one of the most required actions to the athletes. By observing repetition of intermittent efforts in basketball, power endurance appears to be an imperative component of athletic fitness, as the ability to sustain the greatest power during various efforts can be crucial at decisive moments in the game (Taylor et al., 2015). The ability to perform successive sprint efforts is termed as repetitive sprint ability (RSA) and is characterized by short high-intensity (Despite the anaerobic predominance in efforts of this nature, previous studies have suggested that a high aerobic fitness can contribute to the performance of repeated efforts (David Bishop, Edge, & Goodman, 2004; Jones et al., 2013; McGawley & Bishop, 2015). However, the literature does not present a consensual correlation between maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and RSA indexes, in which some studies reported a significant correlation (r = -0.57 and (r=0.78) (Gharbi et al., 2015; Stanula et al., 2014), while others did not (Dardouri et al., 2014; Stojanovic et al., 2012). In addition, it should be noted that other indicators of aerobic fitness should be analyzed in relation to RSA, such as the anaerobic threshold and the respiratory compensation point, and not just the VO2max. Thus, if we observe the relevance of performing repeated sprints in basketball or modalities with similar demand, the identification of variables that can optimize RSA performance becomes essential, providing information relevant to sports professionals. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to verify the relationship between aerobic and anaerobic fitness in RSA performance.MethodsParticipantsA total of n=20 male college basketball athletes aged between 18 and 24 years took part in this cross-sectional study. As an inclusion criterion, athletes should be participating in basketball competitions over a three years period and continuously training over the last six months. Athletes with cardiovascular diseases history, musculoskeletal injury; and those ones using ergogenic substances regularly were excluded from the sample. The study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Health Sciences Center of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte - UFRN - Brazil (Number: 1.812.430), following the guidelines for data collection in humans, according to resolution no. 466/12, of 12/12/2012, of the National Health Council, as well as the ethical principles contained in the Declaration of Helsinki. All subjects who voluntarily participated in the research signed a Free and Informed Consent Term.Study designFor data collection, the athletes were submitted to an evaluation of body composition and aerobic and anaerobic fitness. …