What are multiple sprints? Well, in team games players are required to sprint intermittently throughout the match and thus multiple times.

It is often the team who can compete at a high intensity for the longest period of time that wins the game. Specifically, the team that performs more high intensity sprints.

There are two key components required to be successful in multiple sprints. Firstly, the ability to run fast and secondly the ability to recover from high intensity sprints.

Sprinting places a considerable demand upon anaerobic energy systems and due to this many bi-products of energy production are formed.

Unfortunately for us, some of these bi-products slow us down by inhibiting various physiological processes.

It is therefore imperative that we reduce the impact of these bi-products by eliminating them from our body.

How? Through the magic of oxygen! Research has shown that when oxygen availability is increased multiple sprint performance also increases. In contrast, when oxygen availability is decreased the rate of muscle fatigue increases.

So how can we increase oxygen availability? EPO? Blood doping? Hyperbaric chambers? No. There’s a much more ethical and practical way. Endurance training.

An excellent example of how endurance training can increase multiple sprint performance is the research of Helgerud et al. (2001).

Helgerud et al. (2001) had elite junior soccer players running 4 intervals of 4-mins at 90-95% max heart rate interspersed with 3-mins rest twice per week for 8 weeks.

By the end of the training programme the players had increased the number of sprints they performed in a match on average by 100%!

Whether this performance increase was due to increased oxygen availability or other mechanisms is unknown, but what we do know is that endurance training facilitated this improvement.

My advice is that if you compete in an intermittent sport then you should always have an aerobic base, and training like the players in the study above will help you achieve an excellent base for the season.

Alan Ruddock CSCS, YCS