HIT Maintains Performance During the Transition Period and Improves Next Season Performance in Well-Trained Cyclists
Participants
n=13 well-trained cyclists
EXP group: n=7 — low-intensity endurance training (LIT) plus one high-intensity (HIT) session every 7-10 days during the transition period
TRAD group: n=6 — traditional approach focusing on LIT
The only difference between groups was more time with HIT during the transition phase in EXP.
Protocol
Testing points: after the competition season (pre-test), after the 8-week transition period, and after the 16-week preparatory period, i.e. before the subsequent competition season.
Transition period: 8 weeks. EXP: LIT + one HIT session every 7-10 days. TRAD: LIT.
Preparatory period: 16 weeks for both groups.
Outcomes in the abstract: power output at 4 mmol/L lactate, mean power in a 40-min all-out trial. Results are given as between-group changes with 90% confidence intervals and qualitative probabilities ("very likely", "likely").
Key Findings
| Outcome | Time point | Between-group change in favour of EXP (90% CI) | Inference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power at 4 mmol/L | after the 8-week transition | 10.6% (±8.2%) | very likely larger in EXP |
| Power at 4 mmol/L | after the 16-week preparatory period | 12.9% (±11.9%) | very likely larger in EXP |
| 40-min all-out mean power | after the 8-week transition | 12.4% (±7.6%) | very likely larger in EXP |
| 40-min all-out mean power | pre-test → after the preparatory period | 6.0% (±6.6%) | likely larger improvement in EXP |
The abstract reports differences between groups, not each group's own change; it does not report VO2max or the fraction of VO2max at threshold.
Authors' conclusion: HIT sessions should be incorporated during the transition phase to avoid a reduction in fitness and performance and thereby raise the likelihood of improving from the end of one season to the beginning of the next.
Mechanisms
Inference, not tested here: a single hard session every 7-10 days appears to be enough of a stimulus to keep threshold power and 40-min power from sliding during a low-volume period, and the group that kept it started the preparatory period from a higher point; the abstract measures no physiological mechanism.
Practical Application
In n=13 well-trained cyclists, one HIT session every 7-10 days on top of low-intensity training during an 8-week transition period (EXP, n=7) versus low-intensity training only (TRAD, n=6) gave a very likely larger power at 4 mmol/L lactate (between-group difference 10.6%, 90% CI ±8.2%) and 40-min all-out power (12.4%, ±7.6%) after the transition; after the following 16-week preparatory period the 4 mmol/L advantage was still 12.9% (±11.9%) and the 40-min improvement from pre-season to the new season was likely larger in EXP (6.0%, ±6.6%). A reduced-load period is not an intensity-free period: one hard session every week to ten days protected fitness and the gain carried into the next season.
Inference, not tested: the same logic applies to a recovery or deload week inside a season — keep one intensity session at reduced volume. A taper keeps intensity and cuts volume (REF-107).
After an enforced break, resume one hard session per 7-10 days early rather than waiting for the base to "come back" first (inference from this design; not tested as a return-from-break protocol).
Not from this paper: sprint-type sessions as an alternative transition-period stimulus are in Taylor 2021 REF-165.
Limitations
n=13 in two small groups (7 vs 6); not randomised as described in the abstract; inferences are magnitude-based ("very likely", "likely") with wide 90% CIs.
The session format of the HIT, the size of the load reduction and the athletes' VO2max are not in the abstract; any such detail has to come from the full text.
Between-group changes only: how much TRAD actually lost versus how much EXP gained is not given in the abstract.
7 vs 6 well-trained men, not randomised (quasi-experimental).
The next-season outcomes also reflect the 16 weeks of preparation both groups did.
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level
regraded 2026-09-27 from A-: two-group non-randomised trial, n=13 (7 vs 6)
Content correction 2026-09-27
"Power at 4 mmol +5%, 40-min +5%, VO2max maintained, %VO2max at OBLA maintained, TRAD declined, p<0.05" -> abstract reports between-group changes (90% CI): 4 mmol/L 10.6% (8.2%) after transition and 12.9% (11.9%) after preparation; 40-min 12.4% (7.6%) after transition and 6.0% (6.6%) pre-test to after preparation, with magnitude-based inference, no p-values, no VO2max or OBLA results.
"VO2max 68-69 ml/kg/min, age 30-32, ~40% load reduction, 5×6 min or 6×5 min, 4-5 HIT over 8 weeks, SDH loss" -> not in the abstract; removed.
Level A- -> B (two-group non-randomised trial, n=13) per KB-LEVEL-RUBRIC; Sport "sprint" label dropped.
Cross-reference descriptions checked against the cited entries' current content; wrong years, wrong entries and claims the cited entry does not make were corrected.