ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of running drills during an interval training program on biomechanical parameters of running. Thirty recreational runners, divided into 2 groups (control group and experimental group [EG]), were submitted to a 15-week interval training, but only EG performed running drills in the training. The test sessions were accomplished before and after intervention. Spatiotemporal and kinetic variables were analyzed at 2 speeds: maximum (Smax) and comfortable (Scomf). For moment effect, significant increases were observed for Scomf (8.9%) and Smax (10.7%) after training. Variables related to mechanical load were also higher after training for both speeds (LR1: 16.4% and Imp75: 7.8% at Scomf; LR1: 21.4% and Imp75: 8.1% at Smax). For training approach effect, higher value of Imp75 was observed in EG (10.1% at Scomf and 11.9% at Smax, without performance improvements). Also, EG presented higher values of Fy2 (6.7% at Scomf and 6.1% at Smax) and FT (13.3% at Scomf), variables related to the center of mass oscillation. As a conclusion, including running drills in a 15-week interval running training seems not to be an efficient procedure to improve parameters related to mechanical load and performance.
