Fysiologiska kvaliteter hos manliga tävlingscyklister och effekten av högintensiv intervallträning
Abstract Road cycling is well established and has always been described as a highly endurance sport. To be able to compete in such a demanding sport the physiology of the athletes needs to be greatly developed. This review will focus on high intensity interval training and its impact on the physiological characteristics of competitive road cyclists. The main difference between different levels of competitive road cyclists seems to be the capacity to maintain a high sub maximal power output over a long period of time in order to succeed. High intensity interval training, from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, leads to improved VO2peak, aerobic peak power and time trial performance. The intensities used during these intervals are all based on the cyclists aerobic power output. Despite these findings, very few researches have studied the impact of interval training among professional road cyclists. Future research should therefore make us of mobile power meter units as a part to implement professional road cyclists in studies concerning interval training. In that way the cyclists will be able to train under their regularly routine in their ordinary training environment. Keywords: Competitive road cyclists, interval training, physiological characteristics, power meter.