Sprinting ability is a major determinate of performance in many sports, driving the development of various sprint training methods. Resistance sprint training emphasizes greater force application during running to promote increases in stride length, whereas assisted sprint training exposes athletes to higher running speeds to promote increases in stride frequency. Modern technology, such as the 1080 Sprint device, allows precise implementation of both training approaches, but limited research has examined their acute effects on sprint performance. This study investigated the acute effects of resisted and assisted sprint training using the 1080 Sprint device on 50-meter sprint performance in NCAA Division I collegiate sprinters. We hypothesized that acute resisted and assisted sprint training would be associated with improved 50-meter times. Nineteen NCAA Division I collegiate sprinters (10F, 20±1y, 65±10kg, 170±8cm, BMI: 22±2kg/m 2 ; mean±SD) participated in a quasi-randomized crossover design. Athletes completed one week of resisted sprint training and one week of assisted sprint training, with a 4-day washout between conditions. Each week included two sessions of 3×30-meter sprints, with resistance or assistance set at 10% of body weight. Sprint performance was assessed at baseline and after each week via maximal 50-meter sprints measured with electronic timing gates. Differences between baseline, post-resisted, and post-assisted conditions were evaluated using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. A total of 228 trials were scheduled, with each athlete completing 12 trials (six resisted, six assisted). Of these, 86% (n = 197) were successfully completed and recorded. There were no statistically significant changes in 50-meter sprint performance following acute resisted (baseline: 6.10±0.11 vs. resisted: 6.19±0.11 and p=0.149; mean±SEM and p value) or assisted (baseline: 6.10±0.11 vs. assisted: 6.16±0.12 and p=0.164; mean±SEM and p value) sprint training. Additionally, no significant differences were observed between assisted and resisted training. Acute exposure to assisted or resisted sprint training does not significantly improve 50-meter sprint performance in collegiate sprinters. Long-term assisted and resisted sprint training, or the use of a greater percentage of body weight, may be necessary to produce meaningful improvements in sprint performance. There are no disclosures. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.
Seward et al. (Fri,) studied this question.