This can aid in enhancing the clarity and confidence regarding possible reasons for changes in performance and minimizing the degree of uncertainty associated with the changes. Monitoring training load can provide a scientific explanation for changes in performance. Reasons For and Against Monitoring Training LoadĪs mentioned above, there are a number of reasons why monitoring training load has become a modern, scientific approach to understanding athletes training responses and competition readiness. The objective of this article is to describe the current scientific information available relating to tools for monitoring training load in athletes and to outline some of the practical considerations when both planning and implementing monitoring in athletes. While monitoring within elite and professional sport is often extensive, much of these data remain protected and unpublished. To date, research in this area is limited and much of what we know about monitoring comes from personal experience and anecdotal information. Monitoring the training load of an athlete is viewed by many as important to determine whether an athlete is adapting to the training program and to minimize the risk of non-functional overreaching (fatigue lasting weeks to months), injury, and illness. For the purpose of this review, and to reflect a practical perspective, fatigue will be defined as “an inability to complete a task that was once achievable within a recent time frame”. The definitions and caveats mentioned above highlight both the multi-factorial nature of fatigue and the inherent complexities of trying to monitor or measure fatigue in the athlete. Further, the physiological and training status of the athlete and the environmental conditions may also significantly influence fatigue. One of the most common definitions of fatigue was proposed by Edwards, and states that fatigue is a “failure to maintain the required or expected force (or power output).” Fatigue can also be influenced by the type of stimulus (voluntary or electrical), type of contraction (isometric, isotonic, and intermittent or continual), duration, frequency and intensity of exercise, and type of muscle. Indeed, a number of different definitions of fatigue exist, often dependent upon the experimental model employed and/or the conditions under which they occur. įatigue is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has a variety of possible mechanisms. Ensuring that fatigue is titrated appropriately is important for both adaptations to training as well as for competition performance. Training loads are adjusted at various times during the training cycle to either increase or decrease fatigue depending on the phase of training (i.e. Appropriate monitoring of training load can provide important information to athletes and coaches however, monitoring systems should be intuitive, provide efficient data analysis and interpretation, and enable efficient reporting of simple, yet scientifically valid, feedback.Īs athletes strive to improve their performance, modifications in training load are required, particularly increases in frequency, duration, and intensity. Detecting meaningful changes with scientific and statistical approaches can provide confidence and certainty when implementing change. The monitoring approach taken with athletes may depend on whether the athlete is engaging in individual or team sport activity however, the importance of individualization of load monitoring cannot be over emphasized. Other monitoring tools used by high-performance programs include heart rate recovery, neuromuscular function, biochemical/hormonal/immunological assessments, questionnaires and diaries, psychomotor speed, and sleep quality and quantity. Dissociation between external and internal load units may reveal the state of fatigue of an athlete. Research has investigated a number of external load quantifying and monitoring tools, such as power output measuring devices, time-motion analysis, as well as internal load unit measures, including perception of effort, heart rate, blood lactate, and training impulse. However, very few of these markers have strong scientific evidence supporting their use, and there is yet to be a single, definitive marker described in the literature. In order to gain an understanding of the training load and its effect on the athlete, a number of potential markers are available for use. Appropriate load monitoring can aid in determining whether an athlete is adapting to a training program and in minimizing the risk of developing non-functional overreaching, illness, and/or injury. Many athletes, coaches, and support staff are taking an increasingly scientific approach to both designing and monitoring training programs.
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