Monitoring performance, pituitary-adrenal hormones and mood profiles: how to diagnose non-functional over-reaching in male elite junior soccer players

Objective To verify if in male elite junior soccer players a minimum 1-month performance decrease is accompanied by a mood profile and hormone levels typical of non-functional over-reaching (NFOR). Design A prospective case-control study using a monthly performance monitor with a standardised field test to detect the performance changes. Players with a performance decrease lasting at least 1 month were compared with control players without a performance decrease on mood scores and pre-exercise and post-exercise levels of stress hormones. Setting Sporting field and sports medical laboratory. Participants Ninety-four young elite soccer players were monitored during the 2006-2008 seasons. Twenty-one players were invited to the laboratory, seven of whom showed a significant performance decrease. Main outcome measures Performance change over time, scores on the profile of mood states and premaximal and postmaximal exercise serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH) and cortisol. Results Players with a performance decrease showed psychological and hormonal changes typical of the non-functional state of over-reaching. Scores were higher on depression and anger, whereas the resting GH levels and ACTH levels after maximal exercise were reduced. ACTH and GH were capable of classifying all but one player correctly as either NFOR or control. Conclusions Performance-related criteria in field tests are capable of identifying players with worsened mood and adaptations of the endocrine system that fit the definition of NFOR. Performance, mood and hormone levels may therefore be considered as valid instruments to diagnose NFOR in young elite soccer players

On delay co-ordinates in stochastic dynamical systems

<p>The aim of the present study was to find early markers for overreaching that are applicable in sport practice. In a group of elite soccer players aged 1518, the stressrecovery balance and reaction times before and after exercise were assessed. Overreaching was indicated by an elevated submaximal heart rate during a sport-specific field test. Submaximal changes in heart rate were prospectively monitored by means of monthly Interval Shuttle Run Tests during two competitive seasons. Out of 94 players, seven players with an elevated heart rate of at least one month could be included in the study, together with seven controls, matched for age, body composition, training and performance level. The stressrecovery balance was assessed with the Dutch version of the Recovery Stress Questionnaire (RESTQ-Sport). The soccer players with an elevated heart rate reported a disturbed stressrecovery balance (MannWhitney test, P</p>

Monitoring load, recovery and performance in young elite soccer players

Brink, MS, Nederhof, E, Visscher, C, Schmikli, SL, and Lemmink, KAPM. Monitoring load, recovery, and performance in young elite soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 24(3): 597603, 2010-The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between training load, recovery, and monthly field test performance in young elite soccer players to develop training guidelines to enhance performance. In a prospective, non-experimental cohort design, 18 young elite soccer players registered training and match duration for a full competitive season by means of daily training logs. Furthermore, session rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and total quality of recovery (TOR) scores were recorded. Weekly duration (TL(d)) load (duration X session RPE = TL(rpe)), and TOR scores were calculated for 1 and 2 weeks before a monthly submaximal interval shuttle run tests to determine interval endurance capacity. Participants spent on average 394.4 +/- 134.9 minutes per week on training and game play with an average session RPE of 14.4 +/- 1.2 (somewhat hard) and TOR of 14.7 +/- 1.3 (good recovery). Random intercept models showed that every extra hour training or game play resulted in enhanced field test performance (p <0.05). Session RPE and TOR scores did not contribute to the prediction of performance. The duration of training and game play in the week before field test performance is most strongly related to interval endurance capacity. Therefore, coaches should focus on training duration to improve interval endurance capacity in elite soccer players. To evaluate the group and individual training response, field tests should be frequently executed and be incorporated in the training program

Predicting Effects of Exercise Training in Patients With Heart Failure Secondary to Ischemic or Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

The purpose of this study was to investigate which patient characteristics may predict training effects on maximal and submaximal exercise performance in patients with heart failure. Together with commonly used clinical and performance-related variables, oxygen uptake kinetics during exercise recovery were included as possible predictors. Fifty patients with heart failure (New York Heart Association class II or III) performed a 12-week training program (cycle interval and resistance training). Training effects were expressed as changes in peak oxygen uptake (Vo2), Vo2 at ventilatory threshold (VT), and the time constant of Vo2 recovery after submaximal exercise (τ-rec). After training, peak Vo2, Vo2 at VT, and τ-rec improved significantly, with a wide variety in training responses. Changes in peak Vo2 were related to changes in VT (r = 0.79, p <0.001), but both changes were not related to changes in τ-rec. Using multivariate regression analyses, post-training changes in peak Vo2 could be predicted by recovery halftime of peak Vo2 (T1/2), peak Vo2 (percentage of predicted), and peak respiratory exchange ratio (R2 = 36%). Post-training changes in VT could be predicted by T1/2 and VT (predicted) (R2 = 29%), whereas changes in τ-rec could be predicted only by τ-rec at baseline (R2 = 34%). In conclusion, oxygen recovery kinetics after maximal and submaximal exercise substantially add to the prediction of training effects in patients with heart failure, presumably because of their relations with, respectively, central and peripheral impairments of exercise capacity. However, the explained variance in training effects is not sufficient to make a definite distinction between training responders and nonresponders