Competition Stress Prolongs Exercise Recovery In Collegiate Soccer Players

Abstract

Athlete conditioning is vital to success in collegiate soccer. Effective conditioning programs incorporate adequate rest between exercise sessions. The duration of an athlete's recovery may be sensitive to variables beyond training load, including emotional and psychological factors. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of competition stress on recovery time in female collegiate soccer players. METHODS: We monitored 30 Division 1 female soccer players for 35 consecutive days. All athletes wore Polar Team Pro devices (Polar Electro Inc., Bethpage, NY), which recorded duration of exercise, total distance covered, kcals burned, number of sprints performed, average and maximum speed achieved, average and maximum heart rate (HR), and Polar calculations of training load, cardio load, and recovery duration in hours. Data were captured for 20 practices and 7 games, resulting in 858 observations. Linear regression tested the effect of formal competition on recovery duration holding constant time of day and all significant workload variables. RESULTS: Players were 20.1 ± 1.1 years of age. Across all practice and competition sessions, the mean duration of exercise was 59.0 ± 38.8 min, total distance covered was 2,518.9 ± 2,074.5 m, and estimated energy consumption was 381.7 ± 284.8 kcals. Athletes performed 5.9 ± 7.9 sprints per session, maintained an average speed of 2.8 ± 1.2 km/h, and achieved a maximum speed of 20.7 ± 7.3 km/h. Average HR was 131.9 ± 24.3 bpm, maximum HR was 177.4 ± 32.7 bpm, training load was 70.1 ± 59.3, and cardio load was 76.0 ± 62.2. Recovery duration was 12.8 ± 15.7 hr following practice sessions and 51.3 ± 59.6 hr following competitions (p < 0.001). Holding constant all significant predictors (time of day, exercise duration, total distance covered, estimated kcals, number of sprints, average speed, average HR, training load, and cardio load), formal competition corresponded to 33.8 additional hours of recovery (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = 27.7 to 39.9; model r2 = 0.691; adjusted r2 = 0.687). CONCLUSION: Sufficient recovery is a crucial component of optimal performance in collegiate athletics. Our data indicate prolonged recovery duration following formal competition settings, which could not be explained by workload. Further research on psychological contribution to allostatic load is warranted.