Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a match lost and a match won on post-competitive heart rate variability (HRV) in semi-professional female soccer athletes. A total of 13 players, with a mean age of 23.75 (5.32), from the Cáceres Women Football Club of the Spanish Second National Division participated in our study. They were evaluated in two microcycles which correspond to a match lost and a match won. For each microcycle, baseline and post-competitive measures were collected. Results indicate that HRV was significantly reduced before a match lost and won. Significant differences in HRV variables were observed when compared the lost match, and the match won. Results highlight the importance and usefulness of analyzing the HRV as an indicator of post-competitive fatigue in semiprofessional soccer players. Therefore, a competition’s results could be considered a relevant variable to consider when programming training load.
Highlights
Biological signals are used as tools for controlling and evaluating training loads and acute and chronic effects on the athlete’s body [1,2]
Significantly decreased after both a lost and a won match. In this regard, comparing the impact of the two matches, a lost match induced a significant decrease in Heart rate variability (HRV) variables (RR, pNN50, RMSSD, total power, SD1, and SD2) compared with the post-competitive HRV values obtained after the match won
Our results showed that a lost match induced a decrease in HRV variables such as RR, pNN50, RMSSD, total power, SD1, and SD2
Summary
Biological signals are used as tools for controlling and evaluating training loads and acute and chronic effects on the athlete’s body [1,2]. It is a process that has an effect on some variables of physical performance (technique or precision), and that must be taken into account in football training and recovery [23,24,25] In this regard, a previous study showed that depending on the quality of the teams against which one competes, the distance and the intensity are different, which influences the players’ fatigue [26]. Previous studies have found that soccer players who lost a match significantly performed higher distance sprinting and high-speed running than those players who won the match [32] These findings, together, could suggest that the results of a competition might have a significant impact on the players’ HRV. Significant differences are found in a lost soccer match when compared with a won match
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