Abstract
To investigate short-term training and recovery-related effects on heart rate during a standardized submaximal running test. Ten elite badminton players (7 females and 3 males) were monitored during a 12-week training period in preparation for the World Championships. Exercise heart rate (HRex) and perceived exertion were measured in response to a 5-min submaximal shuttle-run test during the morning session warm-up. This test was repeatedly performed on Mondays after 1-2 days of pronounced recovery ('recovered' state; reference condition) and on Fridays following 4 consecutive days of training ('strained' state). In addition, the serum concentration of creatine kinase and urea, perceived recovery-stress states, and jump performance were assessed before warm-up. Creatine kinase increased in the strained compared to the recovered state and the perceived recovery-stress ratings decreased and increased, respectively (range of average effects sizes: |d| = 0.93-2.90). The overall HRex was 173 bpm and the observed within-player variability (i.e., standard deviation as a coefficient of variation [CV]) was 1.3% (90% confidence interval: 1.2% to 1.5%). A linear reduction of -1.4% (-3.0% to 0.3%) was observed in HRex over the 12-week observational period. HRex was -1.5% lower (-2.2% to -0.9%) in the strained compared to the recovered state, and the standard deviation (as a CV) representing interindividual variability in this response was 0.7% (-0.6% to 1.2%). Our findings suggest that HRex measured during a standardized warm-up can be sensitive to short-term accumulation of training load, with HRex decreasing on average in response to consecutive days of training within repeated preparatory weekly microcycles. From a practical perspective, it seems advisable to determine intra-individual recovery-strain responses by repeated testing, as HRex responses may vary substantially between and within players.
Highlights
Today’s elite athletes are often faced with a busy training and competition schedule
Creatine kinase increased in the strained compared to the recovered state and the perceived recovery–stress ratings decreased and increased, respectively
Our findings suggest that HRex measured during a standardized warm-up can be sensitive to short-term accumulation of training load, with HRex decreasing on average in response to consecutive days of training within repeated preparatory weekly microcycles
Summary
Today’s elite athletes are often faced with a busy training and competition schedule. Coaches often seek supportive tools to make more efficient use of training time while maximizing adaptation and performance improvements. Within a comprehensive athlete monitoring system, HR measures can represent valuable information on athletes’ training responses, as they have been proposed to indicate the status of the cardiac autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular fitness [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The various HR measures differ in their physiological determinants and their time course of adaptation, and they display different associations to changes in fitness, fatigue, and performance [1, 8]. Exercise HR (HRex) is often suggested to be associated with (positive) aerobic training adaptation, while resting HR measures might be sensitive to fatigue [1, 6]
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