Abstract
Background: Continuously rising performances in elite adolescent athletes requires increasing training loads. This training overload without professional monitoring, could lead to overtraining in these adolescents. Methods: 31 elite adolescent athletes (boys: n = 19, 16 yrs; girls: n = 12, 15 yrs) participated in a field-test which contained a unified warm-up and a 200 m maximal freestyle swimming test. Saliva samples for testosterone (T) in boys, estradiol (E) in girls and cortisol (C) in both genders were collected pre-, post- and 30 min post-exercise. Lactate levels were obtained pre- and post-exercise. Brunel Mood Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and psychosomatic symptoms questionnaires were filled out post-exercise. Results: Lactate levels differed between genders (boys: pre: 1.01 ± 0.26; post: 8.19 ± 3.24; girls: pre: 0.74 ± 0.23; post: 5.83 ± 2.48 mmol/L). C levels increased significantly in boys: pre- vs. post- (p = 0.009), pre- vs. 30 min post-exercise (p = 0.003). The T level (p = 0.0164) and T/C ratio (p = 0.0004) decreased after field test which draws attention to the possibility of overtraining. Maximal and resting heart rates did not differ between genders; however, heart rate recovery did (boys: 29.22 ± 7.4; girls: 40.58 ± 14.50 beats/min; p = 0.008). Conclusions: Our models can be used to explain the hormonal ratio changes (37.5–89.8%). Based on the results this method can induce hormonal response in elite adolescent athletes and can be used to notice irregularities with repeated measurements.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe high physiological and psychological demand of physical exercise and training with maximal intensity creates short- and long-term responses and adaptations of the human body
Inspired by the limited literature of youth layer our study focuses on the uniform exercise-induced physiological and psychological changes of elite adolescent athletes
Boys’ T level was elevated post-exercise compared to pre-exercise levels; girls’ E level post-field test (FT) did not differ significantly from the pre-FT level (Table 1)
Summary
The high physiological and psychological demand of physical exercise and training with maximal intensity creates short- and long-term responses and adaptations of the human body. The well-known morphological and cellular changes are observed of inadequate adaptation to exercise in adults [1]. Knowledge of adolescent elite athletes is still limited in this field of sport sciences. Hormonal changes induced by exercise and training have an important role in adaptation, especially among adolescent athletes due to the higher level of hormone production through maturation. Hormones affect body composition through energy balance, cellular structure changes, mineral absorption and secretion, responses to stimulus, function of the immune system and several other processes through inhibition or stimulation [2]. Several studies investigated the effect of exercise and psychological stress to C iations
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