Purpose: This study investigated the influence of components of fitness on measures of performance attenuation and recovery following Gaelic football match play. Methods: Measurements of players’ anthropometric characteristics, body composition, running speed, lower-body strength and power, blood lactate concentrations, running economy, and maximal aerobic capacity () were taken over 2 separate days 1 week prior to a competitive match. Creatine kinase, countermovement jump height, drop jump height, contact time, reactive strength index, and perceptual responses were tested prematch, at full time, 24 hours postmatch, and 48 hours postmatch. Results: Multiple components of fitness were associated with reduced performance attenuation and improved recovery responses (adjusted R2 = 9.8%–27.6%; P < .05). Players were divided into higher-standard and lower-standard (higher standard: 57.4 [4.2] mL·kg−1·min−1; lower standard: 45.3 [3.8] mL·kg−1·min−1) and relative squat (higher standard: 1.46 [0.11] 1-repetition-maximum kg·body mass−1; lower standard: 1.20 [0.08] 1-repetition-maximum kg·body mass−1) groups. After adjusting for prematch baseline differences, there were significant differences between groups in drop jump height at 24 hours postmatch (; P < .05) and countermovement jump height at 48 hours postmatch (; P < .05), where the lower-standard group displayed larger decrements. In addition, there were significant differences between relative squat groups at all postmatch time points in contact time (; P < .05) and reactive strength index (; P < .05) and in perceptual responses at 24 hours postmatch (; P < .05), where the lower-standard group expressed larger decrements. Conclusion: Coaches should prioritize the development of aerobic capacity and neuromuscular function as an effective method of reducing performance attenuation and enhancing recovery kinetics in Gaelic football.
This study investigated acute changes in markers of fatigue and performance attenuation during and following a competitive senior club-level Gaelic football match. Forty-one players were tested immediately pre-match, at half-time, full-time, 24 h post-match and 48 h post-match. Creatine kinase, drop jump height and contact-time, reactive strength index, countermovement jump height and perceptual responses were assessed at the aforementioned time-points. 18 Hz global positioning system devices were used to record players in-game workload measures. Compared to pre-match, perceptual responses (−27.6%) and countermovement jump height (−3.9%) were significantly reduced at full-time (p < 0.05). Drop jump height (−8.8%), perceptual responses (−27.6%), reactive strength index (−15.6%) and countermovement jump height (−8.6%) were significantly lower 24 h post-match (p < 0.05). Pre-match creatine kinase was significantly increased (+16.2% to +159.9%) when compared to all other time-points (p < 0.05). Total distance, total accelerations, total sprints, sprint distance and average heart rate were all correlated to changes in perceptual responses (r = 0.34 to 0.56, p < 0.05). Additionally, maximum speed achieved (r = 0.34) and sprint distance (r = 0.31) were significantly related to countermovement jump changes (p < 0.05), while impacts (r = 0.36) were correlated to creatine kinase increases (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that Gaelic football match-play elicits substantial neuromuscular, biochemical and perceptual disturbances.
Purpose: This study investigated Gaelic games players’ (1) use of postexercise recovery strategies; (2) recovery strategies according to sport, biological sex, and playing standard; and (3) recovery strategy periodization. Methods: Participants were a total of 1178 Gaelic players (n = 574 female), age 24.6 (6.6) years. These players completed a questionnaire investigating postexercise recovery strategies. Participants were further dichotomized by playing standard into developmental (club/collegiate; n = 869) and national (intercounty; n = 309) levels and by sporting codes: Gaelic football (n = 813), Camogie/hurling (n = 342), and handball (n = 23). Results: Active recovery (90.4%), cold temperature exposure (79.5%), regular sleep routine (79.1%), strategic nutritional intake (72.3%), and massage (68.8%) were the most commonly used recovery strategies. Recovery strategy use was periodized by 30% of players. A significantly larger proportion of national-level players apply cold temperatures (86.7% vs 73.1%; P = .001) and nutritional strategies (80.1% vs 69.2%; P = .012) when compared with developmental players. A significantly larger proportion of female players have a regular sleep routine (82.6% vs 75.1%; P = .037), apply external heat (63.4% vs 48.5%; P = .002), and perform stretching (76.5% vs 66.4%; P = .002) postexercise when compared with male players. A significantly larger proportion of male players employ nutritional strategies (77.6% vs 67.5%; P = .007) and consume a combination of protein and carbohydrate (62.1% vs 28.0%; P < .001) postexercise when compared with female players. Conclusion: Gaelic games players regularly implement a range of postexercise recovery strategies in an attempt to expediate the return of performance capacity and psychophysiological status to preexercise levels. The current findings may support practitioners who seek to prescribe effective and periodized recovery interventions targeting optimized preference/compliance.
This study investigated the association of physiological attributes with in-game workload measures during competitive Gaelic football match-play. Fifty-two male developmental level Gaelic football players (mean ± SD; age: 22.9 ± 3.8 years) underwent measurements of anthropometric characteristics, running speed, muscular strength and power, blood lactate (BLa), running economy and aerobic capacity during two separate testing visits. Global Positioning System units (18-Hz) were used to record players in-game workloads during a competitive match 1-week following the baseline physiological assessments. Results indicated that players body fat percentage, drop jump height (DJ) and running velocity at 4 mmol · L −1 BLa were significantly associated with the number of high-speed runs completed (Adjusted R 2 26.8% to 39.5%; p < 0.05) while 20 m running speed, running velocity at 2 mmol · L −1 BLa and DJ were significantly associated with the number of accelerations completed (Adjusted R 2 17.2% to 22.0%; p < 0.05) during match-play. Additionally, aerobic capacity and body fat percentage were significantly associated with total distance (Adjusted R 2 14.4% to 22.4%; p < 0.05) while body fat percentage, DJ and 20 m running speed were significantly associated with high-speed distance (Adjusted R 2 17.8% to 22.0%; p < 0.05). Players were also divided into higher-standard and lower-standard groups using a median split of these physiological attributes. Players in the higher-standard groups completed significantly more high-speed runs and accelerations and covered significantly larger total and high-speed distances (+10.4% to +36.8%; ES = 0.67 to 0.88; p < 0.05) when compared to the lower-standard groups. This study demonstrates that superior levels of physical conditioning are associated with larger in-game workloads during Gaelic football match-play.
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