Effects of Training and Competition Load on Neuromuscular Recovery, Testosterone, Cortisol, and Match Performance During a Season of Professional Football

Abstract

Introduction: Training load and other measures potentially related to match performance are routinely monitored in team-sport athletes. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of training load on such measures and on match performance during a season of professional football.Materials and Methods: Training load was measured daily as session duration times perceived exertion in 23 A-League football players. Measures of exponentially weighted cumulative training load were calculated using decay factors representing time constants of 3–28 days. Players performed a countermovement jump for estimation of a measure of neuromuscular recovery (ratio of flight time to contraction time, FT:CT), and provided a saliva sample for measurement of testosterone and cortisol concentrations 1-day prior to each of 34 matches. Match performance was assessed via ratings provided by five coaching and fitness staff on a 5-point Likert scale. Effects of training load on FT:CT, hormone concentrations and match performance were modeled as quadratic predictors and expressed as changes in the outcome measure for a change in the predictor of one within-player standard deviation (1 SD) below and above the mean. Changes in each of five playing positions were assessed using standardization and magnitude-based inference.Results: The largest effects of training were generally observed in the 3- to 14-day windows. Center defenders showed a small reduction in coach rating when 14-day a smoothed load increased from −1 SD to the mean (-0.31, ±0.15; mean, ±90% confidence limits), whereas strikers and wide midfielders displayed a small increase in coach rating when load increased 1 SD above the mean. The effects of training load on FT:CT were mostly unclear or trivial, but effects of training load on hormones included a large increase in cortisol (102, ±58%) and moderate increase in testosterone (24, ±18%) in center defenders when 3-day smoothed training load increased 1 SD above the mean. A 1 SD increase in training load above the mean generally resulted in substantial reductions in testosterone:cortisol ratio.Conclusion: The effects of recent training on match performance and hormones in A-League football players highlight the importance of position-specific monitoring and training.

C-Reactive Protein Serum Levels as an Internal Load Indicator of Sprints in Competitive Football Matches

“…Therefore, considering the 48 h duration of their acute phase after a football match, the incremental behavior observed in the three games analyzed by this study may be associated with the accumulation of residual muscle damages from previous matches that have not yet been fully regenerated. This hypothesis would reinforce results from previous studies that found an association between athletes' accumulated fatigue during the competitive season and their physiological responses [26,28,46].…”

“…Research shows that the volume of sprints performed in a match remains the same even when reducing the time in-between each match [18,19] and that non-contact injuries increase when more than one match is played per week [20][21][22]. Several studies have investi- gated the neuromuscular and physiological responses caused by training and match-play [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. However, some of the procedures available to measure these responses require that the players perform the same efforts that provoked them in the first place [3,30].…”

“…However, some of the procedures available to measure these responses require that the players perform the same efforts that provoked them in the first place [3,30]. Research on the behavior of biochemical, hormonal, and immunological markers (usually collected through blood, urine or saliva) are increasing in importance because they are arguably capable of signaling an eventual or imminent state of weakness in the organism [3,[25][26][27][28] without running submaximal and/or maximal physical tests [5]. In addition, inflammatory biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukins, are associated both with the physical stress imposed by match-play [27,[31][32][33][34], and with the increased susceptibility to injury risk, overreaching and overtraining [4,7,35].…”

Investigation of the Relationship Between Salivary Cortisol, Training Load, and Subjective Markers of Recovery in Elite Rugby Union Players

“…Contradictory to these, Rowell et al 23 Table 2). These results may indicate that players did not sufficiently recover from the previous week of training or match, as it has been found players' physiological stress can take up to 48-hours to reduce to baseline levels post-match.…”

Development of a Derivatization Method for Investigating Testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry in Saliva Samples from Young Professional Soccer Players Pre- and Post-Training

“…Regarding the impact of the training load on Sal-T, testosterone was increased for both short and long periods of training (3 to 28 days). Although the Sal-T level increased in both periods, the performance improved only for the majority of midfielders [13].…”