Monitoring the athlete training response: subjective self-reported measures trump commonly used objective measures: a systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundMonitoring athlete well-being is essential to guide training and to detect any progression towards negative health outcomes and associated poor performance. Objective (performance, physiological, biochemical) and subjective measures are all options for athlete monitoring.ObjectiveWe systematically reviewed objective and subjective measures of athlete well-being. Objective measures, including those taken at rest (eg, blood markers, heart rate) and during exercise (eg, oxygen consumption, heart rate response), were compared against subjective measures (eg, mood, perceived stress). All measures were also evaluated for their response to acute and chronic training load.MethodsThe databases Academic search complete, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus and PubMed were searched in May 2014. Fifty-six original studies reported concurrent subjective and objective measures of athlete well-being. The quality and strength of findings of each study were evaluated to determine overall levels of evidence.ResultsSubjective and objective measures of athlete well-being generally did not correlate. Subjective measures reflected acute and chronic training loads with superior sensitivity and consistency than objective measures. Subjective well-being was typically impaired with an acute increase in training load, and also with chronic training, while an acute decrease in training load improved subjective well-being.SummaryThis review provides further support for practitioners to use subjective measures to monitor changes in athlete well-being in response to training. Subjective measures may stand alone, or be incorporated into a mixed methods approach to athlete monitoring, as is current practice in many sport settings.

Strength Training and Metabolic Conditioning for Female Youth and Adolescent Soccer Players

“…The planning model proposed by Kiely (26) provides a framework for this approach. The use of simple monitoring tools such as RPE and wellness ratings are ideal to use within this model (9) and may provider greater sensitivity to objective measures (46).…”

Relationship between fluid loss variation and physical activity during official games in elite soccer players. [Relaciones entre la variación de pérdida de líquidos y la actividad física durante partidos oficiales en jugadores de fútbol de élite].

“…Due to the fact that the majority of the elite European soccer leagues begin during the middle of the summer, as a result, the pre-season preparation phase is usually conducted within a (extremely) warm climate (Dellal, 2008). As part of the pre-season phase, players perform repetitive intensive physical and specific sessions in order to improve their overall technical, tactical and physical profiles (Saw, Main & Gastin, 2015) knowing that pre-season was considered as essential for the final ranking (Sawka & Montain, 2000). Within the excessive warm climates, sweat loss during physical exercise is suggested to be greater than cooler conditions (Lago-Penas & Sampaio, 2015).…”

Fatigue and Recovery in Soccer: Evidence and Challenges

“…As a consequence, several questionnaires are also used in high-performance sport programs, such as Total Recovery Scale (TQR), Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (REST-Q-Sport), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes (DALDA). Sometimes consistent associations between subjective and objective measurements have not been found [137] and athletes could manipulate data and/or over-or under-estimate training load [95]. Thus, subjective information may need to be corroborated with physiological data [138].…”