Submaximal Fitness Test in Team Sports: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Exercise Heart Rate Measurement Properties

Abstract

Background Submaximal fitness tests (SMFT) are a pragmatic approach for evaluating athlete’s physiological state, due to their time-efficient nature, low physiological burden and relative ease of administration in team sports settings. While a variety of outcome measures can be collected during SMFT, exercise heart rate (HRex) is the most popular. Understanding the measurement properties of HRex can support the interpretation of data and assist in decision making regarding athlete’s current physiological state and training effects. Objectives The aims of our systematic review and meta-analysis were to: (1) establish meta-analytic estimates of SMFT HRex reliability and convergent validity and (2) examine the moderating influence of athlete and protocol characteristics on the magnitude of these measurement properties. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search with MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science databases for studies published up until January 2022 since records began. Studies were considered for inclusion when they included team sports athletes and the reliability and/or convergent validity of SMFT HRex was investigated. Reliability statistics included the group mean difference (MD), typical error of measurement (TE) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) derived from test–retest(s) designs. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) describing the relationship between SMFT HRex and a criterion measure of endurance performance was used as the statistic for convergent validity. Qualitative assessment was conducted using risk of bias assessment tool for non-randomised studies. Mixed-effects, multilevel hierarchical models combined with robust variance estimate tests were performed to obtain pooled measurement property estimates, effect heterogeneity, and meta-regression of modifying effects. Results The electronic search yielded 21 reliability (29 samples) and 20 convergent validity (29 samples) studies that met the inclusion criteria. Reliability meta-analysis indicated good absolute (MD = 0.5 [95% CI 0.1 to 0.9] and TE = 1.6 [95% CI 1.4 to 1.9] % points), and high relative (ICC = 0.88 [95% CI 0.84 to 0.91]) reliability. Convergent validity meta-analysis indicated an inverse, large relationship (r = − 0.58 [95% CI − 0.62 to − 0.54]) between SMFT HRex and endurance tests performance. Meta-regression analyses suggested no meaningful influence of SMFT protocol or athlete characteristics on reliability or convergent validity estimates. Conclusions Submaximal fitness test HRex is a reliable and valid proxy indicator of endurance performance in team sport athletes. Athlete and SMFT protocol characteristics do not appear to have a meaningful effect on these measurement properties. Practitioners may implement SMFT HRex for monitoring athlete’s physiological state by using our applied implications to guide the interpretation of data in practice. Future research should examine the utility of SMFT HRex to track within-athlete changes in aerobic capacity, as well as any further possible effects of SMFT protocols design elements or HRex analytical methods on measurement properties. Registration Protocol registration can be found in Open Science Framework and available through https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9C2JV.

Prediction of peak oxygen consumption using cardiorespiratory parameters from warmup and submaximal stage of treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test

“…Our research is focused on the submaximal stage from the cardiopulmonary exercise test, which equals 85% of the maximal measured and age-predicted HR max as a threshold. Studied value of HR termination is commonly used in submaximal testing [35][36][37]. We also used both actual HR max obtained during the treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test, and age-predicted HR max (220-age) in order to provide insights about the utility of the prediction of VO 2peak in submaximal tests without prior knowledge about the value of HR max for a given subject.…”

The Effects of a Collegiate Recovery Community Psychotherapy Program Incorporating Equine Interaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Adults with Substance Abuse Disorder

“…All of these measurements, both for the participants and their horses, were taken within ten minutes of the beginning (BS) and end (ES) of each session for the first session (FS) and last session (LS) of the CRC-PIE program. This timing for measurements was to document vital signs prior to complete recovery from exercise to resting rates [55][56][57][58][59].…”

Assessing Criterion and Longitudinal Validity of Submaximal Heart Rate Indices as Measures of Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Preliminary Study in Football

“…However, at present, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the agreement between SMFT HR-derived indices collected as part of on-field football training with those observed in controlled laboratory conditions. Moreover, despite available meta-analytic evidence suggesting that SMFT intensity may not influence the convergent validity (i.e., correlation magnitudes) of HRex as an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness 7 , these findings are primarily based on betweenathlete comparisons, which may not reflect the individualised nature inherent to elite sport training monitoring. Less is known about the validity of SMFT HR-derived indices in denoting within-athlete changes in cardiorespiratory fitness over a longitudinal training period 7 .…”

“…Moreover, despite available meta-analytic evidence suggesting that SMFT intensity may not influence the convergent validity (i.e., correlation magnitudes) of HRex as an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness 7 , these findings are primarily based on betweenathlete comparisons, which may not reflect the individualised nature inherent to elite sport training monitoring. Less is known about the validity of SMFT HR-derived indices in denoting within-athlete changes in cardiorespiratory fitness over a longitudinal training period 7 . Accordingly, the aims of this study were (1) to assess the criterion and longitudinal validity of HR-derived indices as proxy measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, whilst also examining the possible influence of exercise intensity; and (2) to evaluate the relationships between SMFT HR-derived indices in controlled laboratory and field conditions in football players.…”

“…Submaximal fitness tests (SMFTs) allow practitioners to reliably, and frequently assess athlete's physiological state 6 , primarily via heart rate (HR) derived indices (e.g., exercise HR [HRex] and HR recovery [HRR]) 6 . These measures have also shown moderate to very-large associations with cardiorespiratory fitness across a range of team-sport athletes 7 . The advantages of SMFTs stem from their non-exhaustive nature, and the ease which they can be administered to a large group of athletes simultaneously in field settings as a discrete (albeit standardised) component of training (e.g., lowintensity running as warm-up, or high-intensity bouts as priming activities) 8 .…”