Comparisons of Perceived Training Doses in Champion Collegiate-Level Male and Female Cross-country Runners and Coaches over the Course of a Competitive Season

Analyzing activity and injury risk in elite curling athletes: seven workload monitoring metrics from session-RPE

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to compare the differences in the performance of seven session-rating of perceived exertion (RPE)-derived metrics (coupled and uncoupled acute: chronic workload ratio (ACWR), weekly ratio of workload change, monotony, standard deviation of weekly workload change, exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA), and robust exponential decreasing index (REDI)) in classifying the performance of an injury prediction model after taking into account the time series (no latency, 5-day latency, and 10-day latency).

DESIGN

The study documented the RPE of eight curlers in their daily training routine for 211 days prior to the Olympic Games.

METHODS

Seven Session-RPE (sRPE)-derived metrics were used to build models at three time series nodes using logistic regression and multilayer perceptron. Receiver operating characteristic plots were plotted to evaluate the model's performance.

RESULTS

Among the seven sRPE-derived metrics multilayer perceptron models, the model without time delay (same-day load corresponding to same-day injury) exhibited the highest average classification performance (86.5%, AUC = 0.773). EMWA and REDI demonstrated the best classification performance (84.4%, p < 0.001). Notably, EMWA achieved the highest classifying accuracy in the no-delay time series (90.0%, AUC = 0.899), followed by the weekly load change rate under the 5-day delay time series (88.9%, AUC = 0.841).

CONCLUSION

EWMA without delay is a more sensitive indicator for detecting injury risk.

Internal Training Load Perceived by Athletes and Planned by Coaches: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and session RPE (sRPE) has been widely used to verify the internal load in athletes. Understanding the agreement between the training load prescribed by coaches and that perceived by athletes is a topic of great interest in sport science.

Objective

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate differences between the training/competition load perceived by athletes and prescribed/intended/observed by coaches.

Methods

A literature search (September 2020 and updated in November 2021) was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and SPORTDiscus databases. The protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (osf.io/wna4x). Studies should include athletes and coaches of any sex, age, or level of experience. The studies should present outcomes related to the RPE or sRPE for any scale considering overall training/competition sessions (physical, strength, tactical, technical, games) and/or classified into three effort categories: easy, moderate, and hard.

Results

Twenty-seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. No difference was found between coaches and athletes for overall RPE (SMD = 0.19, P = 0.10) and overall sRPE (SMD = 0.05, P = 0.75). There was a difference for easy RPE (SMD = − 0.44, small effect size, P = 0.04) and easy sRPE (SMD = − 0.54, moderate effect size, P = 0.04). No differences were found for moderate RPE (SMD = 0.05, P = 0.74) and hard RPE (SMD = 0.41, P = 0.18). No difference was found for moderate (SMD = -0.15, P = 0.56) and hard (SMD = 0.20, P = 0.43) sRPE.

Conclusion

There is an agreement between coaches and athletes about overall RPE and sRPE, and RPE and sRPE into two effort categories (moderate and hard). However, there were disagreements in RPE and sRPE for easy effort category. Thus, despite a small disagreement, the use of these tools seems to be adequate for training monitoring.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-022-00420-3.

Perceived Training of Junior Speed Skaters versus the Coach's Intention: Does a Mismatch Relate to Perceived Stress and Recovery?

The aim of this observational study was to examine the differences between training variables as intended by coaches and perceived by junior speed skaters and to explore how these relate to changes in stress and recovery. During a 4-week preparatory period, intended and perceived training intensity (RPE) and duration (min) were monitored for 2 coaches and their 23 speed skaters, respectively. The training load was calculated by multiplying RPE by duration. Changes in perceived stress and recovery were measured using RESTQ-sport questionnaires before and after 4 weeks. Results included 438 intended training sessions and 378 executed sessions of 14 speed skaters. A moderately higher intended (52:37 h) versus perceived duration (45:16 h) was found, as skaters performed fewer training sessions than anticipated (four sessions). Perceived training load was lower than intended for speed skating sessions (-532 ± 545 AU) and strength sessions (-1276 ± 530 AU) due to lower RPE scores for skating (-0.6 ± 0.7) or shorter and fewer training sessions for strength (-04:13 ± 02:06 hh:mm). All training and RESTQ-sport parameters showed large inter-individual variations. Differences between intended-perceived training variables showed large positive correlations with changes in RESTQ-sport, i.e., for the subscale's success (r = 0.568), physical recovery (r = 0.575), self-regulation (r = 0.598), and personal accomplishment (r = 0.589). To conclude, speed skaters that approach or exceed the coach's intended training variables demonstrated an increased perception of success, physical recovery, self-regulation, and personal accomplishment.

Differences in execution and perception of training sessions as experienced by (semi-) professional cyclists and their coach

This study aimed to investigate whether (semi-)professional cyclists' execution of a training programme differs from the coach's designed training programme. Also, the study sought to ascertain, in instances where the training sessions were indeed executed as designed by the coach, whether the perception of the cyclists differed from the intention of the coach. This study highlights the differences between the coach and the individual cyclist. In total, 747 training sessions were collected from 11 (semi-)professional cyclists. Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and session Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) were compared with intended RPE (iRPE) and intended sRPE (isRPE), planned by the coach. Pearson's correlation, regression coefficients and Typical Error of Estimate (TEE) were used to identify differences between the executed and planned training sessions. Moderate to large TEEs were noted between executed and intended sRPE, which indicates that cyclists do not always execute the training programme planned by the coach. Furthermore, when the training was executed as planned by the coach, very large correlations but moderate to very large TEEs were noted between cyclists' (s)RPE and the coach's i(s)RPE, with unique individual regression coefficients. This indicates that the relationship between RPE and iRPE is unique to each cyclist. Both the different execution and perception of the training programme by the individual cyclists could cause an impaired training adaptation. Therefore, the coach must pay attention to the perception of training sessions by the individual cyclist. Improved individual management of training load could result in the optimisation of the proposed training programme.Highlights On individual level, (semi-)professional cyclists train differently than planned by the coach, based on duration and sRPE of the training sessionsThe relationship between the RPE of the cyclist and the iRPE of the coach is unique for each cyclistCoaches should be aware that cyclist and coach could interpret the same training differently, resulting in an easier perception of low- and high- intensity training sessions by the cyclists compared to the intention of the coach.

Comparison of coach-athlete perceptions on internal and external training loads in trained cyclists

ABSTRACTThe aim was to compare the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), duration and session-RPE (S-RPE) prescribed by the coaches to those perceived by the cyclists in training sessions. The classification of RPE, duration and S-RPE of 14 male road cycling and mountain biking athletes were compared with the planned values of five coaches. The results revealed no differences for average RPE (P = 0.586), duration (P = 0.717) and S-RPE (P = 0.738) between coaches and cyclists. When comparing the three categories of effort, the results of the intensity of training sessions designed to be easy were perceived as significantly harder by cyclists compared to coaches (3.0 [2.0] vs. 2.0 [0.0] a.u.; P = 0.013). In addition, the correlations between coaches and cyclists on RPE (r = 0.73), duration (r = 0.95) and S-RPE (r = 0.87) were large, almost perfect and very large (P < 0.0001) respectively. In conclusion, our results indicate a mismatch between coaches (prescription) and cyclists (perception) of easy RPE training sessions, where the cyclists perceived the session harder. However, the S-RPE can be used to prescribe and quantifying the internal training load of trained cyclists.

Factors Influencing the Association Between Coach and Athlete Rating of Exertion: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Subjective monitoring of rate of perceived exertion is common practice in many sports. Typically, the information is used to understand the training load and at times modify forthcoming sessions. Identifying the relationship between the athlete and coach's interpretation of training would likely further benefit understanding load management. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the relationship between coaches' rating of intended exertion (RIE) and/or rating of observed exertion (ROE) and athletes' reported rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

METHODS

The review was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We conducted a search of Medline, Google Scholar, Science Direct, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases. We assessed the correlation between coach-reported RIE and/or ROE and RPE. Assessment for risk of bias was undertaken using the Quality Appraisal for Reliability Studies (QAREL) checklist. Inclusion criteria were (1) male and/or female individuals, (2) individual and/or team sport active participants, and (3) original research article published in the English language.

RESULTS

Data from 19 articles were found to meet the eligibility criteria. A random effect meta-analysis based on 11 studies demonstrated a positive association of player vs. coach rating of RIE (r = 0.62 [95% CI 0.5 to 0.7], p < 0.001). The pooled correlation from 7 studies of player vs. coach rating on ROE was r = 0.64 95% CI (0.5 to 0.7), p < 0.001.

CONCLUSION

There was a moderate to high association between coach RIE and/or ROE and athlete-reported RPE and this association seems to be influenced by many factors. The suggestions we present in this review are based on imploring practitioners to consider a multi-modal approach and the implications of monitoring when using RPE.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

CRD42020193387.

The Validity of the Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Method for Measuring Internal Training Load in Professional Classical Ballet Dancers

The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent validity of session rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE) with objective measures of internal training load (TL) in professional classical ballet dancers. Heart rate and s-RPE data were collected in 22 professional classical ballet dancers across a total of 218 ballet class or rehearsal sessions. Eleven participants completed at least 9 sessions, and were therefore included in analyses of individual relationships between s-RPE and objective measures. To calculate s-RPE, the session duration was multiplied by the RPE, measured using the modified Borg CR-10 scale. The Edwards summated heart rate zones (Edwards TRIMP) and Banister training impulse (Banister TRIMP) methods were used as criterion measures of internal TL. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to determine intra-individual relationships between s-RPE and objective measures. Repeated measures correlations were used to identify intra-individual relationships common across the cohort. Positive linear relationships were seen between s-RPE and objective measures across all session types [Edwards TRIMP: r rm (195) = 0.81, p < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: r rm (195) = 0.79, p < 0.001], in ballet class [Edwards TRIMP: r rm (58) = 0.64, p < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: r rm (58) = 0.59, p < 0.001], and in rehearsals [Edwards TRIMP: r rm (119) = 0.82, p < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: r rm (119) = 0.80, p < 0.001], as well as across both males [Edwards TRIMP: r rm (136) = 0.82, p < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: r rm (136) = 0.80, p < 0.001], and females [Edwards TRIMP: r rm (57) = 0.80, p < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: r rm (57) = 0.78, p < 0.001]. Intra-individual correlation coefficients ranged from 0.46-0.96 [Edwards TRIMP: mean r = 0.81 ± 0.11, p = 0.051 - < 0.001; Banister TRIMP: mean r = 0.78 ± 0.14, p = 0.13- < 0.001]. These results demonstrate that s-RPE is a valid and practical method for measuring internal TL in professional classical ballet dancers.