ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 February;60(2):189-97

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.19.10042-4

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Match analysis and heart rate of top-level female beach volleyball players during international and national competitions

Renan F. NUNES ^{1, 2} ✉, Renan R. CARVALHO ², Lucas PALERMO ², Márcio P. SOUZA ^{2, 3}, Marco CHAR ², Fábio Y. NAKAMURA ⁴

¹ Department of Exercise Physiology, Clube Atlético Tubarão, Tubarão, Brazil; ² Beach Volleyball Team, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; ³ Department of Physiotherapy, Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; ⁴ Associate Graduate Program in Physical Education, Pernambuco University (UPE), Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), João Pessoa, Brazil

BACKGROUND: This case-study compared match activities and time spent in selected heart rate intensity zones in top-level female beach volleyball players during National and International competitions.
METHODS: A Blocker (180.2 cm; 72.7 kg; 35 years) and a Defender (179.3 cm; 73.5 kg; 20 years) activity profile were measured from Global Positioning Satellite and percentage of maximum heart rate systems (%HRmax) in different zones during 66 International and 33 National Brazilian Championship. Magnitude-based inference and Cohen’s effect sizes were used for statistical comparisons.
RESULTS: Both competition (i.e., International and National), the Blocker presented a higher time spent in 50-59% (100/0/0: almost certainly; 95/5/0: likely), 60-69% (97/3/0: very likely; 88/11/1:likely), and 90-100% (100/0/0: almost certainly), but lower time in 70-79% (0/1/99: very likely) and 80-89% (0/0/100: almost certainly) of HRmax than the Defender. Higher distances covered in walking (94/6/0: likely), low-intensity [LIR] (99/1/0: very likely), medium-intensity [MIR] (100/0/0: almost certainly) and high-intensity running [HIR] (86/10/3: likely), as well as acceleration (m/s2) in 0.5-0.99 (89/11/0: likely) and 2-2.99 (80/19/1: likely), and peak velocity (89/11/0; 95/5/0: likely) were seen in the Blocker compared to the Defender. Compared to National competitions, International demonstrated higher values in total distance (88/12/0: likely), peak velocity (100/0/0: almost certainly), match profile in LIR (100/0/0: almost certainly), MIR (100/0/0: almost certainly), HIR (100/0/0: almost certainly; 93/2/4: likely), 1-1.99 (100/0/0: almost certainly), 2-2.99 (100/0/0: almost certainly), >3 (96/4/6: very likely) acceleration; and in 1-1.99 (100/0/0: almost certainly), 2-2.99 (100/0/0: almost certainly), >3 (98/2/0: very likely; 100/0/0: almost certainly) deceleration; as well as during 90-100% of HRmax (94/6/0: likely).
CONCLUSIONS: Blocker athlete and International competitions presented higher physical demands than their pairs during the matches, suggesting that the position and the level of competition are influenced by match demands.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance; Volleyball; Athletes; Heart rate