ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2021 April;61(4):534-41

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.11396-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Workload and well-being across games played on consecutive days during in-season phase in basketball players

Daniele CONTE ¹ ✉, Paulius KAMARAUSKAS ¹, Davide FERIOLI ², Aaron T. SCANLAN ³, Sigitas KAMANDULIS ¹, Henrikas PAULAUSKAS ¹, Inga LUKONAITIENĖ ¹

¹ Institute of Sport Science and Innovations, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas, Lithuania; ² Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ³ Human Exercise and Training Laboratory, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to quantify and compare workload and well-being across basketball games played on consecutive days during the in-season phase.
METHODS: Seven players (mean [SD]: age, 20.8 [1.6] y; stature, 195.0 [5.4] cm; body mass, 88.3 [4.2] kg; training experience, 11.6 [3.7] y) competing in the second-tier Lithuanian league were recruited. Changes in workload and well-being were monitored across six NKL games in three separate weeks during the in-season phase, with two games per week played on Friday (Day 1) and Saturday (Day 2). External workload was determined as PlayerLoad (PL) and PL per minute (PL/min) via microsensors. Internal workload was determined as percentage of maximum heart rate (%HRmax), summated heart rate zones (SHRZ) workload, and session-rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) workload. Well-being was evaluated using questionnaires assessing fatigue, sleep quality, general muscle soreness, stress levels and mood. Linear mixed models and effect size analyses were used to compare workload and well-being between Day 1 and Day 2.
RESULTS: Significantly lower PL/min (P=0.029; ES=0.26, small), greater perception of fatigue (P<0.001; ES=1.31, large) and lower total well-being score (P<0.001; ES=0.59, small) were observed for basketball games played on Day 2 compared to games played on Day 1.
CONCLUSIONS: Two games played on consecutive days elicited similar game workloads with higher perceived fatigue and lower well-being in the second game day. These findings suggest basketball coaches using recovery strategies to optimize player well-being during congested game schedules.

KEY WORDS: Exercise; Fatigue; Sports; Health