Abstract
This study assessed the multifaceted relations between measures of workload,
psychological state, and recovery throughout an entire soccer season in female
collegiate soccer athletes (19.8±1.2 yrs, 132±12.3 lbs, 63±3.2 in). A
prospective longitudinal study was utilized to measure workload (GPS training
load, Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), psychological state (mental stress,
mental fatigue, and mood), and recovery (sleep duration, sleep quality, and
soreness), during 90 observations (59 training sessions and 21 games). Separate
linear-mixed effect models were used to assess outcomes of RPE, soreness, and
sleep duration. A linear mixed-effects model explained 59% of the variance in
RPE following each session. Specifically, each standard deviation increase in
GPS load and mental stress in the morning prior to training increased RPE by
1.46 (SE=0.08) and 0.29 (SE=0.07), respectively, following that day’s training.
Furthermore, a significant interaction was found between several predictor
variables and chronological day in the season while predicting RPE.
Specifically, for each standard deviation increase in GPS load, RPE went up by
0.0055 per day during the season suggesting that load had a higher impact on RPE
as the season progressed. In contrast, the interaction of day by mental stress,
sleep duration, and soreness continued to be stronger as the season progressed.
Each linear mixed-effect model predicted a larger amount of variance when
accounting for individual variations in the random effects.
Keywords
longitudinal study - workload program design - psychological stress
