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Int J Sports Med 2017; 38(10): 735-740
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-114007
Training & Testing
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Multiple Measures are Needed to Quantify Training Loads in Professional Rugby League

Daniel Weaving
1   School of Life Sciences, The University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Ben Jones
2   Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Phil Marshall
1   School of Life Sciences, The University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Kevin Till
2   Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Grant Abt
1   School of Life Sciences, The University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History



accepted after revision 31 May 2017

Publication Date:
07 August 2017 (online)

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of training mode (conditioning and skills) on multivariate training load relationships in professional rugby league via principal component analysis. Four measures of training load (internal: heart rate exertion index, session rating of perceived exertion; external: PlayerLoad™, individualised high-speed distance) were collected from 23 professional male rugby league players over the course of one 12 wk preseason period. Training was categorised by mode (skills or conditioning) and then subjected to a principal component analysis. Extraction criteria were set at an eigenvalue of greater than 1. Modes that extracted more than 1 principal component were subject to a varimax rotation. Skills extracted 1 principal component, explaining 57% of the variance. Conditioning extracted 2 principal components (1st: internal; 2nd: external), explaining 85% of the variance. The presence of multiple training load dimensions (principal components) during conditioning training provides further evidence of the influence of training mode on the ability of individual measures of external or internal training load to capture training variance. Consequently, a combination of internal and external training-load measures is required during certain training modes.

 

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