Quantifying Fatigue in the Rugby Codes: The Interplay Between Collision Characteristics and Neuromuscular Performance, Biochemical Measures, and Self-Reported Assessments of Fatigue

Mitchell Naughton; Scott McLean; Tannath J Scott; Dan Weaving; Colin Solomon

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.711634

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Quantifying Fatigue in the Rugby Codes: The Interplay Between Collision Characteristics and Neuromuscular Performance, Biochemical Measures, and Self-Reported Assessments of Fatigue

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Quantifying Fatigue in the Rugby Codes: The Interplay Between Collision Characteristics and Neuromuscular Performance, Biochemical Measures, and Self-Reported Assessments of Fatigue

Mitchell Naughton, Scott McLean, Tannath J Scott, Dan Weaving and Colin Solomon

Frontiers in Physiology, Vol.12, pp.1-18

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.711634

PMCID: PMC8586499

PMID: 34776996

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Abstract

biomarker

external load

fatigue

muscle damage

neuromuscular

recovery

rugby

subjective

Locomotor and collision actions that rugby players complete during match-play often lead to substantial fatigue, and in turn, delays in recovery. The methods used to quantify post-match fatigue and recovery can be categorised as subjective and objective, with match-related collision characteristics thought to have a primary role in modulating these recovery measures. The aim of this review was to (1) evaluate how post-match recovery has been quantified in the rugby football codes (i.e., rugby league, rugby union, and rugby sevens), (2) to explore the time-course of commonly used measures of fatigue post-match, and (3) to investigate the relationships between game-related collisions and fatigue metrics. The available evidence suggests that upper-, and lower-body neuromuscular performance are negatively affected, and biomarkers of muscular damage and inflammation increase in the hours and days following match-play, with the largest differences being at 12–36 h post-match. The magnitude of such responses varies within and between neuromuscular performance (Δ ≤ 36%, n = 13 studies) and tissue biomarker (Δ ≤ 585%, n = 18 studies) measures, but nevertheless appears strongly related to collision frequency and intensity. Likewise, the increase in perceived soreness in the hours and days post-match strongly correlate to collision characteristics across the rugby football codes. Within these findings, there are specific differences in positional groups and recovery trajectories between the codes which relate to athlete characteristics, and/or locomotor and collision characteristics. Finally, based on these findings, we offer a conceptual model of fatigue which details the multidimensional latent structure of the load to fatigue relationship contextualised to rugby. Research to date has been limited to univariate associations to explore relationships between collision characteristics and recovery, and multivariate methods are necessary and recommended to account for the latent structures of match-play external load and post-match fatigue constructs. Practitioners should be aware of the typical time windows of fatigue recovery and utilise both subjective and objective metrics to holistically quantify post-match recovery in rugby.

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Title: Quantifying Fatigue in the Rugby Codes: The Interplay Between Collision Characteristics and Neuromuscular Performance, Biochemical Measures, and Self-Reported Assessments of Fatigue
Authors: Mitchell Naughton (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
Scott McLean (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
Tannath J Scott (Author) - Leeds Beckett University
Dan Weaving (Author) - Leeds Beckett University
Colin Solomon (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Publication details: Frontiers in Physiology, Vol.12, pp.1-18
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.711634
ISSN: 1664-042X
PMID: 34776996; PMC8586499
Copyright note: Copyright © 2021 Naughton, McLean, Scott, Weaving and Solomon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Organisation Unit: Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99585608302621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Physiology