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We aimed to examine the reliability, validity and sensitivity of an individualised sub-maximal fitness test (SMFTIFT60). Nineteen elite rugby league players performed a one-week test-retest of SMFTIFT60. Typical Errors and ICCs were: small (<3.5%) and extremely high (>0.90) for accelerometer-derived variables; moderate (<2.5% points) and moderate to very high (0.71-0.89) for exercise and recovery heart rate (HRex and HRR, respectively). Convergent validity correlations with the 10-week pre-season change in 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test performance were large for changes in SMFTIFT60 HRex (r = -0.57) and HRR (0.60), and very large for changes in accelerometer measures (range: -0.71 to -0.79). For sensitivity, within-player dose-response relationships between SMFTIFT60 HRex and prior 3-day training loads were negative and ranged from moderate (session ratings of perceived exertion [sRPE-TL], r = -0.34), to large (high-speed running distance, -0.51; acceleration load, -0.73) and very large (heart rate Training Impulse [TRIMP], -0.83). All other relationships were unclear or trivial to small. Physiological and accelerometer-derived measures from the SMFTIFT60 are reliable and valid for the assessment of fitness in rugby league players. Only HRex appears sensitive to acute changes in training load. The SMFTIFT60 could be a useful monitoring tool in team sports.

We aimed to assess the coach-player agreement of subjective soccer training loads via differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE). The coach initially underwent quantifiable familiarisation (blackness test) with the Borg CR100 scale. Data were collected from 16 semi-professional soccer players across seven consecutive training sessions. For the measurement of subjective training load, the coach and players provided dRPE (CR100) for legs (RPE-L), breathlessness (RPE-B) and technical exertion (RPE-T). Coach-prescribed dRPE were recorded prior to training, with coach observed and player reported dRPE collected post training. Statistical equivalence bounds for agreement between coach (prescribed and observed) and player reported dRPE scores were 4 arbitrary units on the CR100 and we used a probability outcome of likely (≥75%) to infer realistic equivalence. Following three familiarisation sessions, the coach improved their blackness test score from 39% to 83%. Coach observed and player reported RPE-T scores were likely equivalent, with all other comparisons not realistically equivalent. Since training prescription is coach-led, our data highlight the importance of accurate internal load measurement and feedback in soccer. The improved accuracy and precision of coach intensity estimation after three attempts at the blackness test suggests that this method could be worthwhile to researchers and practitioners employing dRPE.

We aimed to compare differentiated training loads (TL) between fitness responders and non-responders to an eight-week pre-season training period in a squad of thirty-five professional rugby union players. Differential TL were calculated by multiplying player's perceptions of breathlessness (sRPE-B) and leg muscle exertion (sRPE-L) with training duration for each completed session. Performance-based fitness measures included the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIRTL1), 10-, 20-, and 30-m linear sprint times, countermovement jump height (CMJ) and predicted one-repetition maximum back squat (P1RM Squat). The proportion of responders (≥ 75% chance that the observed change in fitness was > typical error and smallest worthwhile change) were 37%, 50%, 52%, 82% and 70% for YYIRTL1, 20/30-m, 10-m, CMJ and P1RM Squat, respectively. Weekly sRPE-B-TL was very likely higher in YYIRTL1 responders (mean difference = 18%; ±90% confidence limits 11%), likely lower in 20/30-m (19%; ±20%) and 10-m (18%; ±17%) responders, and likely higher in CMJ responders (15%; ±16%). All other comparisons were unclear. Weekly sRPE-B discriminate between rugby union players who respond to pre-season training when compared with players who do not. Our findings support the collection of differential ratings of perceived exertion and the use of individual response analysis in team-sport athletes.