1. Low chronic workload and the acute:chronic workload ratio are more predictive of injury than between-match recovery time: a two-season prospective cohort study in elite rugby league players
- Author
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Billy T. Hulin, Tim J. Gabbett, John A. Sampson, Peter Caputi, and Daniel W. Lawson
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Time Factors ,education ,Football ,Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation ,Workload ,Athletic Performance ,League ,Affect (psychology) ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,Humans ,Medicine ,Injury risk ,Orthopedics and Sports Medicine ,Prospective Studies ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Prospective cohort study ,business.industry ,Australia ,Acute chronic ,Recovery of Function ,030229 sport sciences ,General Medicine ,Return to Sport ,Athletic Injuries ,Physical therapy ,business - Abstract
Between-match recovery time, and acute and chronic workloads likely affect subsequent match-injury risk in elite rugby league players.Workloads of 28 players throughout two seasons were calculated during short (7 days), and long (≥7 days) between-match recovery times. 'Acute' workloads (1 week) greater than 'chronic' workloads (4-week rolling average acute workload) resulted in acute:chronic workload ratios above 1.No difference was found between the match-injury risk of short and long between-match recovery periods (7.5±2.5% vs 6.8±2.5%). When players had a short recovery between matches, high chronic workloads (18.9-22.0 km) were associated with a smaller risk of match injury than chronic workloads18.9 km (relative risk (RR) range 0.27-0.32 (CI 0.08 to 0.92); likelihood range 90-95%, likely). Players who had shorter recovery and acute:chronic workload ratios ≥1.6, were 3.4-5.8 times likely to sustain a match injury than players with lower acute:chronic workload ratios (RR range 3.41-5.80 (CI 1.17 to 19.2); likelihood range 96-99%, very likely). Acute:chronic workload ratios between 1.2 and 1.6 during short between-match recovery times demonstrated a greater risk of match injury than ratios between 1.0 and 1.2 (RR=2.88 (CI 0.97 to 8.55); likelihood=92%, likely).Contrary to the philosophy that high workloads and shorter recovery equate to increased injury risk, our data suggest that high and very-high chronic workloads may protect against match injury following shorter between-match recovery periods. Acute:chronic workload ratios ∼1.5 are associated with a greater risk of match injury than lower acute:chonic workload ratios. Importantly, workloads can be manipulated to decrease the match-injury risk associated with shorter recovery time between matches.
- Published
- 2016