Does heart rate recovery detect training distress in collegiate soccer players?

Introduction: College soccer begins in August and ends in November, allowing athletes less than 4 months to condition and play all regular season matches. A consistent consequence of this condensed season structure is an elevated risk of training distress. In turn, training distress can lead to impaired performance and an increased likelihood of injury. Thus, it is important to identify signs of symptoms of distress early so that appropriate adjustments to training volume can be made. Simple, noninvasive techniques, which can be implemented by coaching staff, are ideal. This study investigated whether heart rate recovery was effective as an indicator of training distress in collegiate soccer players. Methods: 26 women and 17 men were enrolled in the study. Data were collected at 4 time points, measuring shuttle run time, heart rate recovery time, resting heart rate values, and MTDS questionnaire score. Heart rate recovery time was defined as the duration it took an athlete to reach 60% heart rate maximum from peak heart rate following the shuttle run. Results: Shuttle run times were prolonged in the beginning and end of season compared to the two mid-season tests (p \u3c 0.001); heart rate recovery times differed at each time period (p=0.003); freshmen deviation from baseline was greater compared to all other grades (p=0.001). Although not statistically significant, resting heart rate values trended up at the end of the season for both genders. Conclusions: Heart rate recovery did not detect training distress in athletes; shuttle run times and resting heart rate appeared to be possible variables that should be taken in to consideration for further research and possibly assist in tailoring training session for optimal performance