Heart rate response and rating of perceived exertion during submaximal Yo-Yo IR1 testing on sand: A pilot study

Szwajca, S. & Eils, E.

Abstract

HEART RATE RESPONSE AND RATING OF PERCEIVED EXERTION DURING SUBMAXIMAL YO-YO IR1 TESTING ON SAND: A PILOT STUDY SZWAJCA S. & EILS E. INSTITUTE OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF MÜNSTER, MÜNSTER, GERMANY Introduction The use of non-exhaustive field tests is common in team sports to provide useful information about aerobic capacity,physical performance and training status in athletes whilst minimising the burden of fatigue [1, 2, 4]. Since sand-based team sports like beach handball or soccer gain more popularity and professionalism, equivalent surface-specific testing is lacking. Moreover, no research to date has evaluated physiological responses to submaximal Yo-Yo IR1 on sand surface. Therefore, the aim of this observational study was to investigate the difference and relationship between heart rate response and rating of perceived exertion during submaximal Yo-Yo IR1 testing on rigid and sand surfaces. Methods Nine physically active participants (6 male, 3 female; age 24±3 yrs) completedsubmaximal Yo-Yo IR1 testing indoor and outdoor on two consecutive weeks. Outdoor testing was performed on sand (grain size: 0-2 mm) using a modified Yo-Yo IR1 (15 m shuttle length), resulting in lower total distance (720 m vs. 540 m) and running speeds (10−14.5 km/h vs. 7.5−10.8 km/h). Exercise HR (HRex, every 60 s), post exercise HR recovery (HRR, after 1 min) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE, 6−20 scale) were assessed. Two-way (time x surface) repeated-measures ANOVAs, Pearson correlations (and non-parametric equivalents) were used to evaluate differences and relationships between parameters (α≤0.05). Results Overall, values of HRex and HRR (absolute and relative to est. HRmax) on sand were higher compared to indoor (md: 4.8 bpm, 95% CI: -1.1–10.8; 2.4%, 95% CI: -0.6–5.3). No sign. differences were found for surface (F(1,8)=3.445, p=.101, peta²=.301; F(1,8)=3.471, p=.099, peta²=.303) except for HRex60s (md: 11.7 bpm, 95% CI: 1.1–22.4; 6.1 %, 95% CI: .06–11.7). Significant strong to very strong positive correlations were found for most parameters (r=.733–.924, p Discussion Collectively, preliminary results indicate that heart rate response (HRex, HRR) for the modified, submaximal Yo-Yo IR1 is comparable between sand and rigid surfaces and therefore, can potentially be used to monitor training status and physical performance of sand-based team sport athletes. However, these findings are limited by a small sample size, test conditions (outside temperature, sand consistency), and the observational character of the study. Moreover, it is of interest, how individual responses differ in elite, well-trained and/or habituated beach sport athletes [3]. Thus, established field tests can be modified to provide robust reproducibility on sand surface. References [1] Bangsbo et al. (2008). Sports Med., 38 (1), 37–51. [2] Bradley et al. (2011). Eur J Appl Physiol., 111, 969–978. [3] Pinnington et al. (2001). Eur J Appl Physiol., 86, 62–70. [4] Schneider et al. (2018). Front. Physiol., 9:639.