Assessment of Fatigue and Recovery in Sport: Narrative Review

Abstract

Fatigue is a phenomenon associated with decreases in both physical and cognitive performances and increases in injury occurrence. Competitive athletes are required to complete demanding training programmes with high workloads to elicit the physiological and musculoskeletal adaptations plus skill acquisition necessary for performance. High workloads, especially sudden rapid increases in training loads, are associated with the occurrence of fatigue. At present, there is limited evidence elucidating the underlying mechanisms associating the fatigue generated by higher workloads and with an increase in injury risk. The multidimensional nature and manifestation of fatigue have led to differing definitions and dichotomies of the term. Consequently, a plethora of physiological, biochemical, psychological and performance markers have been proposed to measure fatigue and recovery. Those include self-reported scales, countermovement jump performance, heart rate variability, and saliva and serum biomarker analyses. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the fatigue and recovery plus methods of assessments.

Combined effect of polycan, a β-glucan from Aureobasidium pullulans, and regular resistance exercise on muscle strength, biomarkers, and fitness profiles in adults with relatively low skeletal muscle mass: a randomised controlled trial

“…Secondary outcome measures were changes in the appendicular skeletal mass index (ASMI), skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), body composition, handgrip strength, biomarkers [lactate, creatine kinase (CK), insulin growth factor (IGF)-1, growth hormone (GH), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentrations], and Euro-QoL-5D (EQ-5D) score, which is representative of the quality of life, 19 within the 12-week treatment period. Lactate, CK, IGF-1, and GH concentrations were measured to assess exercise-induced fatigue 20 and hs-CRP concentrations were measured to determine the inflammatory status (ESI Table 1 †). 21 The study was conducted at the Department of Basic Science Research Institute and the Department of Physical Education of Kyungnam University, Changwon, South Korea.…”

The Effect of Exercise-Induced Central Fatigue on Cervical Spine Joint Position Error, Strength, and Endurance

“…1,2 Fatigue has various etiologies with one of the most common being physical exercise, otherwise known as exertion fatigue. 2,3 There are two primary fatigue types which result from exertion: peripheral and central. Peripheral fatigue pertains to that involving the peripheral nervous system, particularly the neuromuscular junction, and the working skeletal muscle.…”

Association between internal load responses and recovery ability in U19 professional soccer players: A machine learning approach

“…Therefore, the use of psychological questionnaires to monitor fatigue and recovery status could also be useful as they are inexpensive and easy to apply compared to more complex laboratory assessments [ 30 , 45 ]. Validated self-report questionnaires that are frequently used include the Profile of Mood States (POMS) [ 46 ], the Total Quality Recovery (TQR) [ 7 ], the Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes (DALDA) [ 47 ], the Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (REST-Q) [ 48 ], the Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS) [ 49 ], and the Rating of Fatigue Scale (ROF) [ 50 ]. Interestingly, the use of personalized self-assessment questionnaires has increased compared to the questionnaires published in the literature [ 51 , 52 ].…”