Defining Training and Performance Caliber: A Participant Classification Framework

Abstract

Throughout the sport-science and sports-medicine literature, the term “elite” subjects might be one of the most overused and ill-defined terms. Currently, there is no common perspective or terminology to characterize the caliber and training status of an individual or cohort. This paper presents a 6-tiered Participant Classification Framework whereby all individuals across a spectrum of exercise backgrounds and athletic abilities can be classified. The Participant Classification Framework uses training volume and performance metrics to classify a participant to one of the following: Tier 0: Sedentary; Tier 1: Recreationally Active; Tier 2: Trained/Developmental; Tier 3: Highly Trained/National Level; Tier 4: Elite/International Level; or Tier 5: World Class. We suggest the Participant Classification Framework can be used to classify participants both prospectively (as part of study participant recruitment) and retrospectively (during systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses). Discussion around how the Participant Classification Framework can be tailored toward different sports, athletes, and/or events has occurred, and sport-specific examples provided. Additional nuances such as depth of sport participation, nationality differences, and gender parity within a sport are all discussed. Finally, chronological age with reference to the junior and masters athlete, as well as the Paralympic athlete, and their inclusion within the Participant Classification Framework has also been considered. It is our intention that this framework be widely implemented to systematically classify participants in research featuring exercise, sport, performance, health, and/or fitness outcomes going forward, providing the much-needed uniformity to classification practices.

Methodology Review: A Protocol to Audit the Representation of Female Athletes in Sports Science and Sports Medicine Research

“…This information can determine the ecological validity of the application of the findings to high-performance female athletes and their direct inclusion in evidence-based recommendations/guidelines. A recently developed framework for classifying athletic caliber (McKay et al, 2022) allows participants to be ranked on a sixtiered classification system, ranging from sedentary/healthy participants (Tier 0) up to World-Class athletes (Tier 5). Classification is made from information around performance indicators and training status that is easily accessed and commonly reported in most papers.…”

“…Classification is made from information around performance indicators and training status that is easily accessed and commonly reported in most papers. Importantly, classification is determined, wherever possible, according to objective quantitative data (i.e., personal best performances or world rankings) rather than subjective statements, such as "elite" or "trained" (McKay et al, 2022). Studies that provide insufficient information to be robustly classified into a single tier are graded as "unclassified."…”

“…In particular, it is important to assess key quantitative and qualitative aspects, such as the performance/ fitness level of female athletes who are absent or represented in the literature, or the quality of methods used to tackle the challenges of menstrual function. Our proposed audit protocol utilizes new frameworks that have been proposed as best practice to assess menstrual status (Elliott-Sale et al, 2021) and athletic caliber (McKay et al, 2022). Therefore, this paper proposes a standardized protocol to facilitate the efficient and effective conduct of audits of the representation of female athletes in SSSM research, detailing both our proposed methods of conducting the audit (guided by crowd sourced ideas with experts in the field) and a standardized process of reporting the results.…”

Integrated Timing of Stroking, Breathing, and Kicking in Front-Crawl Swimming: A Novel Stroke-by-Stroke Approach Using Wearable Inertial Sensors

“…Twelve male swimmers (age: 19.1 ± 2.3 years; mass: 76.7 ± 3.7 kg; height: 179.0 ± 5.2 cm; level: 686 ± 82.6 FINA points long course, Tier 3 [31]) were evaluated during front-crawl swimming at self-selected speed in a 25 m swimming pool. For each participant, one trial of 100 m was acquired.…”

No Association between Jump Parameters and Tissue Stiffness in the Quadriceps and Triceps Surae Muscles in Recreationally Active Young Adult Males

“…A total of 16 males participated (age: 30.5 ± 4.5 years; weight: 82.3 ± 11.4 kg; height: 180.5 ± 6.3 cm) as volunteers in this study. All participants met the World Health Organization minimum activity guidelines [19] and hence, can be classified as recreationally active [20]. At the familiarization session, the investigator checked the participants' health status with various standardized questions.…”