Heart Rate Monitoring in Basketball: Applications, Player Responses, and Practical Recommendations

Abstract

Berkelmans, DM, Dalbo, VJ, Kean, CO, Milanović, Z, Stojanović, E, Stojiljković, N, and Scanlan, AT. Heart rate monitoring in basketball: applications, player responses, and practical recommendations. J Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2383-2399, 2018-The aims of this review were to collate the existing literature encompassing heart rate (HR) monitoring in basketball to (a) identify the applications of HR measurement; (b) report HR responses in male and female players during training and game-play; (c) evaluate use of current HR-based training load models; and (d) provide recommendations for future research and best practice approaches for basketball practitioners. Heart rate monitoring in basketball carries 3 primary applications: (a) monitoring exercise intensity; (b) assessing player fatigue status; and (c) quantifying internal training load. When interpreting the available training and game-play HR data in basketball players, key differences have been observed between playing positions and playing levels. Sex- and age-based differences in HR responses during basketball training and game-play are apparent across separate studies; however, further research exploring HR responses in wider player groups is needed, especially in female and junior players. There is also a lack of research directly comparing player HR responses during training and game-play to ascertain the effectiveness of different drills in preparing players for competition. Heart rate-based models have been frequently used to quantify the internal training load in basketball players, including Banister's Training Impulse (TRIMP), Lucia's TRIMP, and Edwards' Summated-Heart-Rate-Zones (SHRZ). The SHRZ model seems to hold practical advantages and better detect changes in player responses across training cycles compared with other approaches. Practical outcomes of this review center on recommendations for position-specific training plans, drills to promote desired cardiovascular stress, analysis of HR outcome measures, and ideal training load monitoring approaches.

Heart Rate Monitoring in Team Sports—A Conceptual Framework for Contextualizing Heart Rate Measures for Training and Recovery Prescription

“…The large number of original and review articles on HR monitoring published in recent decades documents the high interest in exercise and sport science (Task Force, 1996 ; Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003 ; Aubert et al, 2003 ; Carter et al, 2003 ; Sandercock et al, 2005 ; Hottenrott et al, 2006 ; Borresen and Lambert, 2008 ; Bosquet et al, 2008 ; Alexandre et al, 2012 ; Daanen et al, 2012 ; Plews et al, 2013 ; Stanley et al, 2013 ; Buchheit, 2014 ; Hettinga et al, 2014 ; Bellenger et al, 2016 ; Kingsley and Figueroa, 2016 ; Berkelmans et al, 2017 ). The growing popularity of HR measures among practitioners (Akenhead and Nassis, 2016 ; Thorpe et al, 2017 ), combined with the increasing number of commercial products and software for HR recording and analysis (Naranjo et al, 2015 ; Flatt and Esco, 2016 ; Perrotta et al, 2017 ; Plews et al, 2017b ) further highlights the practical significance of this research field.…”

“…Over a wide range of endurance exercise intensities, exercise HR (HRex) is linearly related to oxygen uptake and energy expenditure during continuous work and is therefore commonly used to monitor and prescribe exercise intensity and training load (Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003 ; Borresen and Lambert, 2009 ; Alexandre et al, 2012 ; Berkelmans et al, 2017 ). Furthermore, exercise HR has been traditionally evaluated under submaximal (HRex) and maximal efforts (HRmax) using incremental tests to assess cardiovascular fitness (Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003 ; Buchheit, 2014 ).…”

“…During short- to mid-term periods of increased stress or intensified training, such as long-haul flight travel (Fowler et al, 2017 ) and heat, altitude, or training camps with increased volume and/or intensity (Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003 ; Buchheit et al, 2011 ; Berkelmans et al, 2017 ), HR monitoring might enable practitioners to assess an athlete's ability to cope with, and recover from, the induced demands. In the context of training, all of the previously described HR measures have been shown to reflect overload-induced performance changes sensitively on several occasions (Pichot et al, 2000 ; Borresen and Lambert, 2007 ; Bosquet et al, 2008 ; Bellenger et al, 2016 ; Capostagno et al, 2016 ; Hammes et al, 2016 ; Flatt et al, 2017 ) and therefore are possibly reflective of short-term (i.e., cumulative) fatigue responses.…”

Seasonal changes in physical capacities of basketball players according to competitive levels and individual responses

“…Seasonal changes in physical capacities of basketball players from T2 to T3; however, this may be due to the analysis of HR responses in absolute terms (bpm) and not in percentage (%) to the maximal HR. Indeed, a prolonged period of training at high physiological loading during the different seasonal phases might have affected the maximal HR [35]. Furthermore, it has been reported that HR showed some limitations as indicator of aerobic performance capacity [36].…”

Wheelchair Basketball Competition Heart Rate Profile According to Players’ Functional Classification, Tournament Level, Game Type, Game Quarter and Playing Time

“…HR and oxygen consumption are used for predicting maximal oxygen consumption during tests. HR is a useful parameter to monitor exercise intensity, to assess fatigue status, and to quantify internal training loads in intermittent team sports, e.g., running basketball (Berkelmans et al, 2018).…”