Why do workload spikes cause injuries, and which athletes are at higher risk? Mediators and moderators in workload–injury investigations

Training load and structure-specific load: applications for sport injury causality and data analyses

“…This approach was novel and transferable—informing how athlete characteristics modified the influence of training load changes on shoulder-related injury risk. This differed from traditional scientific analyses, not treating distribution-related variables as confounders, but as potential effect measure modifiers (ie, moderators) 6. Seen in figure 1, scapular control does not directly cause an injury (red arrow).…”

Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater; screening can identify meaningful risk factors for sports injuries

“…If we could repeatedly perform ‘screening tests’ we would note that the test results would fluctuate over time due to several different factors, including training and match demands. Such mediating factors might affect the variables tested during screening, or alter them altogether 7. Also, importantly, those athletes with risk factors identified at baseline are likely to be treated so their risk should decline.…”

Analysis of external workload in soccer training and competition: generic versus individually determined speed thresholds

“…While we acknowledge that a simple measure of aerobic fitness does not enable prediction of injury or performance, an easily-administered field test to determine maximal aerobic speed as a speed threshold (despite its acknowledged limitations) could enable prescription of external loads tailored to each individual or if practically difficult, to small groups including players with similar values. A more tailored approach to training prescription could engender improvements in aerobic fitness thereby increasing athletes' resilience to higher workloads through protectively moderating the workload effect by 'dimming' or reducing the risk of rapid workload increases (Windt et al, 2017). Similarly, if a player performs poorly in a pre-season fitness test or is returning to play following injury, practitioners could theoretically adjust his/her 'permitted' workload threshold according to current fitness status, whilst providing personalised attention to address the deficiency (Windt et al, 2017).…”

“…A more tailored approach to training prescription could engender improvements in aerobic fitness thereby increasing athletes' resilience to higher workloads through protectively moderating the workload effect by 'dimming' or reducing the risk of rapid workload increases (Windt et al, 2017). Similarly, if a player performs poorly in a pre-season fitness test or is returning to play following injury, practitioners could theoretically adjust his/her 'permitted' workload threshold according to current fitness status, whilst providing personalised attention to address the deficiency (Windt et al, 2017). In line with these points, external workloads are sometimes used as indicators of competitive performance and therefore running outputs of certain players may again be under-or over-estimated.…”