Investigação da possibilidade de avanço da análise univarada para associada de variáveis psicométricas, fisiológicas e físicas para indicar o estado de fadiga crônica / recuperação de atletas de natação

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The monitoring of athletes' readiness states employs psychometric, physiological, and physical tools, and the integration of these diverse variables is recommended. However, the analysis of results derived from this approach is typically conducted subjectively and lacks integration among the variables. Companies have implemented this approach within apps, utilizing purported algorithms to generate a multivariate response. Nevertheless, the scientific validation of these algorithms remains absent. OBJECTIVE: To develop a model capable of indicating the state of chronic fatigue/recovery through an integrated analysis of established indicators, in response to planned undulations in external training loads designed to elicit fatigue accumulation and subsequent recovery. METHODS: Twenty competitive swimmers participated in this study (age: 15 ± 2.9 years; 10 males) with a training background of 6.4 ± 3.6 years. Athletes were monitored throughout a training mesocycle comprising four microcycles featuring undulating training loads (two load increases and one reduction). Daily measurements included session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE), subjective recovery perception (SRP), explosive strength assessed via countermovement jump (CMJ), and heart rate variability (HRV). The Profile of Mood States (POMS) was administered prior to the first training session of each microcycle. Blood creatine kinase (CK) levels were measured before the first and last training sessions of each microcycle. Statistical procedures included the Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests to assess normality and homogeneity of variances, a chi-square test to compare psychophysiological state with competitive performance, linear discriminant analysis to develop the multivariate model, with a significance level set at 5%. RESULTS: The research yielded two articles. The first involved monitoring the variables during the three weeks preceding a competition. Analysis of individual variables indicated that most athletes exhibiting improved markers (suggesting recovery) during the competition week also demonstrated enhanced race performance (63.6% of those with higher SRP; 77.8% with higher well-being score; 70% with lower total mood disturbance; 54.5% with lower fatigue score; 61.5% with lower CK). However, the chi-square test found no statistically significant association. In contrast, an analysis considering the association among variables revealed a trend toward statistical significance (p = 0.094). This finding supported the hypothesis that a multivariate analysis is more effective for indicating athletes' psychophysiological state and prompted a second study, which followed the methodological design described above. In this subsequent study, ANOVA proved limited, as variables displayed antagonistic responses. Consequently, an algorithm integrating selected variables for monitoring athlete readiness was proposed. CONCLUSION: The findings of this dissertation demonstrate that the variables currently accepted for assessing athletes' psychophysiological state should be considered in an integrated manner. By weighting the relative influence of each variable, it becomes feasible to develop an equation to derive an index indicative of an athlete's psychophysiological status.