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Citation
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Hildebrandt C, Oberhoffer R, Raschner C, Muller E, Fink C, Steidl-Müller L. J. Sport Health Sci. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The purpose was to investigate the role of training load characteristics and injury and illness risk in youth ski racing.
METHODS: The training load characteristics as well as traumatic injuries, overuse injuries and illnesses of 91 elite youth ski racers (age: 12.1 ± 1.3 years, mean ± SD) were prospectively recorded over a period of 1 season by using a sport-specific online database. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to monitor the influence of training load on injuries and illnesses. Differences in mean training load characteristics between preseason, in-season and postseason were calculated using multivariate analyses of variance.
RESULTS: Differences were discovered in the number of weekly training sessions (p = 0.005) between preseason (4.97 ± 1.57) and postseason (3.24 ± 0.71), in the mean training volume (p = 0.022) between in-season (865.8 ± 197.8 min) and postseason (497.0 ± 225.5 min) and in the mean weekly training intensity (Index) (p = 0.012) between in-season (11.7 ± 1.8) and postseason (8.9 ± 1.7). A total of 185 medical problems were reported (41 traumatic injuries, 12 overuse injuries and132 illnesses). The weekly training volume and training intensity was not a significant risk factor for injuries (p > 0.05). Training intensity was found to be a significant risk factor for illnesses in the same week (ß = 0.348, p = 0.044, R² = 0.121) and training volume represents a risk factor for illnesses in the following week (ß = 0.397, p = 0.027, R² = 0.157).
CONCLUSION: A higher training intensity and volume were associated with increased illnesses but not with a higher risk of injury. Monitoring training and ensuring appropriate progression of training load between weeks may decrease incidents of illness in-season.
Language: en |