title: Neuromuscular Fatigue and Muscle Damage After a Women's Rugby Sevens Tournament.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine relationships between on-field game movement patterns and changes in markers of neuromuscular fatigue and muscle damage during a 2-d women's rugby sevens tournament.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female national (mean ± SD n = 12, 22.3 ± 2.5 y, 1.67 ± 0.04 m, 65.8 ± 4.6 kg) and state (n = 10, 24.4 ± 4.3 y, 1.67 ± 0.03 m, 66.1 ± 7.9 kg) representative players completed baseline testing for lower-body neuromuscular function (countermovement-jump [CMJ] test), muscle damage (capillary creatine kinase [CK]), perceived soreness, and perceived recovery. Testing was repeated after games on days 1 and 2 of the tournament. GPS (5-Hz) data were collected throughout the tournament (4-6 games/player).
  
  
  RESULTS
  National players were involved in greater on-field movements for total time, distance, high-speed running (>5 m/s), and impacts >10 g (effect size [ES] = 0.55-0.97) and displayed a smaller decrement in performance from day 1 to day 2. Despite this, state players had a much greater 4-fold increase (δCK = 737 U/L) in CK compared with the 2-fold increase (δCK = 502 U/L) in national players (ES = 0.73). Both groups had similar perceived soreness and recovery while CMJ performance was unchanged. High-speed running and impacts >10 g were largely correlated (r = .66-.91) with δCK for both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A 2-day women's rugby sevens tournament elicits substantial muscle damage; however, there was little change in lower-body neuromuscular function. Modest increases in CK can largely be attributed to high-speed running and impacts >10 g that players typically endure.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Dept, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Judith M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anson
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Pyne
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D018763:Muscle Fatigue; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063806:Myalgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010465:Perception; D010807:Physical Endurance; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012420:Running; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult