title: Physical and psychomotor performance of Australian football and rugby league officials during a match simulation.
abstract: The onset of exercise facilitates an improvement in psychomotor performance until the second ventilatory threshold, after which performance is reduced. This inverted-U relationship appears valid for incremental and steady-state exercise, however, not for intermittent exercise. This study examined changes in psychomotor performance of team sport officials during a laboratory-based match simulation. Twelve elite Australian football (n = 5) and rugby league (n = 7) officials (32.5 ± 5.5 years; 180.0 ± 6.8 cm; 78.8 ± 7.6 kg) completed the match simulation on a non-motorised treadmill. Physiological measures were routinely taken, while psychomotor performance was assessed using the Eriksen flanker task (multiple-choice response time). Significant reductions (P < 0.05) were observed in distance covered and high-speed running during the second half when compared to the first. No significant differences (P > 0.05) in psychomotor performance at different time points were observed. Response time was significantly improved when running above 65% of maximal sprinting speed (P < 0.01). This data questions the application of the inverted-U hypothesis for intermittent exercise and suggests that the short high-intensity efforts may not result in the same physiological events that limit psychomotor performance during sustained high-intensity exercise. More so, the high-intensity efforts during the match protocol appeared to promote psychomotor performance during the intermittent exercise.
authors.affiliation: a Applied Sports Science and Exercise Testing Laboratory , University of Newcastle , Ourimbah , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elsworthy
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , University of Newcastle , Ourimbah , NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: a Applied Sports Science and Exercise Testing Laboratory , University of Newcastle , Ourimbah , NSW , Australia.|c Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition , University of Newcastle , Callaghan , Australia.
authors.forename: Ben J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Dascombe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology; D001315:Australia; D003657:Decision Making; D005080:Exercise Test; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010465:Perception; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: cognition; decision making; intermittent exercise; perceptual skill; team sport officials