title: Tracking Morning Fatigue Status Across In-Season Training Weeks in Elite Soccer Players.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the mean daily changes in training and match load and any parallel changes in indicators of morningmeasured fatigue across in-season training weeks in elite soccer players.
  
  
  METHODS
  After each training session and match (TL), session ratings of perceived exertion (s-RPE) were recorded to calculate overall session load (RPE-TL) in 29 English Premier League players from the same team. Morning ratings of fatigue, sleep quality, and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), as well as submaximal exercise heart rate (HRex), postexercise heart-rate recovery (HRR%), and heart-rate variability (HRV) were recorded before match day and 1, 2, and 4 d postmatch. Data were collected for a median duration of 3 wk (range 1-13) and reduced to a typical weekly cycle including no midweek match and a weekend match day. Data were analyzed using withinsubject linear mixed models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RPE-TL was approximately 600 arbitrary units (AU) (95% confidence interval 546-644) higher on match day than following day (P < .001). RPE-TL progressively decreased by »60 AU per day over the 3 days before a match (P < .05). Morning-measured fatigue, sleep quality, and DOMS tracked the changes in RPE-TL, being 35-40% worse on postmatch day vs prematch day (P < .001). Perceived fatigue, sleep quality, and DOMS improved by 17-26% from postmatch day to 3 d postmatch, with further smaller (7%-14%) improvements occurring between 4 d postmatch and prematch day (P < .01). There were no substantial or statistically significant changes in HRex, HRR%, or HRV over the weekly cycle (P > .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Morning-measured ratings of fatigue, sleep quality, and DOMS are clearly more sensitive than HR-derived indices to the daily fluctuations in session load experienced by elite soccer players in a standard in-season week.
authors.forename: Robin T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Strudwick
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buchheit
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Drust
authors.forename: Warren
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gregson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000293:injuries; D063806:Myalgia / Q000209:etiology; D010465:Perception; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D012621:Seasons; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: performance; recovery; training; wellness