Research Impact: Training load monitoring is employed to quantify training demands, to determine individual physiological adaptions and to examine the dose–response relationship, ultimately reducing the likelihood of injury and making a meaningful impact on performance. This study explored the relationship between training load and injury in competitive swimmers, using the session rate of perceived exertion (sRPE) method. Data were collected using a prospective, longitudinal study design across 104 weeks. Data were collected from 34 athletes centralised in two of Swim Ireland’s National Centres. Bayesian mixed effects logistic regression models were used to analyse the relationship between sRPE-TL and medical attention injuries. The average weekly swim volume was 33.5 ± 12.9 km. The weekly total training load (AU) averaged 3838 ± 1616.1. A total of 58 medical attention injury events were recorded. The probability of an association between training load and injury ranged from 70% to 98%; however, evidence for these relationships was deemed weak or highly uncertain. The findings suggest that using a single training load metric in isolation cannot decisively inform when an injury will occur. Instead, coaches should utilise monitoring systems and tools to ensure that the athletes are exposed to an appropriate training load to optimise physiological adaptation. The methods applied illustrate how to accurately implement such a monitoring system, but also highlight the challenge of using training load alone to prevent medical attention injuries.
From an applied perspective coaches need to focus load monitoring goals on understanding the athlete’s response to training and plan appropriate training progressions to meet competition demands. Training load monitoring can be particularly beneficial during high-risk training scenarios such as transitioning from a club to a collegiate programme where coaches can employ monitoring to guide their programme prescriptions using a training load passport (similar to the athlete biological passport. This can ensure that the athletes are exposed to an appropriate periodised training load to optimise physiological adaptation. This training load passport would detail their training load history and inform future coaches of their training load capabilities during the transition period.
Barry, L., Lyons, M., McCreesh, K., Myers, T., Powell, C. and Comyns, T., 2024. The Relationship Between Training Load and Injury in Competitive Swimming: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study. Applied Sciences, 14(22), p.10411. https://doi.org/10.3390/app142210411
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