Collision activity during training increases total energy expenditure measured via doubly labelled water

Costello, N., Deighton, K., Preston, T. , Matu, J., Rowe, J., Sawczuk, T., Halkier, M., Read, D. B., Weaving, D. and Jones, B. (2018) Collision activity during training increases total energy expenditure measured via doubly labelled water. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 118(6), pp. 1169-1177. (doi: 10.1007/s00421-018-3846-7) (PMID:29569055) (PMCID:PMC5966477)

Abstract

Purpose: Collision sports are characterised by frequent high-intensity collisions that induce substantial muscle damage, potentially increasing the energetic cost of recovery. Therefore, this study investigated the energetic cost of collision-based activity for the first time across any sport. Methods: Using a randomised crossover design, six professional young male rugby league players completed two different 5-day pre-season training microcycles. Players completed either a collision (COLL; 20 competitive one-on-one collisions) or non-collision (nCOLL; matched for kinematic demands, excluding collisions) training session on the first day of each microcycle, exactly 7 days apart. All remaining training sessions were matched and did not involve any collision-based activity. Total energy expenditure was measured using doubly labelled water, the literature gold standard. Results: Collisions resulted in a very likely higher (4.96 ± 0.97 MJ; ES = 0.30 ± 0.07; p = 0.0021) total energy expenditure across the 5-day COLL training microcycle (95.07 ± 16.66 MJ) compared with the nCOLL training microcycle (90.34 ± 16.97 MJ). The COLL training session also resulted in a very likely higher (200 ± 102 AU; ES = 1.43 ± 0.74; p = 0.007) session rating of perceived exertion and a very likely greater (− 14.6 ± 3.3%; ES = − 1.60 ± 0.51; p = 0.002) decrease in wellbeing 24 h later. Conclusions: A single collision training session considerably increased total energy expenditure. This may explain the large energy expenditures of collision-sport athletes, which appear to exceed kinematic training and match demands. These findings suggest fuelling professional collision-sport athletes appropriately for the “muscle damage caused” alongside the kinematic “work required”.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Research was part-funded by Leeds Rhinos as part of the Carnegie Adolescent Rugby Research (CARR) project.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Preston, Professor Tom
• Authors: Costello, N., Deighton, K., Preston, T., Matu, J., Rowe, J., Sawczuk, T., Halkier, M., Read, D. B., Weaving, D., and Jones, B.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: European Journal of Applied Physiology
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1439-6319
• ISSN (Online): 1439-6327
• Published Online: 22 March 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in European Journal of Applied Physiology 118(6): 1169-1177
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License