(20) THE EFFECT OF FATIGUE THROUGH REPEATED SPRINTS ON CHANGES IN NEUROMUSCULAR PERFORMANCE WITHIN RECREATIONALLY TRAINED BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Basketball is a sport in which athletes are often exposed to a high density in practices and competitions, strategies to monitor player readiness and fatigue are a commonly implemented. From a neuromuscular standpoint, various jump tasks are regularly implemented to gain insights into the athlete’s neuromuscular performance.

Purpose: The aims of this study were twofold: The primary aim was to investigate how the fatigue induced by repeated sprints acutely affects neuromuscular performance as quantified via the countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ).  Further, the second aim was to account for the level of participant fatigue and fitness through performance within the repeat sprint ability (RSA) protocol, to quantify how this may affect changes in neuromuscular performance.

Methods: The sample consisted of 25 recreationally trained basketball players (n= 23 male, n = 4 female, age = 21.4 ± 2.5 years, height = 182.7 ± 8.3 cm, weight = 77.4 ± 9.91 kg). In the following order, following a dynamic warm up, participants completed pre-RSA testing, which consisted of three CMJ’s and DJ’s performed on a force plate. Following pre-RSA testing, participants performed a commonly implemented RSA assessment consisting of 10 30m sprints. This assessment was implemented to (1) induce a level of acute fatigue, and (2), measure participants repeat sprint ability. Following the RSA protocol, participants were provided with 2 minutes of passive rest, and were then re-tested within the CMJ and DJ tasks performed during pre-RSA testing. Then, participants were given an additional 15 minutes of rest, after which pre-RSA testing tasks were re-done one last time.

Results: Study results indicated that the sample as a whole merely experienced decreases in jump height from pre-RSA within the CMJ compared to post-RSA₁ and post-RSA₂, while jump height within the DJ was only significantly different from pre-RSA at post-RSA₁. Further, despite the implementation of the fatiguing RSA protocol, over the course of the three time-points, participants seemed to perform the two jump tasks more efficiently, seen through significantly lower contraction times, greater ECC peak power, and greater ECC mean deceleration force within the CMJ following the RSA task. The two-factor model revealed that several significant time*RSA interactions were found for metrics such as eccentric peak velocity and peak power in the CMJ, as well as reactive strength index in the DJ.

Conclusion: Findings indicate that participants experienced improvements as well as regressions in selected metrics following the RSA protocol, and that the level of RSA influenced changes across CMJ and DJ characteristics and should be accounted for when interpreting fatigue-induced changes in neuromuscular performance. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Practitioners may find results insightful when choosing neuromuscular performance tests and metrics to gain insights into athlete’s readiness and fatigue levels. Practitioners often implement assessments of neuromuscular function prior to and following a game or competition. Performing a neuromuscular performance assessment such as the ones used in this study, following the commencement of a training session or competition, may provide insights into how well athletes responded to the workload they were exposed to, and whether additional recovery options may be considered prior to the next training session or competition, in order to enhance readiness and performance.

 

Acknowledgements: N/A