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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1455900
This article is part of the Research Topic Training Load in Sport: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives View all 13 articles

Discrepancies in Internal and External Training Load Measurements during Low-Intensity Biathlon Training

Provisionally accepted
Andreas Kårström Andreas Kårström 1,2*Mikael Swarén Mikael Swarén 3Glenn Björklund Glenn Björklund 1
  • 1 Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden
  • 2 Other, Östersund, Sweden
  • 3 Institution of Health and Welfare, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: This study aimed to differentiate external and internal training loads during on-snow biathlon training by adding an accelerometer-derived metric. Methods: Eleven adolescent athletes were fitted with a combined heart rate (HR) and accelerometer to be worn during all training sessions. Duration, HR, training impulse (TRIMP), and average net force (𝐴𝑣𝐹 𝑁𝑒𝑡 ) were used as training variables. All training was divided into either low-intensity training (LIT), or high-intensity training (HIT) based on reported intensity. The training was further categorized as training without any shooting practice (NS) or as a combination of skiing and shooting (COMB). Duration, HR, TRIMP, and 𝐴𝑣𝐹 𝑁𝑒𝑡 were analyzed in a linear mixed model for the different training modalities. Results: All training was similar in duration for LIT and HIT sessions (p =.0521) and NS and COMB sessions (p =.988). TRIMP did not differentiate between LIT or HIT training (p =.350) or for NS compared to COMB (p =.298). While 𝐴𝑣𝐹 𝑁𝑒𝑡 decreased during COMB compared to NS during LIT sessions (p <.001) it remained similar during HIT training (p =1.00). Conclusion:. The study's findings indicated that there were no notable differences in internal training load (TRIMP) when comparing various training intensities and modes. However, the type of training had a significant impact on 𝐴𝑣𝐹 𝑁𝑒𝑡 , especially leading to a decrease during COMB sessions under LIT conditions. Incorporating an external load metric could offer a fresh approach when prescribing and evaluating training, providing deeper insights into the training load Ändrad fältkod

    Keywords: athlete monitoring, TRIMP, Adolescent athletes, coaching, Training organization

    Received: 27 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kårström, Swarén and Björklund. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andreas Kårström, Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre, Faculty of Human Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, 831 25, Sweden

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