Evaluation of the validity of the Fit for 90 subjective training load and wellness measures

In recent years, athlete monitoring has become increasingly prevalent as professional teams seek to maximize performance and reduce the risk of injury in their athletes (T. J. Gabbett, 2016). In soccer, matches normally represent the highest load placed on the athletes, resulting in numerous adverse physiological effects, which can take 72 to 96 hours to fully recover (Dobbin, Lamb, & Twist, 2016; Nedelec et al., 2012). In NCAA Men’s soccer, it is common for multiple games to be played in a week, often less than 72 hours apart, which could impair performance due to inadequate recovery. The function of athlete monitoring is to assess the amount of training load (TL) sustained during matches and training and better understand where players may be on the continuum of recovery. Recent developments in technology have enabled objective monitoring of internal TL through heart rate monitoring (Halson, 2014). Additionally, subjective forms of monitoring, such as session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) (C. Foster, 1998) and subjective wellness questionnaires (SWQ) (Hooper, Mackinnon, Howard, Gordon, & Bachmann, 1995), have been developed to understand the athletes’ perception of TL (sRPE) and overall well-being (SWQ). Web-based athlete monitoring platforms, such as Fit for 90 (FF90), have been developed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of subjective monitoring (Anna E Saw, Main, & Gastin, 2015). While research on athlete monitoring is prevalent at the professional level, few studies have investigated its effectiveness in collegiate soccer, where the playing schedule is highly congested. Thus, understanding the effectiveness of athlete monitoring in college soccer could optimize recovery strategies and improve overall performance. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to (1) validate the FF90 sRPE equation, which uses a more intuitive RPE scale than the Borg CR10, with Banister’s TRIMP equation, (2) investigate the relationship between internal TL (sRPE and training impulse (TRIMP)) and the FF90 subjective readiness score in NCAA Division I Men’s soccer players, (3) investigate the long-term relationship between total number of minutes played on perceived readiness of the athletes across a soccer season. This study was performed with a NCAA Division I Men’s soccer team. The results showed the modified sRPE used by FF90 is significantly correlated to Banister’s TRIMP (r = .857). Additionally, the FF90 readiness score had a significant inverse relationship to the previous days sRPE (r = -.296) and TRIMP (r = -.333). When cumulative minutes were accounted for, the strength of the correlations was highest in the players which played the most minutes, suggesting the readiness score was sensitive to spikes in internal TL. The inverse relationship between readiness scores and cumulative minutes played was also significant (r = -.231). However, these results need further investigation as the correlations diverged when players were grouped based on minute played. Overall, this study shows the modified sRPE is a valid measure of internal TL and readiness score is sensitive to fluctuations in internal TL.