By Hugo Francisco de SouzaOct 15 2023Reviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc. In a recent study published in the journal Echo Research & Practice, researchers used a combination of 2D echocardiography, electrocardiography , and speckle tracking echocardiography to investigate the variations in male rugby football league players' cardiac function across four main time periods during an RFL season.
Cardiac adaptation to training, AH, and the importance of PCS High cardiac activity, especially those experienced by professional athletes, can have profound outcomes on the physiology of humans, resulting in increases in total body water, plasma volume expansion, better sustainment and/or elevation of stroke volume, reduction in heart rate, improvement in ventricular filling and myocardial efficiency, and enhanced skin blood flow and sweating responses.
Scientific research on PCS and AH is limited, with results mainly from electrocardiographic or echocardiographic evaluations proving contradictory. These studies have been restricted to cyclists and soccer players, with almost no research in rugby. Since each sport has exertion requirements unique to the sport, an evaluation of AH in RFL athletes could help better understand and prepare training regimes catered to rugby, thereby improving season-wide cardiac outcomes and reducing SCD risk.
" End of pre-season mid-season end-season and end off-season multiplied by individual athletes' perceived exertion rating . The resulting value was expressed as an arbitrary unit , computed independently for each seasonal phase. "During a typical pre-season week, the athletes on average were taking part in 5 field training sessions each of 70 min duration, 4 gym sessions each of 60 min duration and 2 'wrestle' sessions each of 40 min duration. During a typical in-season week, athletes were taking part in 3 field sessions each of 45 min duration and 2 gym sessions each of 40 min duration and competitive gameplay.