Relationship between perceived fatigability and the values of biological and biometric markers in young professional and amateur rugby players during a sporting season

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between the level of perceived fatigability and the values of biological and biometric markers in young professional and amateur rugby players during a sporting season.Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 30 rugby players divided into an amateur (12) and a professional (18) group. Fat mass, creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase were measured for 9 months in each player before they completed the french society of exercise and sports medicine overtraining questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed and the significance level was set at 5%.Results: The higher the percentage of body fat the athletes have, the higher the questionnaire score (r= 0.14, p < 0.01). Plasma creatine kinase and aspartate aminotransferase concentrations were negatively correlated with overtraining score (creatine kinase: r= -0.15, p= 0.03; aspartate aminotransferase: r= -0.11, p= 0.03).Conclusion: Our study has shown that there is a negative correlation between our biological markers and the perceived fatigue score and a positive correlation between body fat and the same score. Further work is required to determine whether creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase and percentage of body fat can really be markers of fatigue or even markers of recovery (creatine kinase) in order to make the best use of them in the monitoring of rugby players.