Assessing the locomotor demands of international men's and women's rugby sevens match-play according to passage of play.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of discrete passages of play on locomotor demands of international men's and women's rugby sevens matches and their relationship with winning or losing. Thirteen men's and thirteen women's international rugby sevens players wore 10 Hz Global Positioning Systems during twelve Tokyo Olympic games matches (966 observations; 507 for men, 459 for women). Discrete ball-in-play periods were categorised as: 'Single-phase defence', 'single-phase attack', 'multi-phase defence', 'multi-phase attack', 'multi-phase defence to attack', or 'multi-phase attack to defence'.

Effects of Long-Haul Travel and the Olympic Games on Heart-Rate Variability in Rugby Sevens Medalists.

Purpose: To report the impact of long-haul travel and the Olympic tournament on heart-rate variability and subjective well-being in a rugby sevens team.

Methods: Players (N = 12 men) recorded daily root mean square of successive differences (LnRMSSD) and brief subjective well-being assessments before and throughout the Olympic tournament. Following a 7-day baseline involving a tournament simulation, 2 flights were taken to Brazil (20-h travel and 4-h time gain) on day 1.

More than a Metric: How Training Load is Used in Elite Sport for Athlete Management.

Training load monitoring is a core aspect of modern-day sport science practice. Collecting, cleaning, analysing, interpreting, and disseminating load data is usually undertaken with a view to improve player performance and/or manage injury risk. To target these outcomes, practitioners attempt to optimise load at different stages throughout the training process, like adjusting individual sessions, planning day-to-day, periodising the season, and managing athletes with a long-term view.

Effects of consecutive domestic and international tournaments on heart rate variability in an elite rugby sevens team.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate heart rate variability and athlete self-report measures of recovery status (ASRM) in response to consecutive domestic and international tournaments among an elite rugby sevens team.

Design: Retrospective.

Methods: Olympic-level rugby sevens players (n=10) recorded post-waking natural logarithm of the root mean square of successive differences (LnRMSSD) and ASRM (sleep quality, energy, soreness, recovery and mood) throughout a 1-week baseline period and daily thereafter throughout a domestic and subsequent international tournament, separated by five days.

Effects of varying training load on heart rate variability and running performance among an Olympic rugby sevens team.

Objectives: To evaluate weekly heart rate variability (HRV) responses to varying training load among an Olympic rugby sevens team and to assess whether HRV responses informed on training adaptation.

Design: Retrospective.

Methods: Natural logarithm of the root mean square of successive differences (LnRMSSD), psychometrics and training load from a rugby sevens team (n=12 males) over a 3-week period were retrospectively analyzed.