Year
2021Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
NilUnit rationale, description and aim
To effectively design training programs, practitioners require an understanding of the interactions between training load, fatigue, performance, and injury. Sports scientists and others working in high performance sport need to be able to identify the different models that can explain fatigue and its severity, as well as how different variables can be used to measure fatigue status in response to training and competition. Practitioners also need to prescribe contemporary methods for enhancing recovery. The aim of this unit is to provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to design and implement a load and fatigue monitoring and recovery protocol relevant to specific high performance environments.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
LO1 - Explain fatigue from a psycho-physiological perspective and how it can be measured in the laboratory and in applied high performance sport settings (GA4, GA5, GA8)
LO2 - Measure internal and external training and competition load, and explain the interactions with performance and injury (GA4, GA5, GA8).
LO3 - Develop protocols for the monitoring and assessment of load and fatigue to maximize adaptation in a high performance sport environment (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9)
Graduate attributes
GA4 - think critically and reflectively
GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession
GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information
GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media
Content
- Fatigue-Recovery Cycle and Fatigue Continuum
- Models of Fatigue
- Assessing Fatigue
- Monitoring Training Load
- Relationships Between Training, Performance, and Injury
- Enhancing Athlete Recovery
- Load and Fatigue Monitoring Systems in Practice
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Learning and teaching strategies include active learning, case-based learning, cooperative learning, web-based learning, and reflective/critical thinking activities, delivered across 12 weeks. These strategies will provide students with access to required knowledge and understanding of unit content, and opportunities for application of knowledge and understanding for monitoring training load and fatigue. These strategies will allow students to meet the aim, learning outcomes and graduate attributes of the unit. Learning and teaching strategies will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in the online environment.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies are used including: development of an “infographic” to assess student learning of unit content and its communication; and an athlete monitoring protocol to assess student understanding and application of unit content.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes | Graduate Attributes |
|---|---|---|---|
Infographic Enables students to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts related to load and fatigue monitoring or recovery and communicate this to athletes and coaches | 40% | LO1, LO2, LO3 | GA4, GA5, GA8 |
A load and fatigue monitoring protocol Enables students to demonstrate application of knowledge and understanding by formulating an evidence-based athlete monitoring and recovery protocol | 60% | LO1, LO2, LO3 | GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9 |
Representative texts and references
Australian Institute of Sport, Tanner R and Gore C (2013) Physiological tests for elite athletes (2nd ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Coutts, A. J. and S. Cormack (2014). Monitoring the training response. In Joyce D & Lewindon D, High-Performance Training For Sports. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics: pp 71-84.
Cormack, S. and A. Coutts (2016). Monitoring Training Load, in Joyce D & Lewindon D, Sports Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. London: Routledge. pp 380-391.
McGuigan, M. R. and S. J. Cormack (2011). Biochemical Monitoring in Strength and Conditioning, in Cardinale M, Newton R & Nosaka K. Strength and Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical Applications. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons: pp 305-311.
Nédélec M, Halson S, Delecroix B, Abaidia AE, Ahmaidi S, Dupont G (2015). Sleep Hygiene and Recovery Strategies in Elite Soccer Players. Sports Med, 45(11), 1547-59.
Nédélec M, Halson S, Abaidia AE, Ahmaidi S, Dupont G (2015) Stress, Sleep and Recovery in Elite Soccer: A Critical Review of the Literature. Sports Med, 45(10), 1387-400