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Training and overtraining markers in selected sport events
1Institute for Theory in Training and Movement, German Sport University-Cologne, Köln. u.hartmann@hrz.dshs-koeln.de
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|January 27, 2000
Summary
Monitoring serum urea (SU) and serum creatine kinase (CK) can help assess overtraining (OT) in athletes. Establishing individual baselines is key, as large increases combined with reduced exercise tolerance may indicate catabolic activity.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Exercise Physiology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Overtraining (OT) in elite athletes presents diagnostic challenges.
- Daily monitoring of training status often involves serum urea (SU) and serum creatine kinase (CK).
- The inter- and intra-individual meaningfulness of SU and CK for detecting overtraining requires examination.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the meaningfulness of serum urea (SU) and serum creatine kinase (CK) for detecting overtraining in elite athletes.
- To analyze the inter- and intra-individual variability of SU and CK levels.
- To assess the utility of these parameters in daily training monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Collected data from determinations during training sessions of elite rowers and international-level athletes.
- Analyzed serum urea (SU) levels from 6981 samples (717 male, 285 female).
- Evaluated serum creatine kinase (CK) levels from 2790 samples (497 male, 350 female).
Main Results:
- Serum urea (SU) showed asymmetric normal distributions, with values for women approximately 1.5 mmol x L(-1) lower than men. Individual variability was enormous, making fixed critical limits for OT unreliable.
- Serum creatine kinase (CK) also presented asymmetric normal distributions, with higher values trending between 100-250 U x L(-1). Conspicuously elevated values were observed in specific ranges.
- Individual variability in CK was enormous; athletes with chronically low CK had low variability, while those with higher CK showed considerable variability.
Conclusions:
- Establishing individual baselines for SU and CK from numerous samples is useful for monitoring training status.
- Determinations should be made at least every 3 days under standardized conditions.
- A significant increase in SU or CK, coupled with reduced exercise tolerance after exertion, suggests potential catabolic/metabolic activity or insufficient exercise tolerance.