Monitoring the External and Internal Load Under 2 Teaching Methodologies

González-Espinosa, S, Antúnez, A, Feu, S, and Ibáñez, SJ. Monitoring the external and internal load under 2 teaching methodologies. J Strength Cond Res 34(10): 2920-2928, 2020-The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the physical demands produced by the implementation of 2 sport teaching methods during a class and their relation with the learning achieved by the students. Two intervention programs were used to teach the sport of basketball, one based on the direct instruction (DI) method and the other on the tactical-game approach (TGA). The intervention programs were administered to 4 groups of students, 2 for each methodology, with 88 students participating in the study. A total of 10 practical sessions were given, as well as a pre-test and post-test. The practical sessions and the tests were recorded with an inertial system for monitoring and recording physical activity and movement in real time. Differences were found between the methodologies in the teaching sessions in the variables m·min, acc·min, PL·min, and HRmax (p < 0.000). In the assessment tests, there were also differences between both methodologies in the walk and sprint variables (p < 0.005). The results obtained from the analysis of the sessions using each methodology show that the TGA method obtained better results in the variables of external and internal loads than the DI methodology. The TGA methodology permitted a greater development of the students' physical fitness. Moreover, performance in play was not associated with the achievement of higher values in the results of external and internal load in the tests. The students trained with the TGA methodology recorded better performance indicators in the game. These results lead us to recommend physical education teachers to use a student-centered approach in their lessons because it improved both the students' physical fitness and their sports performance.