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PhD Academy Award
Training load and health problems in football: more complex than we first thought? (PhD Academy Award)
  1. Torstein Dalen-Lorentsen1,2
  1. 1 Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  2. 2 Department of Smart Senors and Microsystems, SINTEF Digital, Oslo, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Dr Torstein Dalen-Lorentsen, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo 0863, Norway; torstein.dalen{at}nih.no

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105403

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    Aim of my PhD

    The overall aim of the thesis was to improve our understanding of the relationship between training load and health problems and to use this to guide and test preventative measures. This thesis consists of three papers that address the relationship between training load and health problems (all injuries and illnesses) and one explorative study that investigated potential injury problems with a congested season in the pandemic.

    Why did I do it?

    Recently, researchers and practitioners have increased their interest in training load as a risk factor for health problems in football,1 2 with numerous studies reporting associations between training load and health problems.3 Although the proposed relationship between training load and health problems was hypothesised already in 1992,4 there has been an increase in published articles on the subject. Advancements in technology and the creation and endorsement of the acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR, figure 1)5 are likely to be two of the reasons behind the sudden increase.

    Figure 1

    The acute:chronic workload ratio sweet spot-concept.6

    However, the research underpinning the suggestion that load management can prevent injuries is scrutinised for having a high risk of bias6 and has resulted in conflicting and inconclusive outcomes.7 Therefore, prospective studies investigating the methodological quality are needed to fill the knowledge gaps in this field of …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @torsteindalen

    • Contributors The author has done all work related to the manuscript and is the gurantour of the overall content

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.