CPSS Acute and Chronic Monitoring 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which heart rate variability (HRV) metric is most commonly used to reflect parasympathetic nervous system activity in athlete monitoring?
- SDNN
- rMSSD (Correct answer)
- LF/HF ratio
- Mean RR interval
Correct answer: rMSSD
rMSSD (root mean square of successive differences) reflects parasympathetic (vagal) activity and is the most widely used HRV metric in daily athlete monitoring.
Question 2: An athlete's acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) rises to 1.8 after a training spike. What does this indicate?
- The athlete is in a supercompensation phase
- The athlete is at elevated injury risk due to excessive acute load (Correct answer)
- Chronic load is insufficient for adaptation
- The athlete should immediately increase training volume
Correct answer: The athlete is at elevated injury risk due to excessive acute load
An ACWR above 1.5 is associated with significantly elevated injury risk, as it indicates the acute load greatly exceeds the chronic fitness base.
Question 3: Which biomarker is most sensitive for detecting early-stage muscle damage following eccentric exercise?
- Cortisol
- Testosterone
- Creatine kinase (CK) (Correct answer)
- C-reactive protein (CRP)
Correct answer: Creatine kinase (CK)
Creatine kinase (CK) leaks from damaged muscle cells and is the most sensitive and specific early-stage marker of skeletal muscle damage.
Question 4: In the context of session RPE (sRPE), how is training load calculated?
- RPE × training duration in minutes (Correct answer)
- RPE × distance covered in kilometers
- RPE × heart rate reserve
- RPE × number of sets completed
Correct answer: RPE × training duration in minutes
Session RPE training load is calculated by multiplying the RPE score (0–10 Borg CR10 scale) by the total session duration in minutes.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the 'fitness-fatigue' model in athlete monitoring?
- Performance = fitness only, fatigue is negligible short-term
- Performance = fitness − fatigue, where both decay at different rates (Correct answer)
- Fatigue always exceeds fitness gains during a training block
- Performance is determined solely by recovery time between sessions
Correct answer: Performance = fitness − fatigue, where both decay at different rates
The fitness-fatigue model states that performance equals the net difference between fitness (slow to develop, slow to decay) and fatigue (fast to accumulate, fast to decay).
Question 6: A sport scientist notices an athlete's wellness questionnaire scores have declined for five consecutive days despite reduced training load. What should be investigated first?
- Increase training intensity immediately to re-stimulate adaptation
- Assess sleep quality, nutrition, and psychosocial stressors (Correct answer)
- Switch to a different wellness questionnaire tool
- Conclude the athlete is non-compliant with training
Correct answer: Assess sleep quality, nutrition, and psychosocial stressors
Persistent wellness decline despite load reduction suggests non-training stressors (sleep disruption, poor nutrition, life stress) should be assessed before modifying training further.
Question 7: Which accelerometry-based metric is most commonly used to quantify external training load in team sport athletes?
- VO2max
- Player load (Correct answer)
- Lactate threshold velocity
- Maximal aerobic speed
Correct answer: Player load
Player load (derived from tri-axial accelerometer data) quantifies the cumulative mechanical stress experienced by an athlete during a session and is the most common accelerometry-based external load metric.
CPSS Acute and Chronic Monitoring 2
Which heart rate variability (HRV) metric is most commonly used to reflect parasympathetic nervous system activity in athlete monitoring?