CPSS Managing Training Load 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Player-load units (PLU) derived from tri-axial accelerometers primarily quantify:
- Metabolic energy expenditure during aerobic activities
- Total mechanical body loading from accelerations and decelerations (Correct answer)
- Lactate production per kilogram of body mass
- Aerobic-to-anaerobic work ratio
Correct answer: Total mechanical body loading from accelerations and decelerations
Tri-axial accelerometer-based player load integrates the magnitude of accelerations across all three planes, capturing mechanical demand beyond simple GPS distance.
Question 2: A coach wants to track accumulated fatigue across a 4-week mesocycle. The most appropriate chronic workload calculation window is:
- 3 days
- 7 days
- 28 days (Correct answer)
- 90 days
Correct answer: 28 days
Chronic workload is typically calculated as a 28-day rolling average of daily load, representing long-term training status.
Question 3: The primary advantage of using heart rate reserve (HRR) over absolute heart rate when prescribing training intensity is that HRR:
- Eliminates the need for a maximal exercise test
- Accounts for resting heart rate, providing a more accurate relative intensity measure (Correct answer)
- Is unaffected by heat or dehydration
- Directly measures stroke volume changes
Correct answer: Accounts for resting heart rate, providing a more accurate relative intensity measure
HRR = (HRmax − HRrest) × target % + HRrest, which better correlates with VO2 reserve than absolute HR alone.
Question 4: Which of the following training load variables is MOST likely to predict soft-tissue injury risk in team sport athletes?
- Absolute session RPE
- High-speed running distance spikes relative to chronic exposure (Correct answer)
- Average training heart rate
- Total training time per week
Correct answer: High-speed running distance spikes relative to chronic exposure
Sudden spikes in high-speed running (sprinting) distance relative to an athlete's chronic exposure are strongly associated with hamstring and groin injury risk.
Question 5: An athlete who has been training consistently for eight weeks suddenly reduces load by 60% for two weeks. The PRIMARY physiological concern is:
- Rapid muscle hypertrophy reversal
- Detraining-related deconditioning of aerobic capacity (Correct answer)
- Excessive parasympathetic reactivation
- Overtraining syndrome development
Correct answer: Detraining-related deconditioning of aerobic capacity
Significant aerobic deconditioning (VO2max decline, plasma volume reduction) can occur within two weeks of greatly reduced training stimulus.
Question 6: In a well-designed taper, which physiological marker is expected to IMPROVE in the final 1–2 weeks before competition?
- Resting muscle glycogen stores (Correct answer)
- Resting lactate concentration
- Capillary density
- Cardiac stroke volume at rest
Correct answer: Resting muscle glycogen stores
Reduced training volume during a taper allows muscle glycogen resynthesis to peak, directly supporting energy availability during competition.
Question 7: The 'dose-response' relationship in training load management refers to:
- Medication dosing relative to body weight in injured athletes
- The predictable link between applied training stress and the resulting adaptation or fatigue (Correct answer)
- The relationship between carbohydrate intake and glycolytic performance
- Injury incidence as a function of competition schedule density
Correct answer: The predictable link between applied training stress and the resulting adaptation or fatigue
Dose-response in sport science describes how the type, magnitude, and timing of training stress produces predictable physiological and performance adaptations.
CPSS Managing Training Load 4
Player-load units (PLU) derived from tri-axial accelerometers primarily quantify: