CPSS Managing Training Load 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which questionnaire tool is widely used in applied sport science to monitor athlete well-being and early signs of overreaching?
- SF-36 Health Survey
- Profile of Mood States (POMS) or similar well-being questionnaire (Correct answer)
- Borg CR10 Scale only
- Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index exclusively
Correct answer: Profile of Mood States (POMS) or similar well-being questionnaire
POMS and short-form well-being questionnaires (fatigue, mood, muscle soreness, sleep quality) are validated tools for tracking psychophysiological responses to training load.
Question 2: During a congested fixture schedule, a sport scientist recommends prioritizing recovery modalities. Which strategy has the strongest evidence for accelerating short-term recovery between matches?
- Passive static stretching for 30 minutes
- Cold water immersion (CWI) combined with sleep optimization (Correct answer)
- Maximal intensity sprint sessions within 24 hours
- Sauna exposure at 100°C for 45 minutes
Correct answer: Cold water immersion (CWI) combined with sleep optimization
CWI reduces inflammation and perceived soreness, while sleep is the most powerful recovery intervention; together they show the strongest evidence for short-turnaround recovery.
Question 3: A strength and conditioning coach tracks the monotony index to evaluate training variation. A high monotony index (>2) indicates:
- Excellent load variation that reduces injury risk
- Little day-to-day variation in load, potentially increasing overtraining risk (Correct answer)
- Optimal weekly undulating periodization
- High intensity-to-volume ratio
Correct answer: Little day-to-day variation in load, potentially increasing overtraining risk
Monotony = mean daily load ÷ standard deviation; a high value signals insufficient variation, which Foster associates with increased overtraining and illness risk.
Question 4: The concept of 'strain' in Foster's training load model is calculated as:
- Weekly load × session RPE
- Monotony × weekly training load (Correct answer)
- ACWR × chronic workload
- Total distance × average speed
Correct answer: Monotony × weekly training load
Strain = weekly training load × monotony index, combining total volume with the degree of load variation to quantify cumulative physiological stress.
Question 5: An athlete reports persistent upper respiratory tract infections during a high-volume training phase. This is MOST consistent with:
- Improved mucosal immunity from aerobic adaptations
- Exercise-induced transient immunosuppression from excessive load (Correct answer)
- Insufficient carbohydrate intake only
- Overhydration-induced electrolyte imbalance
Correct answer: Exercise-induced transient immunosuppression from excessive load
The 'open window' hypothesis describes transient immunosuppression following heavy exercise, increasing susceptibility to upper respiratory infection during high-load phases.
Question 6: In a multi-sport athlete preparing for a championship, reducing training load 7–21 days before competition (tapering) primarily targets:
- Eliminating all cardiovascular adaptation to reduce body mass
- Dissipating accumulated fatigue while preserving fitness to reveal peak performance (Correct answer)
- Increasing glycolytic enzyme concentrations through reduced aerobic work
- Lowering resting metabolic rate for energy conservation
Correct answer: Dissipating accumulated fatigue while preserving fitness to reveal peak performance
The taper goal is to reduce fatigue faster than fitness decays, shifting the fitness-fatigue balance to maximize net performance readiness.
Question 7: When using GPS technology to quantify external load, 'high-speed running' is most commonly defined as locomotion above what velocity threshold?
- 10 km/h
- 14–15 km/h
- 20–22 km/h (Correct answer)
- 28 km/h
Correct answer: 20–22 km/h
In most team sport GPS literature, high-speed running (HSR) is defined as speeds above approximately 19.8–22 km/h (5.5–6.1 m/s), though thresholds vary by sport and position.
CPSS Managing Training Load 5
Which questionnaire tool is widely used in applied sport science to monitor athlete well-being and early signs of overreaching?