TY - JOUR
T1 - Blood-Based Biomarkers for Managing Workload in Athletes
T2 - Considerations and Recommendations for Evidence-Based Use of Established Biomarkers
AU - Haller, Nils
AU - Behringer, Michael
AU - Reichel, Thomas
AU - Wahl, Patrick
AU - Simon, Perikles
AU - Krüger, Karsten
AU - Zimmer, Philipp
AU - Stöggl, Thomas
N1 - © 2023. The Author(s).
PY - 2023/5/19
Y1 - 2023/5/19
N2 - Blood-based biomarkers can provide an objective individualized measure of training load, recovery, and health status in order to reduce injury risk and maximize performance. Despite enormous potentials, especially owing to currently evolving technology, such as point-of-care testing, and advantages, in terms of objectivity and non-interference with the training process, there are several pitfalls in the use and interpretation of biomarkers. Confounding variables such as preanalytical conditions, inter-individual differences, or an individual chronic workload can lead to variance in resting levels. In addition, statistical considerations such as the detection of meaningful minimal changes are often neglected. The lack of generally applicable and individual reference levels further complicates the interpretation of level changes and thus load management via biomarkers. Here, the potentials and pitfalls of blood-based biomarkers are described, followed by an overview of established biomarkers currently used to support workload management. Creatine kinase is discussed in terms of its evidence for workload management to illustrate the limited applicability of established markers for workload management to date. We conclude with recommendations for best practices in the use and interpretation of biomarkers in a sport-specific context.
AB - Blood-based biomarkers can provide an objective individualized measure of training load, recovery, and health status in order to reduce injury risk and maximize performance. Despite enormous potentials, especially owing to currently evolving technology, such as point-of-care testing, and advantages, in terms of objectivity and non-interference with the training process, there are several pitfalls in the use and interpretation of biomarkers. Confounding variables such as preanalytical conditions, inter-individual differences, or an individual chronic workload can lead to variance in resting levels. In addition, statistical considerations such as the detection of meaningful minimal changes are often neglected. The lack of generally applicable and individual reference levels further complicates the interpretation of level changes and thus load management via biomarkers. Here, the potentials and pitfalls of blood-based biomarkers are described, followed by an overview of established biomarkers currently used to support workload management. Creatine kinase is discussed in terms of its evidence for workload management to illustrate the limited applicability of established markers for workload management to date. We conclude with recommendations for best practices in the use and interpretation of biomarkers in a sport-specific context.
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/e966e4ae-c11c-3c63-b8d3-70ece29f5352/
U2 - 10.1007/s40279-023-01836-x
DO - 10.1007/s40279-023-01836-x
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 37204619
SN - 1179-2035
VL - 53
SP - 1315
EP - 1333
JO - Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)
JF - Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)
IS - 7
ER -