ArticleSports medicine - open2018
The Current State of Subjective Training Load Monitoring-a Practical Perspective and Call to Action.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Rating of perceived exertion in continuous sports: a scoping review with evidence gap map.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Pooled it
- Internal Training Load Perceived by Athletes and Planned by Coaches: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2022Pooled it
- Factors Influencing the Association Between Coach and Athlete Rating of Exertion: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2021Pooled it
- Mental Fatigue and Basketball Performance: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Player Characteristics and Periodization Strategies on External and Internal Loads, Wellness, and Recovery in Collegiate Male Basketball Players.Journal of strength and conditioning research · 2026Article
- Weekly Fluctuations in Internal Load and Neuromuscular Performance Across a 10-Week Training Period in Elite Female Boxers.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Incorporating Squat-Based Training into the Warm-Up Twice Weekly Improves Sprint, Jump, and Change-of-Direction Performance in Young Soccer Players.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The paradox of sleep quality and training load in deaf handball players? An investigation of weekly changes and relationships.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Comparing acute effects of heavy resistance, plyometric, and complex training on post-activation performance enhancement in elite swimmers: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- A new conceptual framework for managing hamstring injury risk in soccer - implementing a data-informed approach: a narrative review.Biology of sport · 2026Review
- Academic stress and mental fatigue predict subjective but not objective internal load in adolescent soccer players-a prospective cohort study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Daily stress, sleep, fatigue and muscle soreness and their associations with injury and time loss in Para athletes: a 50-week prospective study.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- Relationships Between Training Load, Perceived Cognitive Load and Sleep in Student-Athletes.International journal of exercise science · 2026Article
- Associations between time-series features of training-load monitoring indicators and relative composite performance in elite speed climbers: a GEE and quantile regression study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Validating Subjective Ratings with Wearable Data for a Nuanced Understanding of Load-Recovery Status in Elite Endurance Athletes.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Use the rating of perceived exertion to evaluate load in collegiate male soccer player, validity and influencing factors.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Description and Classification of Training Drills, Based on Biomechanical and Physiological Load, in Elite Basketball.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Performance tracking in female youth soccer through wearables and subjective assessments.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Swimming coaches' perceptions and practices on periodization, performance monitoring, and training management.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Salivary cortisol response to post-exercise infrared sauna declines over time.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This commentary delivers a practical perspective on the current state of subjective training load (TL) monitoring, and in particular sessional ratings of perceived exertion, for performance enhancement and injury prevention. Subjective measures may be able to reflect mental fatigue, effort, stress, and motivation. These factors appear to be important moderators of the relationship TL has with performance and injury, and they also seem to differ between open and closed skill sports. As such, mental factors may affect the interaction between TL, performance, and injury in different sports. Further, modeling these interactions may be limited due to the assumption that an independent signal can adequately account for the performance or injury outcomes. An independent signal model does not accurately reflect training environments where multiple stressors (e.g., mechanical, emotional, nutritional) impact adaptations. Common issues with using subjective TL monitoring, including a lack of differentiation between biomechanical, physiological, and cognitive load, may be overcome by considering psychometric measurement best practices, finer graded scales, and differential ratings of perceived exertion. Methods of calculating TL, including different acute and chronic time periods, may also need to be individualized to different sports and potentially different individuals within the same sport. As TL monitoring is predominately a "chronic" decision-making tool, "acute" decision-making tools, e.g., subjective wellness and autonomic nervous system measures, should be combined in a bespoke multivariate model to aid sports coaches. A call to action is presented for future research on key issues associated with TL monitoring that will have relevance for practitioners in an applied setting.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.