ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2023
Blood-Based Biomarkers for Managing Workload in Athletes: Considerations and Recommendations for Evidence-Based Use of Established Biomarkers.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Validity and Reliability of Portable Blood Lactate Analyzers: A Systematic Review with COSMIN and GRADE Assessment.Sports medicine - open · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of High Intensity Interval Training in Normobaric Hypoxia on Aerobic Performance and Exercise-Induced Motor Performance Fatigue in Young Biathletes.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2025Trial
- Systemic Degree of Perturbation of Plasma Markers Reveals Cumulative Biological Stress Across the Competitive Season in Professional Soccer Players.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic signatures reveal systemic adaptations and immune modulation in response to training and competitive racing in horses.Equine veterinary journal · 2026Article
- 8-Iso-Prostaglandin F2α and Lipoxygenase Gene Expression as Candidate Molecular Markers of Training Adaptation in Professional Volleyball Players: A Pilot Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Observational
- Trimethylamine N-oxide in exercise physiology: a gut microbiota-derived signal linking metabolic stress, redox balance and cardiometabolic health.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Review
- Blood Biochemical Acute Daily Responses During an Intensive Training Microcycle: A Case Report of an Olympic Kayaker.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From Routine Blood Tests to Metabolomics: A Contextual Framework for Interpreting Biomarkers of Training Load, Recovery, and Metabolic Stress in Athletes.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Monitoring Training Effects in Athletes: A Multidimensional Framework for Decision-Making.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Article
- Biomarkers as Temporal Signals: A Decision-Linked Multi-Layer Framework for Exercise Recovery, Overload, and Adaptation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Molecular Biomarkers of Training Responses: A Systems Framework for Exercise Adaptation and Athlete Monitoring.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- On the relationship between external and internal load variables in elite youth soccer players.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Dose-response to endurance training: a longitudinal study of training load and biomarkers in elite triathletes.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- From Strain to Repair: A Targeted Review of Lipid Mediators Driving the Inflammatory Cascade Following Exercise.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Divergent immune cascades activated by metabolic versus mechanical exercise intensity: revisiting cytokine heterogeneity in "moderate-intensity exercise".Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Article
- Acute and Chronic Effects of a High-Intensity Interval Training Shock Microcycle on Cell-Free DNA: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- How intense is high-intensity interval training? Biomarker responses and associations with training load and fitness.iScience · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.