Author(s): FERIOLI, D.1, FREITAS, T.T.2, MANNUCCI, C.1, CHUNG, L.H.2, MOMBELLI, A.2, ALCARAZ, P.E.2, MAFFIULETTI, N.A.3, Institution: UNIVERSITY OF MESSINA, Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 670

INTRODUCTION:
Basketball is a high-intensity intermittent team sport that places significant demands on neuromuscular factors to execute quick accelerations, decelerations, jumps, and direction changes [1]. While match-play has been reported to negatively impact physical performance [2], less is known on muscle contractile function and the associated recovery process. Therefore, this study investigated the amount and recovery of knee extensor peripheral neuromuscular fatigue induced by a simulated basketball match-play.
METHODS:
Thirteen highly-trained adult male basketball players (age: 25±4 years, stature: 185±9 cm, body mass: 86±14 kg) voluntarily participated in this study. Each player performed a simulated match-play consisting of standardized specific basketball activities. The simulated match-play lasted a total of 63 min with 32 min of activity (i.e., representing real active play time) being performed across quarters. Each quarter involved two 4-min activity bouts and standardized passive seated rest reflecting the likely occurrence of in-game stoppages. Before (PRE), immediately after (POST), 24 h (POST24) and 48 h (POST48) after the simulated match-play, neuromuscular evaluations were performed on the knee extensor muscles to determine the amount and recovery of peripheral fatigue. Electrical stimuli (single pulses and 10-Hz and 100-Hz paired pulses) were delivered in resting conditions to evoke a peak twitch (PT) response, from which maximal rate of torque development (MRTD) and relaxation (MRTR) were also determined. Furthermore, the ratio between 10-Hz and 100-Hz PT (10:100 Hz ratio) was calculated.
RESULTS:
Significant time-related changes (one-way repeated measures ANOVA) were observed for single and paired pulses PT (main effect: P < 0.001, strong), MRTD (P < 0.05, moderate-to-strong), MRTR (P < 0.05, minimum-to-strong) and 10:100 Hz ratio (P < 0.001, strong). Overall, post hoc analyses revealed that all variables were significantly reduced at POST compared to PRE, but completely restored at POST24.
CONCLUSION:
A simulated basketball match-play induced peripheral fatigue in the knee extensor muscles of highly-trained basketball players, that was marked immediately after the match but fully restored 24 h later. The observed decline in the 10:100 Hz ratio is indicative of low-frequency fatigue that however did not last more than 24 h.
REFERENCES:
1. Stojanović et al. (2018)
2. Pernigoni et al. (2024)