Competition-Based Heart Rate, Training Load, and Time Played above 85% Peak Heart Rate in NCAA Division i Women's Basketball

Sanders, GJ, Boos, B, Rhodes, J, Kollock, RO, and Peacock, CA. Competition-based heart rate, training load, and time played above 85% peak heart rate in NCAA division I women's basketball. J Strength Cond Res 35(4): 1095-1102, 2021-Basketball athletes frequently engage in intensities ≥85% HRpeak throughout competition. Knowing the time spent competing at intensities ≥85% HRpeak can improve training protocols. The purpose of the study was to assess heart rate responses across 4-quarter games (N = 31) in an NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Ten female athletes were tested and monitored with heart rate-based wearable microsensor devices. Before the season, HRpeak was recorded through a peak metabolic test (Vo²peak). Average (HRavg) and HRpeak were recorded for each game, and time spent in 5 heart rate zones (HR^Zones) were recorded: HR^Zone1= 50-60% HRpeak, HR^Zone2= 60-70% HRpeak, HR^Zone3= 70-76% HRpeak, HR^Zone4= 77-84% HRpeak, and HR^Zone5= 85-100% HRpeak. Training load was calculated with the summated-heart-rate-zone model (SHRZ^mod). There was a main effect of position (p ≤ 0.019) and quarter (p ≤ 0.005) on SHRZ^modand on time spent in HR^Zone1-5. Athletes accumulated the most time in HR^Zone4and HR^Zone5and in the fourth quarter, and SHRZ^modwas the greatest in the fourth quarter. There was no main effect for HRavg and HRpeak (p ≥ 0.110). Athletes averaged 34.5 minutes per game competing in HRZone5 or ≥85% HRpeak with nearly one-Third of those minutes accumulated in the fourth quarter. Although there were no differences in HRavg and HRpeak from quarter to quarter, SHRZ^modincreased from the first to fourth quarter. Utilizing time spent in heart rate zones and training load with SHRZ^modcan provide valuable information to practitioners regarding the intensity and physiological demands of competitive basketball games.