Using Wearable Electronic Devices to Quantify the Physical and Physiological Response of Collegiate Students Participating in Leisure-Time Team Sports

The using of wearable electronic devices to detect the physical and physiological response of athletes in training and competition has been deeply investigated, however, not much research has been conducted in the population of non-athletes participating leisure-time sports. The current study aims to quantify the physical and physiological response of collegiate students taking part in three widely practiced leisure-time sports using the global positioning system and heart rate monitors. Results showed that in the 40-min duration of leisure-time sport participation: (1) collegiate students covered 2776±184 m, 3408±350 m, and 1103±267 m of TD in soccer, basketball and volleyball games; 98.4±1.2% of the TD in volleyball games was covered at the speed of <6km/h, which was the highest among the three games; 7.8±1.9%, 12.0±2.3%, 4.3±1.4%, 1.52±0.69% and 0.90±0.51% of the TD in basketball games was covered at the speed zones of 6-7.9 km/h, 8-11.9 km/h, 12-14.9 km/h, 15-18 km/h, and >18 km/h which was the highest among the three games, while collegiate students achieve 12.7±5.3 efforts of medium- intensity (a=1.5-3.5m/s2) deceleration in soccer games which was the most among the three games; (2) the mean heart rate of collegiate students in soccer, basketball and volleyball games were 172±11 beats/min, 162±16 beats/min, and 136±16 beats/min, respectively. The mean heart rate and percentage of game duration in HIHR (80-90% maximum HR) and VHIHR (>90% maximum HR) achieved by collegiate students in volleyball games were significantly lower (p<0.001) than in soccer and basketball games. But the percentage of game duration in LIHR (<70% maximum HR) achieved by collegiate students in volleyball games was significantly higher (p<0.001) than in soccer and basketball games. These results help better guide the selection of sports participation and provide a more scientific understanding of the benefits of different team sports.