Neuromuscular Fatigue in Contact Sports: Theories and Reality of a High Performance Environment

Evolving in a highly competitive environment where maximal performance is all that matter, elite athletes are required to allocate training time to an intensity that mimics the sport-specific characteristics they experience during competition [1]. Due to the demands of training and competition, athletes experience a constant cycle of “fatigue-recovery-adaptation”. Performance is enhanced by training stimulus only if adaptive processes are greater than the induced fatigue, and as such, the monitoring of fatigue is important to determine appropriate training loads to maximize subsequent performance [2]. Historically, fatigue has been defined in accordance with the varied sub disciplines associated with sports science, namely the divisions of physiology, psychology and biomechanics. At one extreme, Physiologists may consider fatigue as failure or dysfunction of a particular physiological system [3] while at the other extreme, psychologist may view fatigue as an uncomfortable perception or sensation [4].