Come stai? Un protocollo di monitoraggio multidimensionale e innovativo per due giovani atleti di karate

Multidimensional monitoring of athletes is essential for sports preparation and for preventing issues such as Overtraining Syndrome (OTS). Two 15-year-old athletes, a female (Athlete 1) and a male (Athlete 2), participated in a one-month monitoring program, which included two regional competitions (Race 1 and Race 2). Every week, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was recorded before and after concentration tests and karate training sessions, and questionnaires such as the Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes -36 Sport (RESTQue-36) were administered. Mann-Whitney U tests and post hoc Bonferroni correction (p<0.025) were performed on the standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDNN) and the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) of HRV, as well as on perceived fatigue. The results show that, compared to T0, RMSSD decreased in weeks T1 and T2, then increased in T3. Despite showing good vagal tone in Race 2-week, Athlete 1 and Athlete 2 reported greater fatigue compared to T0, when vagal tone was equally good. This suggests that the internal load perceived by the athletes was higher than the external load, to which they had not fully adapted. This discrepancy highlights the importance of developing personalized monitoring protocols to improve athletes' self-regulation and self-monitoring capabilities, thus optimizing their performance and preventing the risk of overtraining and injuries.