Abstract
Objectives
Evidence suggests that stress-induced changes in testosterone and cortisol are related
to future competitive behaviours and team-sport outcomes. Therefore, we examined whether
salivary testosterone and cortisol reactivity to a mid-week stress test can discriminate
a match outcome in international rugby union competition.
Design
Single group, quasi-experimental design with repeated measures.
Method
Thirty-three male rugby players completed a standardised stress test three or four
days before seven international matches. Stress testing involved seven minutes of
shuttle runs (2 × 20 m), dispersed across one-minute stages with increasing speeds. Salivary testosterone
and cortisol were measured in the morning, along with delta changes from morning to
pre-test (Morn-PreΔ) and pre-test to post-test (Pre-PostΔ). Data were compared across
wins (n = 3) and losses (n = 4).
Results
The Morn-PreΔ in cortisol increased before winning and decreased prior to losing (p< 0.001), with a large effect size difference (d = 1.6, 90% CI 1.3–1.9). Testosterone decreased significantly across the same period,
irrespective of the match outcome. The Morn-PreΔ in testosterone and cortisol, plus
the Pre-PostΔ in testosterone, all predicted a match outcome (p ≤ 0.01). The final model showed good diagnostic accuracy (72%) with cortisol as the
main contributor.
Conclusions
The salivary testosterone and cortisol responses to mid-week testing showed an ability
to discriminate a rugby match outcome over a limited number of games. The Morn-PreΔ
in cortisol was the strongest diagnostic biomarker. This model may provide a unique
format to assess team readiness or recovery between competitions, especially with
the emergence of rapid hormonal testing.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 02, 2017
Accepted:
May 24,
2017
Received in revised form:
March 31,
2017
Received:
January 12,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
