Performance Changes and Recovery Time in U20 and Older Handball Players after a High-Intensity Sprint Exercise

Featured Application Although the present study suggests that the effects of age on performance and recovery in team sports are smaller than initially assumed, the few existing age-related differences in recovery should, nevertheless, be taken seriously in order to optimally monitor the team players' training stress, to prevent any injuries, and to improve individual and team performances. Finally, the differences in the sprint times measured in the current study indicate that the older players either put less effort into the sprints and did not exert themselves as much as the young players did or that they became fatigued more quickly than the U20 players. For coaches, this would mean that the extent of highly intensive exercise should be reduced for older players in order to prevent any consequent negative outcome and to support the older players to achieve maximum output. Alternatively, older players may be allowed prolonged recovery time after high-intensity exercises. To conclude, research related to stress capacity and recovery processes, including age groups consistent with those typically encountered in different team sports, such as handball, basketball, football, or volleyball, are of major importance to athletes and their coaches and should be continued in the future. This study used a single bout of repeated high-intensity sprint exercise as a variable to compare the performance and recovery time of handball players within a typical age range for team sport athletes. Two test groups (U20 players, n = 12, mean age = 18 years; senior players, n = 17, mean age = 27 years) were observed during and after their performance of a high-intensity interval exercise consisting of four sets of 6 x 40 m all-out change-of-direction sprints. U20 players outperformed senior players in all sprint sets. The groups' physiological responses and perceived exertion and stress levels were measured immediately before and after the exercise and also after 24, 48, and 72 h. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no interaction effects between age and measurement time points on jump height, muscle soreness, and perceived stress levels after the high-intensity interval exercise. However, the U20 athletes showed marginally, but not statistically significant lower creatine kinase (CK) values than the seniors 72 h after the exercise. The vagal heart rate variability (HRV) parameter rMSSD indicated a faster recovery for the U20 athletes compared to the senior players 24 h after the sprint intervals. Overall, the results demonstrate that repeated sprint intervals do not differently affect the physical performance ability (i.e., jump height) of U20 and senior players. Single parameters related to the players' ability to recover, such as CK and HRV values, show some variations as a function of age. Based on this, coaches may want to consider a longer recovery period after a high-intensity exercise for senior players compared to younger ones.

Automated summary

The study suggests that while age has a smaller impact on performance and recovery in team sports, age-related differences in recovery should still be taken seriously to optimize training stress monitoring, prevent injuries, and improve performances. Younger players outperformed older players in high-intensity sprints, but showed different recovery abilities, with older players possibly needing longer recovery time.