The Impact Of Physiological Recovery On The Optimal Performance Of Track & Field: A Gender Based Athletes Study

Abstract

Background:   The importance of muscular and mental recovery can not be denied at any professional sports forum to attain optimal performance from elite track & field athletes. However, the effects of muscular recovery through intervention program needs to be studied before application of recovery strategies during meso-cycle training program.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the impact of muscular recovery on the performance female and female elite athletes of track & field events.

Methodology: In this research, total 80 male and female athletes were distributed into four equal stratas (A, B, C & D) each comprising of 20 athletes. Each strata was further distributed into five sub-groups: sprints (100m), long racers (5000m), long jump, and shot-put (rotational). These professionals and semi-professional athletes aged between 18-35 years were given eight weeks intervention program at Pakistan Sports Board, Islamabad. Overall, 90 minutes training program were allocated for all the groups irrespective of age and gender divisions. Moreover, all the stratas (A, B, C & D) were further assigned 5,7,9 and 11 training sessions, each of 90 minutes per week. To evaluate the pre-post intervention, statistical analysis comprising of basic descriptive techniques along with advanced methods are used through SPSS (v25) and Minitab.

Results: The pre-post intervention results of all track & field events showed significant difference for both genders in all groups. The H₀: There is an equal improvement in the performance of male and female athletes after 8 weeks intervention was rejected and the impact of intervention showed significant difference on the basis of results of two samples Wilcoxon test. Moreover, the improvements in performance of females were observed more substantial as compared to male athletes due to various multifarious reasons.

Conclusion: The study concludes that eight weeks physiological training intervention have significantly improved the performance of male and female athletes in all track & field sport events.