Methods of Monitoring Physical fitness, Fatigue, and Recovery in Athletes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

purpose: This study aims to investigate methods of monitoring physical fitness, fatigue, and recovery in athletes, which are practical and essential topics in planning and controlling training coaches use.

Method: This review study investigated the impact of monitoring methods on physical performance, fatigue, and recovery in athletic performance. Relevant articles were collected using keywords such as sports monitoring, fatigue monitoring, recovery monitoring, and novel performance monitoring from databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus, covering the period from 2013 to 2024. Inclusion criteria comprised original articles with scientific credibility, relevance, and availability in Persian or English. Duplicate, review, inaccessible (full-text), or low-quality articles were excluded. Ultimately, 15 articles were selected, and their data were organized and analyzed using Excel software.

Results: Monitoring is recognized as an essential tool across all sports disciplines, identifying changes related to body composition, physiological indices, performance, fatigue, and signs of overtraining on a weekly and session-by-session basis. This information enables coaches and specialists to plan precisely for the type, duration, and intensity of training sessions and manage fatigue. Regular monitoring contributes to athlete progress, reduces the risk of overtraining and sports injuries, and enhances recovery. Using both traditional and modern monitoring methods, such as RPE, GPS, and heart rate variability, can improve the accuracy and efficiency of monitoring, allowing coaches to implement timely interventions.

Conclusion: Monitoring is an essential and practical matter in all sports disciplines. Due to the high sensitivity and intensity of training sessions, changes related to body composition, physiological performance, fatigue, and overtraining indicators are identified weekly and session by session. Based on these results, coaches and specialists can comprehensively understand all performance, fatigue, and recovery indicators. This enables them to make informed decisions regarding the type, duration, and intensity of training, as well as the level of performance and fatigue of athletes, both at the team and individual levels. Proper planning ensures that athletes experience consistent progress, avoid overtraining and injuries, and recover faster.