The pacing of mixed martial arts sparring bouts: A secondary investigation with new analyses of previous data to support accelerometry as a potential method of monitoring pacing

Abstract

Purpose. body-worn accelerometry has been shown to be reliable and used to measure the external load of mixed martial arts (MMA) via the Playerload metric. these measurements were only reported on a round-by-round basis, offering little indication of minute-by-minute load changes. Understanding these changes may provide a proxy measure of fatigue, readiness, and the onset of non-functional overreaching. It is also unclear as to what Playerload is measuring in MMA. this study was a secondary investigation of previously reported data to describe minute-by-minute changes in external load in MMA. Methods. Six male MMA competitors participated in a 3 × 5 minute sparring bout wearing a Catapult Minimax × 3, which recorded accumulated Playerload. the bouts were video-recorded. time-motion analysis was used to determine: total active time; total inactive time; high-intensity time; low-intensity time; standing time; grounded time; striking time; non-striking time. Results. bayesian repeated measures ANOVA found statistically relevant differences in accumulated Playerload for each minute of sparring (bF10 = 410) with no statistically relevant differences between winners and losers. bayesian correlations revealed a direct, nearly perfect relationship between accumulated Playerload and total active time (r = 0.992, bF10 = 9,666). No other relationships between Playerload and time-motion analysis results were observed, despite bayesian t-tests finding differences between standing time and grounded time (bF10 = 83.7), striking time and non-striking time (bF10 = 1,419). Conclusions. Playerload reflects overall active movement in MMA and measures active movement minute-by-minute changes but cannot distinguish between different modes or intensities of movement. this should be investigated further as a potential measure of fatigue and non-functional overreaching during MMA training.