Loads, Injuries and Illnesses Among Elite Handball Players

Primary goal of the research is to determine whether injury/illness occurrence is influenced by the academic, training and competition loads, as well as the overall load (sum of academic/work, training and competition loads) in elite handball athletes To examine whether subjective measures of perceived overall stress correlate with objectively measured levels of stress. Determine the benefits of certain biomarkers to monitor stress, load and injury/illness occurrence in athletes.

The current structure and organizational initiatives do not meet the needs of athletes as they face different challenges throughout their careers. There is a need for better health surveillance, load monitoring and support services with a focus on injury/illnesses prevention and rehabilitation. The main goal of the research is to determine how specific loads affect the occurrence of injuries and illnesses in elite handball players and how much of the total load an athlete can withstand before an injury/illness occurs. Thus, the study will attempt to identify athletes at risk of injury/illness by monitoring their workload with subjective (perceived stress) and objective (biomarkers, hours of workload) measurements. One of the goals is also to determine the correlation between objective measures of stress (biomarkers) and subjective measures of stress (athlete's stress assessment). The results will not only be important for the medical and sports community for development of new injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies, but also for structuring the correct policy recommendations for athletes' general health. The research will be carried out on approx. 250 elite handball players (the entire 1st men's handball league) during one handball season. In addition to other parameters (monitoring of load, injuries and illnesses), blood samples will be taken from athletes at five time points according to their training cycle.