Athlete Monitoring: Practical Data Collection for Subjective Measures

In previous posts, the topic of monitoring session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) and wellness status were discussed here and here.

To briefly review;

sRPE: Approximately 30 minutes following a workout, practice or competition, the athlete provides a rating of perceived exertion value based on the chart below. This number is multiplied by the duration of the session in minutes for field based assessment. For resistance training the RPE value is multiplied by the total number of repetitions performed.

Wellness Questionnaire: Surveys the athletes on their perceived levels of important markers of recovery and wellness such as sleep quality, soreness, stress levels, mood. Example survey posted below.

Ample evidence supporting the utility of these simple subjective metrics for athlete monitoring has been published.  These valuable measures of training status should not be overlooked due to their simplicity as even the most elite sports programs regularly use these subjective indicators of training load and fatigue. However, acquiring this type of data routinely can be challenging.

One method of collecting this data at no cost and with minimal effort is through Survey Monkey. It is free to register and use however the free account has some limitations. If you’re only working with one or two teams and not hundreds of athletes, this shouldn’t be a problem. Survey Monkey surveys can be scheduled and delivered to your athletes mobile phones. This adds a great deal of conveniences and eliminates the need for raw materials. It also makes the responses more personal. Oftentimes, when this type of data is collected in the field as a group, athletes are often influenced by one another on an RPE score or how much soreness they are willing to report. Though this certainly doesn’t eliminate this issue, it certainly minimizes it.

Below is a screenshot of the sRPE Scale as it appears on the athletes phone from their email:

Below is the Wellness Questionnaire as it appears on the athletes phone from their email:

Survey Monkey provides visualization of the data so you can see both team average and individual scores. However, without a paid account, all data must be transferred to your excel spreadsheet manually unless you have a premium account.

How do you collect and record this type of data?