Within- and between-day loading response to ballet choreography

Overuse pathologies are prevalent in ballet injury. Ten amateur ballet dancers (age: 23.20 +/- 3.08 years) completed a progressive 5-stage choreographed routine on two consecutive days. Tri-axial accelerometers positioned at C7 and the dominant and non-dominant lower-limb were used to calculate accumulated PlayerLoad(TM) (PLTOTAL) and uni-axial contributions of the anterior-posterior (PLAP), medial-lateral (PLML), and vertical (PLV) planes. PLTOTAL increased significantly (p = 0.001) as a function of exercise duration within-trial, however there was no significant change between trials (p = 0.18). PLTOTAL at C7 was significantly (p = 0.001) lower than both lower-limbs, with no bilateral asymmetry evident (p = 0.97). Planar contributions to PLTOTAL were significantly greater in PLV than PLAP and PLML (p = 0.001). PlayerLoad(TM) demonstrated within-trial sensitivity to the progressive routine, however no residual fatigue effect was observed between trials. The results of this study suggest that accelerometers have efficacy in athlete monitoring and injury screening protocols, however unit placement should be considered for practical interpretation.