Concurrent Associations Between the OMNI Rating of Perceived Exertion and Measures of Monitoring Training Load in Non-Elite Adolescent Team Sport Athletes

This study aimed to investigate associations between training load (TL) calculated using the OMNI rating of perceived exertion scale (OMNI-RPE) and heart rate (HR) and velocity-derived measures of TL in non-elite adolescent team sport athletes. Fifty-four athletes participated in the study. The study was separated into two parts. In the Part A, twenty athletes completed both an easy and hard version of a simulated team game circuit outdoors on natural turf to replicate performance parameters often used in training. In part B, thirty-four different athletes completed a competitive team game played outdoors on synthetic/natural turf hockey or soccer pitches. For both Parts A and B, session OMNI TL (sOMNI-TL) was derived as a product of the session OMNI-RPE and session duration, and was correlated to Edward’s Training Impulse (TRIMP) and time spent in 0–25%, 25–50%, 50–70% and >70% peak velocity. Low-to-moderate correlations were observed between sOMNI-TL and Edwards TRIMP (r = 0.18–0.20) and velocity measures (r = 0.05–0.42) for Part A. Larger correlations were observed between sOMNI-TL and Edwards TRIMP (r = 0.53, p < 0.05) and velocity measures (r = 0.36–0.51, p < 0.05) for part B. The hypothesis that sOMNI-TL would show significant, moderate associations with heart rate and velocity-derived training load in both simulated and game conditions was only partially supported, and the results of this study do not support its use as a stand-alone measure in a practical setting.