Critical eye-fusion frequency behavior in national track and field preselection athletes/Comportamiento de la frecuencia crítica de fusión ocular en atletas de carreras de la preselección nacional de atletismo

Abstract

The correct combination of the volume and intensity of the stimuli of training loads and the control of the impact that they have on the organism of the athletes constitute two of the aspects that awaken more interest in the high performance sport. The present research aims to describe the behavior of the critical eye-fusion frequency (FCFO in Spanish) before and after undergoing track races, in three macrocycles of athletes of the running modalities of the national athletics preselection and to check if these values differ according to the different mesocycles of preparation and gender. The study was carried out with 38 athletes (20 men and 18 women) subjected to 84 measurements of the Flicker or Fatigtest-USB, before and after the load in three macrocycles, which included different preparation mesocycles. Statistical analysis of the data was performed through SSPS, version 20.0, specifically Studenty's ¨t¨ test and analysis of variance. The results showed that there is a significant increase in the values of critical frequency of ocular fusion and, consequently, in the levels of cortical activation after the load, without significant differences between these values in the different types of mesocycles, although there were significant differences between the average values of men and women before and after the load; the values reported by men were lower. These analyses constituted references for the interpretation of the test values in order to improve in the process of psychological control of training and advice to trainers about the adequate assimilation of training loads.