Blood Lactate Responses of Male and Female Players Across an International Rugby Sevens Tournament

Purpose : This study investigated within- and between-matches blood lactate (La − ) responses across an international Rugby Sevens tournament (5 matches over 2 d) in male and female players. Methods : Earlobe blood samples were taken from 25 professional players around matches: before warm-up (PRE), immediately upon finishing match participation (POST), and 30 minutes postmatch (30 min). Results : POST [La − ] (mean [SD], range) for males was 10.3 (3.2; 2.9–20.2) mmol·L −1 and for females was 9.1 (2.3; 3.4–14.6) mmol·L −1 . Linear mixed-effects models revealed a decrease in POST [La − ] after match 5, compared to match 1. Increased PRE [La − ] was found before match 2 (+0.8 [0.6–1.1] mmol·L −1 ), match 3 (+0.8 [0.5–1.1] mmol·L −1 ), and match 5 (+0.6 [0.4–0.9] mmol·L −1 ) compared to match 1 (all P