Salivary testosterone and cortisol in rugby players: correlation with psychological overtraining items.

BACKGROUND A psychocomportemental questionnaire has been devised by the consensus group of the Société Française de Médecine du Sport to characterise and quantify, using a list of functional and psychocomportemental signs, a state of "staleness", for which no biological indicator is unanimously recognised. OBJECTIVES To determine the relation between this diagnostic method and two hormones (cortisol and testosterone) often used as indicators of a state of fitness or staleness. METHODS The subjects were young rugby players. They were asked to complete the overtraining questionnaire and gave three saliva samples (at 8 am, 11 am, and 5 pm) during a rest day. Concentrations of cortisol and testosterone in the saliva were determined by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS A preferential relation was found between the questionnaire score and testosterone concentration but not between the questionnaire score and cortisol concentration. CONCLUSIONS The questionnaire may be a useful tool for screening subjects at risk of overtraining. Testosterone concentration is influenced by tiredness, and is therefore a valid marker of tiredness.