Abstract
Competition stress significantly impacts the performance of athletes across various sports. Despite its unique demands, stress in rodeo athletes remains underexplored, largely due to the sport's nomadic and individualistic nature and its prior lack of mainstream attention. While comparisons can be drawn between the intermittent structure of rodeo and mainstream sports like baseball or football, the recent surge in rodeo's popularity has increased interest in optimizing athlete performance. PUROSE: The aim of this study was to identify and compare salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) and physical workloads experienced by riders and horses in practice and competition settings. Additionally, the study aims to determine the relationship between SCC and performance outcomes. METHODS: Collegiate rodeo athletes (bareback riders n=3; saddle bronc riders n=4) from McNeese State University were recruited. Salivary cortisol, heart rate (HR), and VO2 max levels were measured. Saliva samples were collected via oral swab from riders 20 minutes before and after a scheduled practice, a mock competition, and a Bruce treadmill protocol VO2 max test. Riders rode the same horse for both practice and mock competition rides; and there were 3 weeks between tests. Salivary cortisol was analyzed via Immunoassay kit (Salimetrics) with 4.6% intra-assay CV and 6.0% inter-assay CV. Statistical analysis included generalized linear model to determine the relationship between variables across tests. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in mean SCC were observed in riders pre-practice (0.189±0.059 µg/dL), post-practice (0.482±0.057 µg/dL), pre-VO2 max (0.361±0.068 µg/dL), post-VO2 max (0.302±0.068 µg/dL) or pre-competition (0.512±0.062 µg/dL) (p > 0.05). However, SCC was higher post-competition than any other time points (1.956±0.057 µg/dL; p < 0.05) and was negatively correlated with total score (y=77.187±2.023 – 3.088±0.566SCC; r2=0.881; p=0.005). Mean rider HR was higher during competition (161.5±0.289bpm) than practice (154.7±0.267bpm) (p=0.007). CONCLUSION: Post-competition SCC was significantly higher than post-VO2 max, suggesting that the elevated SCC is likely influenced by heightened psychological stress rather than solely the physical demands of the sport. The negative correlation between SCC and performance score highlights the potential impact of competition stress on outcomes. Further research on strategies to control psychological stress in rodeo athletes could lead to enhanced performance and better management of competition-related challenges.
Recommended Citation
Handley, Tyler K.; Zoller, Jennifer L.; Huseman, Chelsie J.; Colvin, Lisa; Storer, William; and Baxter, Amanda
(2025)
"Examining the Relationship Between Competition Stress and Performance in Collegiate Rodeo Bronc Riders Through Salivary Cortisol and Heart Rate,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2:
Iss.
17, Article 88.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss17/88
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Medical Education Commons, Sports Sciences Commons
