DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Saliva samples were obtained with salivette® (Sardstedt, Germany) at two different times using the procedure indicated by the manufacturer. The first collection was before athletes’ warm-up (D1A, D2A, and D3A), where participants could not be fasting and they were instructed to make a quick mouthwash with clean water. Sample D1A was collected considerably before the warm-up to be characterized as basal cortisol. The other sample was collected about 15 minutes after the last workout (D1P, D2P, and D3P), when participants were instructed to repeat the same procedure of the first collection. Control data collection was not performed before the championship, because we did not have access to all participants before it and due to collection logistics, as the participants came from different states of Brazil.
Saliva was collected using a sterile dental cotton roll on the participant’s tongue, where it remained until it was saturated with saliva; then it was removed and placed inside a plastic tube provided by the manufacturer. Samples were then kept in a refrigerator (4 °C) until they were sent to the laboratory, where they were centrifuged and frozen at -20 ºC until the salivary cortisol concentration analysis.
Between the first and the last collection, there was an average twelve-hour interval. Participants had, on average, ten hours of rest between the days of competition. After performing the ANOVA statistical treatment and Tukey’s range test, this study considered the significance level of 5% (p≤0.05).