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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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SEASON-TO-SEASON VARIATIONS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL FITNESS WITHIN A SQUAD OF PROFESSIONAL MALE SOCCER PLAYERS |
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Niall A. Clark1, Andrew M. Edwards2,3  ,
R. Hugh Morton4 and Ronald J. Butterly3 |
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1Charlton Athletic FC, London, UK, 2UCOL Institute of Technology, Applied Health Sciences, New Zealand, 3Leeds Metropolitan University, Carnegie Research Institute, Leeds, UK, 4Massey University, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, New Zealand. |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2008) 7, 157 - 165 Search Google Scholar for Citing Articles |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| The purpose of this study was to examine season-to-season variations
in physiological fitness parameters among a 1st team squad of professional
adult male soccer players for the confirmatory purposes of identifying normative
responses (immediately prior to pre-season training (PPS), mid-season (MID),
and end-of-season (EOS)). Test-retest data were collected from a student
population on the primary dependent variables of anaerobic threshold (AT)
and maximal aerobic power (VO2 max) to define meaningful measurement
change in excess of test-retest technical error between test-to-test performances.
Participants from a pool of 42 professional soccer players were tested over
a set sequence of tests during the 3-year period: 1) basic anthropometry,
2) countermovement jump (CMJ) tests 3) a combined AT and VO2
max test. Over the 3-year period there were no test-to-test changes in mean
VO2 max performance exceeding pre-defined limits of test agreement
(mean of eight measures: 61.6 ± 0.6 ml·kg-1·min-1).
In contrast, VO2 at AT was significantly higher at the MID test
occasion in seasons 2 (+4.8%; p = 0.04, p < 0.05) and 3 (+6.8%; p = 0.03,
p < 0.05). The CMJ tests showed a test-to-test improvement of 6.3% (best
of 3 jumps) (p = 0.03, p < 0.05) and 10.3% (20-s sustained jumping test)
(p = 0.007, p < 0.01) between PPS2 and MID2 and thereafter remained stable.
Anthropometrics were unaffected. In summary, despite some personnel changes
in the elite cohort between test-to-test occasions, VO2 max values
did not vary significantly over the study which supports previous short-term
observations suggesting a general 'elite' threshold of 60 ml·kg-1
min. Interestingly, AT significantly varied where VO2 max was
stable and these variations also coincided with on- and off-seasons suggesting
that AT is a better indication of acute training state than VO2
max.
Key words: Aerobic power, anaerobic threshold, countermovement jump, elite athletes. |
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