Research article - (2008)07, 157 - 165
Season-to-Season Variations of Physiological Fitness Within a Squad of Professional Male Soccer Players
Niall A. Clark1, Andrew M. Edwards2,3,, R. Hugh Morton4, Ronald J. Butterly3
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

Andrew M. Edwards
✉ UCOL Institute of Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Email: a.m.edwards@ucol.ac.nz
Received: 07-11-2007 -- Accepted: 15-01-2008
Published (online): 01-03-2008

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

Key Points
  • Maximal aerobic power remains fairly stable across inter- and intra-season measurements.
  • Anaerobic threshold appears more sensitive of training state confirming our earlier observations.
  • The professional players tended to attain optimal performances at the mid-season interval over the 3 seasons, presumably prior to the development of accumulative fatigue.








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