A Pre-season Comparison of Aerobic Fitness and Flexibility of Younger and Older Professional Soccer Players

Abstract

Aerobic fitness and flexibility generally present age-related decreases, yet the influence of age on these variables in soccer players is still unknown. We obtained oxygen consumption (VO(2)) and heart rate (HR) at 12 km · h (- 1), anaerobic threshold and maximum intensities, and athletes' flexibility profiles using Flexitest (FLX). Pre-season data (2005-2011) from the 2 extreme age terciles (n=54) - YOUNGER (17-22 years old) and OLDER (27-36 years old) - of a group of 162 players from an elite Brazilian soccer club were compared. The effects of aging were also assessed by contrasting VO(2), HR and FLX linear regressions - slope and intercept - vs. age-predicted and reference values. The results were similar between the YOUNGER and OLDER terciles for VO(2max), at 62.7 ± 6.1 vs. 63.2 ± 6.2 mL · kg (- 1) · min (- 1), respectively (p=0.67), effect size (ES)=0.08, and for FLX, at 43 ± 5.9 vs. 41 ± 6.0, respectively (p=0.11, ES=0.34); the YOUNGER tercile exhibited higher values for HRmax than the OLDER tercile, at 194 ± 8.1 vs. 189 ± 8.8 b · min (- 1), (p<0.01, ES=0.59). Players in the OLDER tercile did not present an age-predicted decrease in VO(2max), whereas HRmax and FLX diminished with age as predicted. We conclude that, at least for these variables, younger and older players were effectively identical in their pre-season levels of conditioning.

Somatic, Endurance Performance and Heart Rate Variability Profiles of Professional Soccer Players Grouped According to Age

“…Therefore, we suggest that the reduction in the HRmax did not induce notable changes in VO2max levels in our oldest players. In contrast to our findings, Signorelli et al (2012) who also assessed differences in pre-season VO2max in elite Brazilian soccer players, reported no significant differences in VO2max between younger (17–22 years) and older (27–36 years) players. However, there were no differences in BW between their age groups compared with our oldest players who were approximately 4 kg heavier than the younger age groups.…”

“…According to Signorelli et al (2012), the chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between age and a player position and no significant relationship was revealed. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the differences between the age groups.…”

“…On the other hand, some studies have shown that the deterioration in VO2max with aging in well trained endurance athletes up to 50 years old is either minimal (Pimentel et al, 2003) or equal to ~0.5% VO2max per year in athletes between the 23-45 years of age (Trappe et al, 1996). For example, elite soccer players aged 17-36 years had similar VO2max and ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VT) values (Signorelli et al, 2012). …”

Influência Do Hábito De Exercício Na Infância E Adolescência Na Flexibilidade De Adultos Sedentários

“…Em relação à flexibilidade, o Flexiteste é um método de avaliação da flexibilidade proposto há mais de 30 anos, tendo sido utilizado em diversos outros estudos científicos 11,[19][20][21] e que possui diversas características vantajosas, pois diferentemente de outros processos de medida da flexibilidade, este método é mais completo, pois avalia sete articulações e 20 movimentos corporais, possibilitando a obtenção de um escore global (FLX), que pode ser ajustados por idade e sexo pelo P-FLX.…”

Cardiac vagal index varies according to field position in male elite football players

“…1 Major tournaments are held in big stadiums and broadcasted live to billions of spectators around the world. There is a considerable body of literature about medical and physiological aspects of football, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] including data as diverse as sudden death incidence, 5 clinical data 6…”