Association between Change in Regional Phase Angle and Jump Performance: A Pilot Study in Serie A Soccer Players

Abstract

Purpose: This observational longitudinal investigation aimed to investigate whether change in bioelectrical regional phase angle (PhA) is a predictor of change in vertical jump performance in elite soccer players. Methods: Fifteen soccer players (age: 28.7 ± 5.0 years, body weight: 82.4 ± 6.8 kg, height: 186.0 ± 0.1 cm, body mass index: 23.8 ± 1.2 kg/m2) competing in the first Italian division (Serie A) were included in this study and tested before the pre-season period and after the first half of the championship. Whole body and lower hemisoma PhA were obtained with a phase-sensitive 50 kHz bioelectrical impedance analyzer and legs lean soft tissue was estimated using specific bioimpedance-based equation developed for athletes. Vertical jump performance was assessed using the countermovement jump (CMJ). Results: The major findings of the study are that changes in lower hemisoma PhA are more strongly related with changes in jump performance (r2 = 0.617, p = 0.001) than changes in whole-body PhA (r2 = 0.270, p = 0.047), even after adjusting for legs lean soft tissue and for body mass index (β = 5.17, p = 0.004). Conclusions: These data suggest that changes in lower hemisoma PhA might be used as a tool for evaluating performance related parameters in sports where specific body segments are involved, in preference to the whole-body measured value.

Regional Bioelectrical Phase Angle Is More Informative than Whole-Body Phase Angle for Monitoring Neuromuscular Performance: A Pilot Study in Elite Young Soccer Players

“…A large proportion of vertical jump- and sprint-performance variance can then be estimated solely from LPhA-related measures. Of note, this finding is in line with that observed by Bongiovanni and colleagues [ 21 ] in adult professional soccer players. The authors revealed that changes in LPhA were strongly related with changes in jump performance, explaining ~61% of the total variance.…”

“…While one study did not report any improvement when using regional measures of PhA to estimate lower-body power compared with WBPhA [ 16 ], regional BIA approaches have been proven effective in individual and team sports to monitor health, training-induced changes, and fitness level [ 23 , 42 ]. This is in accordance with the results of a previous study [ 21 ] showing the potential superior usefulness of LPhA, compared with WBPhA, as a surrogate marker of lower-body neuromuscular performance in elite soccer players.…”

“…The device was calibrated using the standard control circuit that has a known impedance, supplied by the manufacturer. The test–retest reliability was previously reported as expressed [ 21 , 27 ] by the coefficient of variation, which was 0.3%, 0.8% and 0.9% for resistance, reactance and PhA, respectively.…”

“…Actually, measuring raw BIA parameters of different body segments overthrows the theoretical limits underpinning conventional BIA analysis (i.e., considering the human body as the set of five cylinders of constant resistivity) [ 20 ]. A recent application of this regional approach can be found in a previous pilot study [ 21 ] in which the authors showed a positive association between lower-hemisome PhA (LPhA) and vertical-jump performance in male elite soccer players. Further, a positive relation between hand-grip strength and upper-hemisome PhA (UPhA) was reported in female volleyball players [ 22 ].…”

Relationship between Anthropometric Measures and Anxiety Perception in Soccer Players

“…Considering that soccer is characterized as an intermittent activity, with events changing every 3 to 5 s, it is well understood that players must be prepared for intense actions that include jumping, turning, tackling, high-speed running and sprinting [ 2 , 3 ]. In addition to the above, the social magnitude of soccer, together with a demanding and uncertain sporting and extra-sporting context, exposes the player to situations that he may perceive as a threat, perceiving depending on the individual anxiogenic characteristics (intensity), interpreting them as facilitators or enhancers of sporting performance (courage/direction).…”