Effect of Sequencing Strength and Endurance Training in Young Male Soccer Players

Abstract

This study examined the effects of strength and endurance training sequence (strength before or after endurance) on relevant fitness variables in youth soccer players. Fifty-seven young elite-level male field soccer players (13.7 ± 0.5 years; 164 ± 8.3 cm; 53.5 ± 8.6 kg; body fat; 15.6 ± 3.9%) were randomly assigned to a control (n = 14, CG) and 3 experimental training groups (twice a week for 12 weeks) strength before (SE, n = 15), after (ES, n = 14) or on alternate days (ASE, n = 14) with endurance training. A significant (p = 0.001) intervention main effect was detected. There were only trivial training sequence differences (ES vs. SE) for all variables (p > 0.05). The CG showed large squat 1 repetition maximum (1RM) and medium sprint, change of direction ability, and jump improvements. ASE demonstrated a trivial difference in endurance performance with ES and SE (p > 0.05). Large to medium greater improvements for SE and ES were reported compared with ASE for sprinting over 10 and 30 m (p < 0.02). The SE squat 1RM was higher than in ASE (moderate, p < 0.02). Postintervention differences between ES and SE with CG fitness variables were small to medium (p ≤ 0.05) except for a large SE advantage with the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (p < 0.001, large). This study showed no effect of intrasession training sequence on soccer fitness-relevant variables. However, combining strength and endurance within a single training session provided superior results vs. training on alternate days. Concurrent training may be considered as an effective and safe training method for the development of the prospective soccer player.

The Effects of Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training on Physical Fitness and Athletic Performance in Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…However, one limitation potentially biasing this conclusion was that athletes in the ET → ST group had slightly longer recovery time (2 h) and their lunch between training sessions while the athletes in the ST → ET group had shorter recovery time (< 1 h) and a protein shake. Conflicting findings were observed in 13-year-old soccer players (Makhlouf et al, 2016 ), suggesting that the sequence of ET and ST did not affect improvements in strength-related outcomes in children. The findings of differential responses to sequencing in children and adolescents may be explained by our hypothesis that the interference effect of endurance exercise on strength development is age-dependent.…”

“…Mean ages ranged from 10.7 to 18.2 (median = 14.1) years and fourteen training groups were classified as children and nineteen as adolescents. Two additional records (Enright et al, 2015 ; Makhlouf et al, 2016 ) were not eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis, but were included in the qualitative analysis. Table 2 characterizes the populations and training programs and shows the quality assessment (PEDro) scores (range: 3 to 7, median = 4).…”

“…We found a moderate negative association between chronological age and within group SMDs in athletic performance in young athletes following ET ( r = −0.60; p = 0.04), but only a trivial correlation for CT ( r = 0.02; p = 0.94) (Figure 5 ). In addition to the 11 studies in young endurance athletes we included data from two studies on CT in young soccer players (Enright et al, 2015 ; Makhlouf et al, 2016 ) to better be able to evaluate the relationship.…”

Strength and Conditioning for Adolescent Endurance Runners

“…Research investigating the impact of ST techniques on performance-related measures in young athletes has tended to use participants from field-based sports, martial arts, court sports, aquatic sports, gymnastics and strength-based sports (40,46). A number of studies using adolescent participants from other sports that require high-levels of aerobic fitness have observed superior improvements in Yo-Yo test (44,51,72,91) and middle-distance time-trial performance (70,73) after various modalities of ST were added (6-12 weeks) to a sports-specific training programme, compared to only practicing the sport.…”

The peak velocity of Carminatti’s Test for aerobic-fitness training in male soccer players

“…Soccer players are often required to perform repeated high-intensity exercises with short recovery intervals 1,2 . Due to these specific demands, studies have been searching for training methods that adequately develop cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness [3][4][5] maximal aerobic speed (MAS. Aerobic high-intensity training in soccer is usually based on continuous test outcomes and has been widely used by physical trainers to prescribe and control training.…”