Quantifying External and Internal Loads of the Average- and High-Intensity Phase Demands of University Female Footballers

Abstract

The match-play external and internal loads of university female footballers are not well understood. Therefore, the aims of this study were to quantify the average and 5-min high-intensity phase (HIP) match-play loads of university female footballers. With institutional ethical approval granted, 20 trained female footballers (age 20.0 ± 1.3, mass 64.9 ± 12.9 kg) volunteered to take part in the study across six competitive fixtures. Global positioning systems (Catapult) and heart rate monitors (Polar) were used to quantify external and internal loads during match-play. Linear mixed models with fixed and random effects were used to analyze match data and compare between positions. Forty-five and 53 observations were used for the average and HIP loads, respectively. Players covered total distances of 8,160 m, with 456 m covered at high speed and 151 m covered at sprint distance; central defenders completed less high-intensity running than attackers (p < .005). During 5-min HIPs, no differences were observed for accelerations (n) and PlayerLoad (in arbitrary units) between positional groups (p > .05). Attackers covered more high-speed running (p = .005) and sprint distance (p = .019) than central defenders and midfielders (p = .012; p = .017). These data describe average whole match and 5-min HIP external and internal loads of university female footballers. Coaches could use this to inform conditioning practices by exposing attacking players to greater volumes of high-intensity running.