The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to describe and analyse the relationship of the in-season variations of external and internal intensity metrics as well as well-being measures across different periods of a semi-professional soccer season (early-, mid- and end-season); and (b) to describe training monotony (TM) and training strain (TS) for 20 weeks in a semi-professional soccer season. Eighteen semi-professional players (age: 29 ± 4.1) from the Asian First League team participated in this study. The players were monitored for 20 consecutive weeks during in-season for external training intensity, internal training intensity and well-being parameters. The in-season was organized into three periods: early-season (weeks 1–7); mid-season (weeks 8–13); and end-season (weeks 14–20). Total distance (TD), high-speed running distance (HSRD), sprint distance, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), session-RPE (s-RPE), TM, TS, heart rate average and maximum, as well as sleep quality, stress and muscle soreness were collected. Results revealed that TD, HSRD and sprint distance (total values) were meaningfully greater during end-season than in the early-season. RPE showed a significantly highest value during the end-season (4.27 AU) than in early- (3.68 AU) and mid-season (3.65 AU), p < 0.01. TS showed significant differences between early-season with mid-season (p = 0.011) and end-season (p < 0.01), and the highest value occurred in week 17 during end-season (6656.51 AU), while the lowest value occurred in week 4 during early-season (797.17 AU). The average TD periods showed a moderate to large correlation with RPE, sleep and s-RPE at early-, mid- and end-season. Increasing the training intensity without considering the well-being of the players affects the performance of the team. Examining processes of the relationship between training intensity and other psychological indicators among players will probably be effective in training planning. Sports coaches and fitness professionals should be wary of changes in TM and TS that affect players performance. Therefore, to better control the training, more consideration should be given by the coaches.

Background: This study's aim was twofold: (i) to compare starters and non-starters on a professional soccer team in terms of variations in training intensity indexes across a season, calculated through total distance, sprint distance, accelerations (Acc), and decelerations (Dec) and (ii) to analyse the relationship between the intensity indexes for each playing status. Methods: Nineteen players (age, 29.4 ± 4.4 years; height, 1.8 ± 0.1 m; body mass, 74.8 ± 2.3 kg) were divided into starters and non-starters and followed for 43 weeks using global positioning systems. Results: Training intensity measures (acute:chronic workload ratio [ACWR], coupled and uncoupled) were higher during the latter stage of the season. Total distance peaked during the mid-season, whereas the highest value for exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) was recorded later in the season. Interestingly, the EMWA of total distance showed little variation during the season for players of both playing statuses. The EWMA of total distance showed a significant higher value for starters than non-starters (p = 0.036; g = 1. 27 [0.31, 2.32]). The interruption in games between week 34 and week 35 due to COVID-19 moved some measures into the injury risk zone -namely, the ACWR coupled of sprint distance and Dec; the ACWR uncoupled of total distance, sprint distance, Acc, Dec; and the EWMA of sprint distance, Acc and Dec. Conclusions: The highest training intensity measures were reported late in the season and were similar between starters and non-starters. Across the season, only one difference between starters and non-starters occurred, revealing that training intensity was properly managed throughout the season regardless of the status of the players.

Background: The excessive and rapid increases in training load (TL) may be responsible for most non-contact injuries in soccer. This study’s aims were to describe, week(w)-by-week, the acute (AW), chronic (CW), acute:chronic workload ratio (wACWR), total distance (wTD), duration training (wDT), sprint total distance (wSTD), repeat sprint (wRS), and maximum speed (wMS) between starter and non-starter professional soccer players based on different periods (i.e., pre-, early-, mid-, and end-season) of a full-season (Persian Gulf Pro League, 2019–2020). Methods: Nineteen players were divided according to their starting status: starters (n = 10) or non-starters (n = 9). External workload was monitored for 43 weeks: pre- from w1–w4; early- from w5–w17; mid- from w18–w30, and end-season from w31–w43. Results: In starters, AW, CW, and wACWR were greater than non-starters (p < 0.05) throughout the periods of early- (CW, p ≤ 0.0001), mid- (AW, p = 0.008; CW, p ≤ 0.0001; wACWR, p = 0.043), or end-season (AW, p = 0.035; CW, p = 0.017; wACWR, p = 0.010). Starters had a greater wTD (p ≤ 0.0001), wSTD (p ≤ 0.0001 to 0.003), wDT (p ≤ 0.0001 to 0.023), wRS (p ≤ 0.0001 to 0.018), and wMS (p ≤ 0.0001) than non-starters during early-, mid-, and end-season. Conclusion: Starters experienced more CW and AW during the season than non-starters, which underlines the need to design tailored training programs accounting for the differences between playing status.

Introduction: Oxidative stress is a condition in which the reactive oxygen species production exceeds the antioxidant system capacity to neutralize these peroxidases. In these situations, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids are damaged. In this regard, the cherry can be noted as a food antioxidant which leads an increasing antioxidant capacity and reducing inflammation and damage muscle. Therefore, The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cherry juice supplementation on total antioxidant capacity (TAC), creatine kinase (CK), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in non-athlete men after an exhaustive aerobic exercise. Method: In this quasi-experimental research, ten untrained (UT) men were randomly selected. Then, they were divided into two equal groups: supplement group (cherry juice) and placebo group (commercial Cherry juice diluted with natural water). After eight days of supplementation period, all subjects were participated in aerobic exercise protocol (Bruce test run to the point of exhaustion) on the treadmill. Primary blood samples in the baseline were taken. The second was immediately after the Bruce test, third and fourth were six and twenty-four hours later were taken (5 ml). For analysis of the results. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used at the significant level. Result: A significant effect of short-term cherry juice supplementation on TAC, H 2 O 2, and CK was observed (p≤0.05). Conclusions: In general, it can be concluded that probably eight days of cherry juice supplementation probably cannot prevent the adverse effects of oxidative stress caused by acute aerobic exercise.