Discrepancy between Exercise Performance, Body Composition, and Sex Steroid Response after a Six-Week Detraining Period in Professional Soccer Players

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to examine the effects of a six-week off-season detraining period on exercise performance, body composition, and on circulating sex steroid levels in soccer players.MethodsFifty-five professional male soccer players, members of two Greek Superleague Teams (Team A, n = 23; Team B, n = 22), participated in the study. The first two weeks of the detraining period the players abstained from any physical activity. The following four weeks, players performed low-intensity (50%–60% of VO2max) aerobic running of 20 to 30 minutes duration three times per week. Exercise performance testing, anthropometry, and blood sampling were performed before and after the six-week experimental period.ResultsOur data showed that in both teams A and B the six-week detraining period resulted in significant reductions in maximal oxygen consumption (60,31±2,52 vs 57,67±2,54; p<0.001, and 60,47±4,13 vs 58,30±3,88; p<0.001 respectively), squat-jump (39,70±3,32 vs 37,30±3,08; p<0.001, and 41,05±3,34 vs 38,18±3,03; p<0.001 respectively), and countermovement-jump (41,04±3,99 vs 39,13±3,26; p<0.001 and 42,82±3,60 vs 40,09±2,79; p<0.001 respectively), and significant increases in 10-meters sprint (1,74±0,063 vs 1,79±0,064; p<0.001, and 1,73±0,065 vs 1,78±0,072; p<0.001 respectively), 20-meters sprint (3,02±0,05 vs 3,06±0,06; p<0.001, and 3,01±0,066 vs 3,06±0,063; p<0.001 respectively), body fat percentage (Team A; p<0.001, Team B; p<0.001), and body weight (Team A; p<0.001, Team B; p<0.001). Neither team displayed any significant changes in the resting concentrations of total-testosterone, free-testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, Δ4-androstenedione, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin. Furthermore, sex steroids levels did not correlate with exercise performance parameters.ConclusionOur results suggest that the six-week detraining period resulted in a rapid loss of exercise performance adaptations and optimal body composition status, but did not affect sex steroid resting levels. The insignificant changes in sex steroid concentration indicate that these hormones were a non-contributing parameter for the observed negative effects of detraining on exercise performance and body composition.

Vitamin D and Physical Activity

“…It should be noted that neuromuscular performance capacity including sprinting ability, jumping performance, agility, acceleration, aerobic capacity, and deceleration is inversely associated with BFP [147]. These data suggest that high BFP in conjunction with low vitamin D levels exerts a detrimental effect on exercise performance in athletes as well as in the general population.…”

Sports Medicine - Open

“…The large responsiveness to training may be associated with the fact that most of the studies were conducted during an early stage of pre-season, with off-season detraining negatively affecting several physical attributes, such as anthropometric characteristics (e.g., decreases in LBM and increases in BF) [124-126], endurance-related markers [53,101,126,127], soccer-specific endurance [101,128], and neuromuscular parameters [126,129]. With this in mind, the overall conclusion of the analyzed literature is that the addition of strength/power training programs to routine soccer training favors a more integral physical fitness development of the player.…”

Reference values for the sprint performance in male football players aged from 9–35 years

“…The somatotype and the body composition can also influence an individual's performance in football [47]. Among the physical parameters, the sprint ability, especially combined with short periods of recovery [2,49], is one of the most important as it can discriminate football players into different levels [17,21,24,31]. Sprinting has been suggested as the most frequent action performed before a goal [21].…”