Effects of Sprint Training With and Without Weighted Vest on Speed and Repeated Sprint Ability in Male Soccer Players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect resisted sprint training using weighted vests (WVs) compared with unresisted sprint (US) training on physical fitness (countermovement jump, 10-m sprint, 30-m sprint, and repeated sprint ability [RSA]) in amateur male soccer players. Nineteen soccer players (age: 23.7 ± 4.5 years; height: 178.3 ± 5.8 cm; body mass: 72.9 ± 5.2 kg) were randomly assigned to a WV (n = 10) or a US (n = 9) group. The intervention program had to be performed 2 times a week over 6 weeks. The only difference between the 2 interventions was that the WV group performed all the sprints with an additional weight of 18.9% ± 2.1% of body mass. Within-group analysis showed significant improvements (p < 0.001) in 10-m and 30-m sprint performances from pretest to posttest in WV (+9.42% and +6.04%) and US (+10.87% and +5.10%). Players in both WV and US also showed significant enhancements in RSA average time (AT), fastest time, and total time from pretest to posttest. Percentage changes in 30-m sprint performance, for both groups combined, had a very large correlation with percentage changes in AT of RSA. In the between-groups analysis, there were no differences between the sprint training groups (WV vs. US) in any variable. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that both sprint training methods used seem to be effective to improve soccer-related performance measures, and could be beneficial to players and coaches in field settings.

Effects of Training with an Agility Ladder on Sprint, Agility, and Dribbling Performance in Youth Soccer Players

“…10 m and 20 m sprint. Sprinting speed is an essential fitness component for soccer (Faude et al, 2012;Rey et al, 2017). Consequently, it appears developing this capacity during the formative categories is immensely relevant.…”

Anthropometry, Physical and Movement Features, and Repeated-sprint Ability in Soccer Players

“…This type of performance is typical in soccer players and has been associated with strength and endurance training-related adaptations [7,9,24]. Recently, several studies have proposed methods to improve RSA in soccer players, in order to enhance performance on the field [8,37,42]. In this regard, it is important to consider that RSA is determined by several factors, which challenge coaches to train these qualities [5, 30,47].…”

Effects of Resisted vs. Conventional Sprint Training on Physical Fitness in Young Elite Tennis Players

“…The observed improvements in both experimental groups can most likely be explained with primarily neural adaptive processes (e.g., motoneuron excitability) ( Ross et al, 2001 ) which might have caused enhanced muscle force production and movement velocity ( Perrey et al, 2010 ). With reference to previous research, the use of weighted vests and elastic cords aims at eliciting greater vertical and horizontal net ground reaction forces during speed or agility drills, respectively ( Clark et al, 2010 ; Rey et al, 2017 ). In this study, we could not find an additional effect of RST compared with CG possibly due to the low resistance that was used in RST ( Petrakos et al, 2016 ).…”