Muscle metabolism and impaired sprint performance in an elite women’s football game

Abstract

The present study examined skeletal muscle metabolism and changes in repeated sprint performance during match play for n = 20 competitive elite women outfield players.

Nutritional optimization for female elite football players—topical review

“…128 Drinking and fluid replenishment are easier during football training sessions than during match-play, and thus, fluid balance during training has been reported to be lower than during match-play. 129 However, in both matchplay and training, large individual variations are observed in sweat loss, 54,129 which may be related to training status, heat acclimatization, exercise intensity, hydration status, circadian rhythm, menstrual cycle phase, etc. 130 Thus, it is highly recommendable that individualized hydration strategies based on individually measured body water loss in match-play-or training-like settings should be developed for optimal performance.…”

“…Since most football training sessions and matches last 60-120 min, and high glycolytic activity in skeletal muscle is evident, [53][54][55] especially early in a match, 56 football is associated with a large utilization of glycogen in skeletal muscle and liver. 53,54,57 With a high and increasing number of training sessions and matches, 6 this results in football players having only moderate resting muscle glycogen levels, 53,54,58 which is also observed in other team sports. 59 During recovery from exercise, it is hence of the utmost importance to refill the glycogen stores of these athletes.…”

“…Using this latter method, a recent study showed a total fluid loss of 2.0% of total body mass in elite female football players during a match, with individual values as high as 6%. 54 It is well-established that body water loss >2% of body mass can have a significant negative influence on physical exercise performance, 115,119 whereas impairment of cognitive function and technical skills is observed at 3%-4% water loss. 120 Football is categorized as a sport with a high risk of hypohydration, 120 and several studies have shown that hydration is suboptimal in a large percentage of female elite football players.…”

Muscular heat shock protein response and muscle damage after semi‐professional football match

“…This suggests that football match play stresses both muscle fiber types, a pattern that is also seen with glycogen depletion. 34 It could reflect the combination of high-intensity work which activates type II fibers, and the long duration of the match. Stressing both fiber types is in contrast to what is usually observed after high-load resistance exercise, 35 where the stress response occurred predominantly in type II fibers.…”

Executive summary: Elite women’s football—Performance, recovery, diet, and health

“…From this pioneering work and especially during the last three decades, several studies have investigated muscle metabolism and fatigue in football, but entirely in male players. In the current special issue, two papers studied for the first time the muscle metabolic response to a women football game and the importance of muscle characteristics in elite women players 4,5 . Also, the inter‐individual relationship between skeletal muscle phenotype, physical capacity, and different types of game performance variables were discussed.…”