Physical Activity during a Prolonged Congested Period in a Top-Class European Football Team

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the variation in physical activity of elite soccer players within successive prolonged periods of fixture congestion over 5 months of competition during the competitive season 2011-2012. ), and maximal (>27 km.h -1 ) intensity running (IR) were measured and analysed using a semi-automatic match analysis system (Amisco Pro™). MethodsResults: No differences were observed between congested and non-congested periods (two vs. one match a week, respectively) for the total distance covered at all the speed thresholds over 18 km.h -1 , with no variation in physical fitness over the 5 studied months. Specifically to the playing positions, regardless of the congestion periods, FB and WM covered more distance than CDM over 21km.h -1 ; FB, WM and FW covered similar distances for all running intensities; and CD and CDM covered shorter distance during non-congested compared to congested periods (P<0.05) at light-IR. Conclusion:The present study reveals that prolonged congested match fixture did not affect the high-intensity physical activity of top-class soccer players during official games during a 5 months fixture period.

Match Running Performance During Fixture Congestion in Elite Soccer: Research Issues and Future Directions

“…However, doubts have recently been cast [20] on the practical utility of these metrics and, notably, assessments of changes in simplistic measures such as distances covered that are commonly used in an attempt to identify the occurrence of declines in physical performance. Yet, at the time of writing, the latest published research in this area has also primarily employed analyses of distances covered [14,15]. Furthermore, only two studies, again mainly using distances covered, have investigated whether match-related fatigue evolves across intensified competition periods by examining declines across halves [10,12], while only one has examined changes related to playing position [14].…”

“…Yet, at the time of writing, the latest published research in this area has also primarily employed analyses of distances covered [14,15]. Furthermore, only two studies, again mainly using distances covered, have investigated whether match-related fatigue evolves across intensified competition periods by examining declines across halves [10,12], while only one has examined changes related to playing position [14].…”

“…Researchers have nevertheless claimed that these regimens may have contributed to the maintenance of match running performance reported during congested periods [2,9,10,14,15]. However, it would seem that some of these strategies are commonly used by practitioners in an ad hoc nature despite little scientific evidence being available on the underlying mechanisms and, particularly for the purpose of this paper, on the actual outcomes in competition to validate and support their implementation.…”

“…In theory, these declines would negatively impact on ensuing competitive physical performance if the time delay between successive matches was short. Yet several time-motion analysis studies conducted on elite senior soccer competition have shown that external workload represented by distance covered at various running speeds was unaffected over a congested period [2,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Despite the physiological trauma and accumulative fatigue potentially induced by successive matches, it would seem players recover sufficiently and cope 'physically' over a congested period.…”

“…Several authors have suggested that such treatments aided in maintaining match running performance during congested periods [2,9,10,14,15]. However, limited empirical evidence currently exists to support the efficacy of post-match recovery modalities for attenuating potential decrements in running performance across consecutive matches played within a tight timeframe.…”