Quantification of training load during one-, two- and three-game week schedules in professional soccer players from the English Premier League: implications for carbohydrate periodisation

Quantification of in-season training load relative to match load in professional Dutch Eredivisie football players

“…Average training duration (77 min), total distance (5614 m), running (591 m) and high-speed running (203 m) were high in the range of, or even somewhat higher than, what other teams demonstrated (65-76 min, 3898-5667 m, 220-412 m and 41-205 m, respectively) (Akenhead et al, 2016;Scott et al 2013;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016). To date, as far as we are aware, no other studies have reported the number of accelerations or A typical week with 1 match (A) was considered to be a week starting with a recovery training for the starters (not recorded) and a nonstarters training session for the nonstarters (MD+1), followed by a day off, 4 subsequent training sessions (MD-4, MD-3, MD-2 and MD-1) and a match (only for starters).…”

“…In contrast to our hypothesis, the nonstarters training showed in general lower values than regular training, especially on MD-4, contributing to a lower weekly total load for nonstarters than starters. Several studies involving English Premier League teams have also found that during a typical week -6 full days between matches -the last day before the match (MD-1) has usually the lowest load (Akenhead et al, 2016;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016). However, whereas our study showed the highest training load on the first training of the week (MD-4), both Akenhead et al (2016) and Anderson et al (2016) showed the highest training load for the second training of the week (MD-4 and MD-3, respectively).…”

“…To fairly compare our data with other studies that assessed the in-season training load of full sessions in top-level leagues of professional football (Akenhead et al, 2016;Scott et al 2013;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016), we used the averages of the 4 training days in our study. Average training duration (77 min), total distance (5614 m), running (591 m) and high-speed running (203 m) were high in the range of, or even somewhat higher than, what other teams demonstrated (65-76 min, 3898-5667 m, 220-412 m and 41-205 m, respectively) (Akenhead et al, 2016;Scott et al 2013;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016).…”

“…Only recently, however, several studies have described the in-season training periodization practices of elite football teams in detail, including a comparison of training days within weekly micro-cycles (Akenhead, Harley, & Tweddle, 2016;Malone et al 2015;Anderson et al 2016). Malone et al (2015) found that only the last training before the match differed from the other training days on several internal and external load variables, but they did not include accelerations and metabolic power estimations because the accuracy of GPS measurements of high-intensity velocity changes is limited (Akenhead et al 2014;Buchheit et al 2014a).…”

Free-sugar, total-sugar, fibre, and micronutrient intake within elite youth British soccer players: a nutritional transition from schoolboy to fulltime soccer player

“…Consequently, this would lead to the U18s consuming less milk which is a key source of calcium; which may explain in part the lower intake of these micronutrients in comparison to both the younger squads and the RNIs. Although not statistically significant, the finding that the U18s are not meeting their calcium RNI is of potential concern, as they are exposed to a higher training load (Wrigley et al, 2012) and a more physically demanding version of the game (Anderson et al, 2015). The role of calcium in the development and maintenance of bone is well established (Desbrow et al, 2014).…”