Vitamin D and Exercise Performance in Professional Soccer Players

Abstract

AimThe current study had two aims. The primary purpose was to examine the association between serum vitamin D levels and the ergometric evaluation of muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and speed in professional soccer players. The secondary aim was to evaluate the effects of the soccer off-season period on serum vitamin D levels.MethodsSixty-seven Caucasian male soccer players (age 25.6±6.2 and height 1.81±0.08 m), members of two Greek Superleague Soccer teams and one Football-league championship team participated in this study. Exercise performance testing for the determination of squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), 10 (10 m) and 20 meters (20 m) sprint performance, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), anthropometry, and blood sampling were performed before (pre) and after (post) the six-week off-season period.ResultsAnalysis of our results showed the following: (a) a significant correlations between serum vitamin D levels and performance parameters in both pre (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, VO2max; P<0.001, 10 m; P<0.001, and 20 m; P<0.001) and post (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, VO2max; P = 0.006, 10 m; P<0.001, and 20 m; P<0.001) experimental sessions. (b) Vitamin D concentration increased significantly (P<0.001) following the six-week off-season period compared to baseline, while at the same time all measured performance parameters decreased (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, 10 m; P<0.001, 20 m; P<0.001, VO2max; P<0.001).DiscussionOur findings suggest that vitamin D levels are associated with the ergometric evaluation of muscle strength, as expressed by SJ and CMJ, sprinting capacity, and VO2max in professional soccer players, irrespective the levels of performance. Furthermore, our data reaffirm the importance of UVB on serum vitamin D levels. Moreover, reductions in exercise training stress may also have beneficial effects on vitamin D levels, suggesting a possible association of its levels and the training-induced stress. Our results indicate a possibly bidirectional interaction between soccer performance indices and vitamin D levels.

Muscular effects of vitamin D in young athletes and non-athletes and in the elderly

“…108 on the other hand, participants in other sports such as soccer, American football or basketball attain their best performance in winter, while in summer they recuperate resulting in a reduction and/or cessation of their training and to a deterioration of exercise performance and capacity. 109 Nevertheless, even when controlling for seasonal fluctuations in time spent exercising, variation in wrist flexor strength and muscle trainability still correlated with seasonal variations of vitamin D levels.…”

“…A recently published study from our laboratory 109 reported a linear relationship between vitamin D levels and muscle strength as evaluated by squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), sprinting ability (10 m, and 20 m), and Vo2max in non-supplemented professional soccer players. our results are comparable with a number of other reports on a variety of sports, all showing that vitamin D levels are closely associated with muscle power, neuromuscular performance and aerobic endurance in athletes.…”

Vitamin D and Physical Activity

“…Koundourakis et al [28] showed that professional Greek soccer players' training at a latitude of 35.9°N had insufficient vitamin D levels, while nearly identical levels were reported in American national football league players [29], in elite gymnasts in Australia [30], and in young Hawaiian skateboarders [31] and a variety of other athletes worldwide [32][33][34][35]. These findings were observed irrespective of sun exposure.…”

Effect of vitamin D supplementation on cardiovascular disease risk factors and exercise performance in healthy participants: a randomized placebo-controlled preliminary study

“…Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with reduced exercise performance in athletes [Fitzgerald et al 2015]. Researchers have investigated whether vitamin D may benefit exercise performance [Koundourakis et al 2014], and reported that in trained athletes, vitamin D intake improved their performance. However, the understanding of the effect of vitamin D supplementation on both CVD risk factors and exercise performance has been compromised by limited prospective studies, the suboptimal dosing of vitamin D and the lack of understanding of the mechanism by which vitamin D mediates benefit to CVD risk factors and exercise performance [Giallauria et al 2012].…”