Relationships between training load variables in professional youth football players.

Maughan, Patrick; Swinton, Paul; MacFarlane, Niall

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between subjective and external measures of load in professional youth football players whilst accounting for the effect of training theme or competition. Data from ratings of perceived exertion and global positioning system-derived measures of external training load were collected from 20 professional youth players (age=17.4±1.3 yrs) across a 46-week season. General characteristics of training sessions were categorised based on their proximity to match day. The underlying structure of the data was investigated with principal component analysis. An extraction criterion comprising eigenvalues >1 was used to identify which components to retain. Three components were retained for training performed three days prior to match day (80.2% of variance), with two components (72.9-89.7% of variance) retained for all other modes. Generally, the first component was represented by measures of volume (Total Distance, PlayerLoad and low intensity running) whilst the second and third components were characterised by measures of intensity. Identification of multiple components indicates that load monitoring should comprise multiple variables. Additionally, differences in the underlying structure across training days that reflected different goals suggest that effective monitoring should be specific to the demands of different session types.

Citation

MAUGHAN, P., SWINTON, P. and MACFARLANE, N. 2021. Relationships between training load variables in professional youth football players. International journal of sports medicine [online], 42(7), pages 624-629. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1300-2959

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 13, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2021
• Journal: International journal of sports medicine
• Print ISSN: 0172-4622
• Electronic ISSN: 1439-3964
• Publisher: Thieme Gruppe
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 624-629
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1300-2959
• Keywords: Training load; Monitoring; Session-rpe; Team sports; Football; Workload; Performance; Injury risk
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/976403