Are Aerobic Fitness and Repeated Sprint Ability Linked to Fatigue in Professional Soccer Match-Play? A Pilot Study

Are Aerobic Fitness and Repeated Sprint Ability Linked to Fatigue in Professional Soccer Match-Play? A Pilot Study

In professional soccer, a strong relationship has been observed between measures of physical fitness derived from tests of repeated sprint ability, intermittent endurance and aerobic capacity and running performance in competition determined from time motion analyses data. Unfortunately, these studies have generally only examined associations with ‘overall’ time motion measures of running performance such as the total distance run or that covered in sprinting. The potential relationship between fitness scores and declines in competitive physical performance in professional soccer players has up to now not received any attention despite the comprehensive body of research from time motion analyses that has indirectly demonstrated the existence of fatigue during matchplay. To our knowledge, only two studies, both conducted in elite youth soccer players, have addressed this gap in the literature. In the former for example, despite a significant association between intermittent-endurance fitness (Yo-Yo IR1 test) and overall distance covered in high-intensity activity, no relationship was observed between fitness measures and first- vs. second-half decrements in running distance.