Comparison of external load indicators between official matches and sport-specific training in semi-professional soccer players: focus on intensity and strength.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate any differences in External Load indicators (ELi) between Official Matches (OM) and sport-specific tasks in semi-professional soccer players. 1932 observations among 28 semi-professional soccer players (FC Palermo, Italy, age: 25±6 years, height: 183±6 cm, weight: 75.2±7 kg) were collected through GPS devices (Qstarz BT-Q1000EX, 10 Hz) and the related software (LaGalaColli V: 8.6.4.3) during the season 2019-2020. Participants were monitored during OM, Friendly Matches (FM), Small Sided Games (SSG), and Match-Based Exercises (MBE), considering the percentage of intense accelerations (%int acc), percentage of intense decelerations (%int dec), and Passive Recovery time /min (PrT/m) as Eli. We detected the highest mean value for PrT/m in OM and the lowest in MBE and SSG (18.36±4.38 and 13.4±5.26 and 13.4±4.29 (s/min), respectively). The lowest mean values of %int acc and %int dec were found in OM and the highest in SSG (8.64±1.52 vs 13.02±3.14 and 9.25±1.56 vs 15.68±3.14, for %int acc and %int dec, respectively). Significant differences between the four tasks for all the ELi considered (p<0.001). The posthoc pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences for all the ELi between all tasks (p<0.001) except for the %int acc between MBE vs FM (p=0.003). No significant difference was found in PrT/m between MBE vs FM and SSG vs FM. ELi are in accordance with the performance model by achieving better values in training than OM, suggesting the fundamental role of GPS for monitoring external load in soccer.