Have COVID-19 health restrictions affected the preseason training load of U-20 soccer players?

Abstract

Objective: Public health restrictions due to COVID-19 have played a central role in the management of training programs, in which studies focusing on the quantification of training loads in the preseason are scarce, especially involving young soccer players. Therefore, this study monitored the internal training load (ITL) over the 2020/2021 preseason during the COVID-19 pandemic of U-20 soccer players. Methods: Fourteen U-20 soccer players were monitored over the course of 7 weeks during the 2020/2021 preseason. The ITL of all training sessions was estimated, in arbitrary units, by multiplying the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) for the entire training session by the length of each training session in minutes (RPE-session). Monotony and training strain were also estimated. A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA compared the dependent variables over time. Results: In the 4th week, ITL and training strain were statistically lower compared to the other weeks (P<0.05). The monotony index of the 7th week was higher compared to the 1st, 3rd, and 4th weeks (P<0.05). Conclusion: COVID-19 health restrictions have negatively affected the preseason training load of U-20 soccer players. However, the monotony index showed that the training loads were well distributed over the 7 weeks.