Abstract
Most investigations on soccer match intensity have evaluated friendly, simulated or a small number of games on a recreational basis or including a small number of players. There are no studies investigating real competitive situations including a considerable number of athletes and games or differences among player positions using heart rate as an intensity parameter. The aim of this study was to determine Brazilian soccer game intensity (GI) during official competitive matches and to compare GI among different player positions. Heart rate (HR) was measured in 26 under-17 (U-17) and 18 under-20 (U-20) soccer players (age 16.38 ± 0.5 and 18.24 ± 0.66 years, respectively) during 14 and 15 official games, respectively. Individual maximal heart rate (HRmax) and anaerobic threshold (AT) HR were evaluated in field tests. GI defined as %HRmax was monitored considering five intensity zones ranging from 1 = < 70% HRmax to 5 = 95-100% HRmax. Mean GI and AT intensity were 84.4 ± 5.1 and 86.3 ± 4.0% HRmax for the U-17 category and 84.1 ± 4.1 and 87.0 ± 5.1% HRmax for the U-20 category, respectively. Wingbacks (WB) spent more time in zone 5 than forwards (FW) (p<0.05). Midfielders (MF) spent more time in zone 3 than all other players and in zone 4 than defenders and FW (p<0.05). Mean GI and AT intensity were similar. WB performed more maximum effort than FW. MF did not participate as much in maximum effort as did WB and FW.
Highlights
In contrast to other activities in which the intensity remains constant or varies little, the intensity of official soccer games is difficult to quantify since the soccer rules prohibit the use of masks and wrist monitors
This is in agreement with the present study in which soccer players remained only 51% of the game above the heart rate (HR) corresponding to the 4-mM threshold
Since the present study only investigated the U-17 and U-20 categories, the results may not be extrapolated to a different category
Summary
In contrast to other activities in which the intensity remains constant or varies little, the intensity of official soccer games is difficult to quantify since the soccer rules prohibit the use of masks and wrist monitors. Due to the difficulties in assessing some of these variables, heart rate (HR) is recommended as a practical variable to monitor a player’s effort intensity during a soccer game since a linear relationship exists between HR and VO2max[6,7]. Since HR is influenced by factors such as age, fitness, gender, environmental conditions and hydration status, Karvonen and Vuorimaa[8] recommend that HR should be determined as the percentage of maximum heart rate (HRmax) when used as a parameter of exercise intensity, representing an adequate parameter for intensity control in professional and non-professional soccer players[9,10]. There are no studies investigating a large number of players during various official games. Most studies have not evaluated differences among player positions using HR as an intensity parameter in real competitive situations
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