Off-training physical activity and training responses as determinants of sleep quality in young soccer players

Nuno Mateus,Anthony Weldon,Jaime Sampaio,Bruno Gonçalves,Juliana Exel

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89693-4

Abstract

This study aimed to quantify and assess the relationship of young soccer players' off-training physical activity (PA) and training responses on sleep quality. Eleven adolescent soccer players (13 ± 0.5 years old) were monitored during weekdays for four consecutive weeks, throughout soccer practice days. Off-training PA and sleep quality were assessed using 100 Hz tri-axial accelerometers and training responses analyzed using 20 Hz global positioning measurement units. A cluster analysis classified all cases into three different dimensions, (1) off-training PA, (2) training responses and (3) sleep quality. For each dimension, the most important variables for classifying the cases into clusters were sedentary PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA; total distance covered and impacts; and sleep onset latency and sleep fragmentation index, respectively. Afterwards, a correspondence analysis was used to identify whether off-training PA and training responses affected sleep quality. Results exposed that high to medium off-training PA combined with medium to high training responses may have decreased sleep quality. Conversely, no correspondence was observed between off-training PA and training responses, with higher sleep quality. This study emphasizes the importance of sports organizations adopting a holistic approach to youth soccer players’ development, that appropriately considers the inter-relationship between lifestyle, performance and health-related information.

Highlights

This study aimed to quantify and assess the relationship of young soccer players’ off-training physical activity (PA) and training responses on sleep quality
This study presents insightful information about young soccer players off-training PA, training responses and sleep quality, providing an improved understanding of the interactive nature of their lifestyles
The differences in training responses highlighted that players training performance depends considerably on the training stimulus planned by coaches

Summary

Introduction

This study aimed to quantify and assess the relationship of young soccer players’ off-training physical activity (PA) and training responses on sleep quality. While a positive association between children and adolescents PA levels and muscular fitness has been o bserved[12] Such findings highlight the importance of quantifying and understanding the impact of young athletes’ lifestyles outside of organized sports training to make robust inferences for health and athletic performance. Youth players are still reaching maturation (e.g., body size and physiological function), and spikes in training workload commonly observed in team sports such as youth soccer is not the most suitable training approach[17] With such demanding training loads, this may lead to excessive daily energy requirements of young players[17]. The purpose of this study was to quantify and assess the relationship of young soccer players’ offtraining PA and training responses on sleep quality

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion