Abstract
Interrelationships among skeletal maturity status, body size, ventilator thresholds (VT) and peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) were considered in 47 adolescent male soccer players aged 12.5–15.4 years. Body mass, stature, and the triceps and subscapular skinfolds were measured. The latter were used to estimate fat mass and fat-free mass. Skeletal age was assessed with the Fels method. VO2peak and VO2 at the first (VT1) and second (VT2) ventilatory thresholds were determined during an incremental maximal exercise test on a motorized treadmill. Ratio standards and allometric models were used in the analysis. Scaling exponents suggested linearity for all combinations between size descriptors and physiological variables, except between log-transformed values of VT1 and body mass (mL·kg-0.801·min, 95%CI: 0.649 to 0.952). Early maturing players attained greater values than players classified as “on-time” in skeletal maturity for the three ventilatory parameters expressed in absolute terms (d ranged from 0.65 to 0.71). The differences were attenuated after normalizing for mass descriptors using ratio standards and scaled variables (d ranged from 0.00 to 0.31). The results suggested significant variability between maturity groups when moving from VT1 to maximal metabolic conditions expressed by unit of stature (VT1: t = -2.413, p = 0.02, d = 0.60; VT2: t = -2.488, p = 0.02, d = 0.65; VO2peak: t = -2.475, p = 0.02, d = 0.65). Skeletal maturity status and associated variation in overall body size affects VT1, VT2 and VO2peak. The observed scaling of ventilatory outputs for body size may be related to the better running economy and smaller body size of average maturing athletes.
Highlights
Assessment of the fitness level of soccer players along with information about match performance are essential components of youth soccer for the purpose of long-term athletic training [1]
The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the interrelationships among skeletal maturity status, Skeletal maturity and oxygen uptake in youth soccer body size as reflected in body mass, fat-free mass and stature, and VO2 outputs in adolescent male soccer players 12 to 15 years of age
The results indicated significant differences between average and early maturing players for the three ventilatory outputs expressed per unit of stature (VT1: 14.23 ± 2.66 vs. 15.88 ± 1.51 mL cm-1 min-1, t = -2.413, p = 0.02; second ventilatory threshold (VT2): 17.31 ± 2.74 vs. 19.18 ± 2.35 mL cm-1 min-1, t = -2.488, p = 0.02; peak oxygen uptake. https (VO2peak): 18.97 ± 3.15 vs. 21.12 ± 2.74 mL cm1 min-1, t = -2.475, p = 0.02; respectively), the magnitude effect was small for first ventilatory threshold (VT1) and moderate for VT2 and VO2peak (Fig 1F)
Summary
Assessment of the fitness level of soccer players along with information about match performance are essential components of youth soccer for the purpose of long-term athletic training [1]. The influence of predicted biological maturity status on match performance based on global positioning system in elite youth male soccer players 8–16 years was examined in 80 outfield players in a British academy [5]. Players of contrasting maturity status differed in total distance covered during a match; late maturing players covered greater distance per hour while early maturing spent a longer percentage of time in high speed running [5]. Though of interest, the latter results should be considered in the context of the limitations of the protocol used to predict maturity status [6]
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