Abstract
BackgroundInjury risk in elite youth soccer players is high. Implementing an optimal training load is of utmost importance to reduce the risk of injuries.ObjectiveTo conduct a systematic review and best evidence synthesis to explore the effects of internal and external training load on injury risk in elite youth soccer players.MethodsMEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and CINAHL were searched up until 17 January 2020. Each article had to meet all of the following criteria: (1) the study population consisted of male elite youth soccer players aged between 12 and 21 years; (2) a longitudinal, prospective study design was used; (3) soccer-related injuries were registered (i.e., self-reported or by medical staff); (4) external and/or internal load parameters were described; and (5) the article was published in an English peer-reviewed scientific journal. The quality of the included articles was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS). A best evidence synthesis was performed to rank the level of evidence.ResultsFive studies (2 high quality, 3 low quality) were included. Best evidence synthesis highlighted that there was moderate evidence for (1) no association between 2-, 3-, and 4-week cumulative loads for total distance covered; (2) no association between 1-week workloads (sRPE × duration); and (3) no association between A:C workload ratios (4 weeks) and injury risk. For all other comparisons, only insufficient or conflicting evidence was found.ConclusionThere is a paucity of evidence for an association between internal and external training load parameters and injury risk in elite youth soccer players.
Highlights
There is a paucity of evidence for an association between internal and external training load parameters and injury risk in elite youth soccer players
Each article had to meet all of the following criteria: (1) the study population consisted of male elite youth soccer players aged between 12 and 21 years, (2) a longitudinal prospective study design was used, (3) soccer-related injuries were registered, (4) external and/or internal load parameters were described, and (5) the article was published in an English peerreviewed scientific journal
Definitions provided were (1) any physical complaint sustained by a player that results from a soccer match or training, resulting in time loss or medical attention (> 1 day but still able to take full part in future soccer activities) [28], and (2) injury that occurred during a scheduled training session or match that caused absence from the training session or match [27, 29, 30]
Summary
Soccer has evolved and games are played faster and more aggressively than in the past, requiring elevated fitness levels [1]. To meet these physical demands, soccer players have to be exposed to systematic and appropriate training regimes taking into account the balance between training load (TL; the combination of training volume, intensity, and frequency) and recovery [2]. Injury risk in elite youth soccer players is even higher compared to their professional counterparts, ranging from 2.0 [13] to 19.4 injuries [14] per 1000 h of exposure, with match injury incidence as high as 48.7 injuries [14] per 1000 h of match exposure. Implementing an optimal training load is of utmost importance to reduce the risk of injuries
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