In-Season Internal Load and Wellness Variations in Professional Women Soccer Players: Comparisons between Playing Positions and Status.

The internal intensity monitoring in soccer has been used more in recent years in men's football; however, in women's soccer, the existing literature is still scarce. The aims of this study were threefold: (a) to describe the weekly variations of training monotony, training strain and acute: chronic workload ratio through session Rated Perceived Exertion (s-RPE); (b) to describe weekly variations of Hooper Index [stress, fatigue, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and sleep]; and (c) to compare those variations between playing positions and player status. Nineteen players (24.1 ± 2.7 years) from a Portuguese BPI League professional team participated in this study. All variables were collected in a 10-week in-season period with three training sessions and one match per week during the 2019/20 season. Considering the overall team, the results showed that there were some associations between Hooper Index categories and s-RPE like stress or fatigue (0.693, p < 0.01), stress or DOMS (0.593, p < 0.01), stress or s-RPE (-0.516, p < 0.05) and fatigue or DOMS (0.688, p < 0.01). There were no differences between all parameters in playing positions or player status. In conclusion, the study revealed that higher levels of fatigue and DOMS occur concurrently with better nights of sleep. Moreover, any in-season variations concerning internal load and perceived wellness seems independent of position or status in outfield players. The data also showed that the higher the players' reported stress, the lower the observed s-RPE, thus possibly indicating a mutual interference of experienced stress levels on the assimilation of training intensity by elite women soccer players.

Validity and reliability of a 6-a-side small-sided game as an indicator of match-related physical performance in elite youth Brazilian soccer players.

The aims of this study were: (i) to compare the external and internal load during a 6-a-side small-sided game (6v6-SSG) according to age-group; (ii) to relate these parameters between the 6v6-SSG and official matches; and (iii) to test the reliability of the 6v6-SSG. A total of 51 Brazilian youth soccer players participated in this study (U11 [n = 16]; U13 [n = 10]; U15 [n = 9]; U17 [n = 8]; U20 [n = 8]). Three experiments were conducted. Experiment A: fifty-one U11 to U20 players were submitted to 6v6-SSGs (n = 10 games; two for each age-group). Experiment B: thirty-two players were randomized to also play official matches (n = 6 matches). Experiment C: thirty-five youth players played the 6v6-SSG twice for test and retest reliability analysis. External load was obtained using Global Positioning Systems and the internal load parameter was calculated through mean heart rate. Statistical approaches showed progressive increases in all parameters according to categories (U11< U13< U15< U17< U20; p < 0.05; ES = 0.42-23.68). Even controlling for chronological age, all parameters showed likely to almost certain correlations between 6v6-SSG and official matches (r = 0.25-0.92). Collectively, the proposed protocol indicates good reliability (CV% = 2.0-12.6; TE% = 2.3-2.7%; ICC = 0.78-0.90). This research suggests that the 6v6-SSG is an alternative tool to indicate match-related physical performance in youth soccer players.