Age-related and training-induced changes in morphological characteristics of young elite male soccer players.

Background: In soccer, morphological characteristics of young players are particularly important as they have a significant impact on the performance of many technical-tactical elements. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether soccer specific training on its own or combined with strength training can influence the morphological characteristics, of young soccer players and if so, to establish which age is more appropriate for interventions through individualized training.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 61 young male soccer players, members of two under 17 (U171 and U172) and two under 19 (U191 and U192) teams.

The complex and bidirectional interaction between sex hormones and exercise performance in team sports with emphasis on soccer.

A constant topic reported in the lay press is the effect of sex hormones on athletic performance and their abuse by athletes in their effort to enhance their performance or to either boost or sidestep their hard, protracted, and demanding training regimens. However, an issue that it is almost never mentioned is that the athletic training itself affects the endogenous production of androgens and estrogens, while also being affected by them. Among sports, soccer is a particularly demanding activity, soccer players needing to possess high levels of endurance, strength, and both aerobic and anaerobic capacity, with the very great physiological, metabolic, physical, and psychological exertion required of the players being both influenced by sex steroids and, reciprocally, affecting sex steroid levels.

Effect of a 6-week supervised detraining period on bone metabolism markers and their association with ergometrics and components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in professional male soccer players.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a supervised 6-week detraining period on bone metabolism markers, and their association with ergometrics, and components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in elite male professional soccer players. Sixty-seven soccer players (mean age ± SD 23.4 ± 5.

Muscular effects of vitamin D in young athletes and non-athletes and in the elderly.

Muscles are major targets of vitamin D. Exposure of skeletal muscles to vitamin D induces the expression of multiple myogenic transcription factors enhancing muscle cell proliferation and differentiation. At the same time vitamin D suppresses the expression of myostatin, a negative regulator of muscle mass.

Preseason preparation training and endothelial function in elite professional soccer players.

Aim: To examine whether a high volume of soccer-specific training can lead to endothelial activation and/or dysfunction in professional soccer players due to exercise-induced oxidative stress.

Methods: Twenty-three (15 nonsmokers and eight smokers) healthy, elite male professional soccer players (mean age: 25.2±4.

Vitamin D and exercise performance in professional soccer players.

Aim: The current study had two aims. The primary purpose was to examine the association between serum vitamin D levels and the ergometric evaluation of muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and speed in professional soccer players. The secondary aim was to evaluate the effects of the soccer off-season period on serum vitamin D levels.

Effect of different seasonal strength training protocols on circulating androgen levels and performance parameters in professional soccer players.

Objective: To examine the effects of three seasonal training programs, largely different in strength volume, on androgen levels and performance parameters in soccer players.

Design: Sixty-seven soccer players, members of three different professional teams, participated in the study. Strength intensity of the training programs were assessed as high (for Team-A, n=23), moderate (for Team-B, n=22), and low (for Team-C, n=22).

Discrepancy between exercise performance, body composition, and sex steroid response after a six-week detraining period in professional soccer players.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a six-week off-season detraining period on exercise performance, body composition, and on circulating sex steroid levels in soccer players.

Methods: Fifty-five professional male soccer players, members of two Greek Superleague Teams (Team A, n = 23; Team B, n = 22), participated in the study. The first two weeks of the detraining period the players abstained from any physical activity.