Factors influencing perception of effort (session rating of perceived exertion) during elite soccer training.

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to identify the external-training-load markers that are most influential on session rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of training load (RPE-TL) during elite soccer training.

Methods: Twenty-two elite players competing in the English Premier League were monitored. Training-load data (RPE and 10-Hz GPS integrated with a 100-Hz accelerometer) were collected during 1892 individual training sessions over an entire in-season competitive period.

Estimated metabolic and mechanical demands during different small-sided games in elite soccer players.

The present study examined the extent to which game format (possession play, SSG-P and game with regular goals and goalkeepers, SSG-G) and the number of players (5, 7 and 10 a-side) influence the physical demands of small-sided soccer games (SSGs) in elite soccer players. Training data were collected during the in-season period from 26 English Premier League outfield players using global positioning system technology. Total distance covered, distance at different speed categories and maximal speed were calculated.

The cost of transport of human running is not affected, as in walking, by wide acceleration/deceleration cycles.

Although most of the literature on locomotion energetics and biomechanics is about constant-speed experiments, humans and animals tend to move at variable speeds in their daily life. This study addresses the following questions: 1) how much extra metabolic energy is associated with traveling a unit distance by adopting acceleration/deceleration cycles in walking and running, with respect to constant speed, and 2) how can biomechanics explain those metabolic findings. Ten males and ten females walked and ran at fluctuating speeds (5 ± 0, ± 1, ± 1.

Biomechanics and predicted energetics of sprinting on sand: hints for soccer training.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyse energetic and biomechanical parameters of sprinting on sand surface, aimed at the evaluation of inherent aspects of soccer training programs, injury prevention and recovery processes.

Design: Twenty-nine professional soccer players took part in this study: they performed maximal sprints and maximal shuttle sprints on a 12m distance on natural grass, artificial turf and soft, dry sand.

Methods: Speed, acceleration, deceleration, stride length, stride frequency, flight and contact time, estimated energy cost, metabolic and mechanical power, efficiency and stiffness values, have been calculated through the instrument SPI-Pro (GPSports, Canberra, Australia) supported by two fixed cameras.