Repeated sprint ability in soccer players: associations with physiological and neuromuscular factors.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between repeated sprint ability (RSA, 6×40 m [20+20 m] with 20-s recovery) and neuromuscular and aerobic fitness variables in male collegiate soccer players.

Methods: Twenty-six players (age 22.5±3.6 years) were tested on separate days for countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), and standing long jump (LJ), and for maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O2max), velocity at onset of blood lactate accumulation (vOBLA), maximal aerobic speed (vV̇O2max), and peak blood lactate concentration (peak [La]). They were also tested for best and mean times on a repeated shuttle sprint ability test.

Results: RSA best time (r=-0.73 and r=-0.54) and RSA mean sprint time (r=-0.69 and r=-0.62) were significantly (P<0.01) correlated with LJ and CMJ, respectively. Significant correlations (P<0.05) were also found between RSA mean sprint time and sprint decrement with vOBLA (r=-0.44) and peak [La] (r=0.47), respectively.

Conclusions: This study showed that RSA performance had a large to very large association with the individual level of jump performance and to a smaller extent to aerobic fitness variables in male collegiate soccer players. Given this finding, lower limbs' explosive-strength performance should be regarded as a relevant factor for male soccer.