Citation

Owen AL, Forsyth JJ, Wong DP, Dellal A, Connelly S, Chamari K. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2014; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

1Servette Football Club, Geneva, Switzerland. 2Centre de Recherche et d'Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France. 3Centre for Sport Health and Exercise Research, Staffordshire University, Stafford, England. 4Human Performance Laboratory, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 5Medical Centre Excellence FIFA, Santy Orthopedicae clinical, Lyon, France 6Athlete Health and Performance Research Centre, ASPETAR, Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, National Strength and Conditioning Association)

DOI

10.1519/JSC.0000000000000810

PMID

25546452

Abstract

Elite level professional soccer players are suggested to have increased physical, technical, tactical and psychological capabilities when compared to their sub-elite counterparts. Ensuring these players remain at the elite level generally involves training many different bodily systems to a high intensity or level within a short duration. This study aimed to examine whether an increase in training volume at high intensity levels were related to injury incidence, or increased the odds of sustaining an injury. Training intensity was monitored through time spent in high- (T-HI) and very high- (T-VHI) intensity zones of 85-<90% and ≥90% of maximal heart rate (HRmax), and all injuries were recorded over two consecutive seasons. Twenty-three elite professional male soccer players (mean±SD age 25.6±4.6 years, stature 181.8±6.8 cm, and body mass of 79.3±8.1 kg) were studied throughout the 2-yrs span of the investigation. The results showed a mean total injury incidence of 18.8 (95% CI 14.7 to 22.9) injuries per 1000 h of exposure. Significant correlations were found between training volume at T-HI and injury incidence (r=0.57, p=0.005). Further analysis revealed how players achieving more time in the T-VHI zone during training increased the odds of sustaining a match injury (odds ratio=1.87, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.12, p=0.02), but did not increase the odds of sustaining a training injury. Reducing the number of competitive match injuries amongst elite professional level players may be possible if greater focus is placed on the training intensity and volume over a period of time ensuring the potential reduction of fatigue or overuse injuries. In addition, it is important to understand the optimal training load at which adaptation occurs without raising the risk of injury.

Language: en