Citation

Kelly RA, Collins K. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2018; 32(12): 3466-3473.

Affiliation

1Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moore's University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET 2Gaelic Sports Research Centre, Department of Science, Institute of Technology Tallaght, Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, National Strength and Conditioning Association)

DOI

10.1519/JSC.0000000000001861

PMID

28234717

Abstract

There is limited research assessing the anthropometric and performance variations in elite Gaelic football. The aim of the current study was to assess the anthropometric and performance characteristics of an elite inter-county squad within a season. Following ethical approval and informed consent 26 participants were assessed at the start of pre-season (November), following early in-season (January) and mid-season (March). Measurements included stature, body mass, sum of 8 skinfold sites (ΣSkf8), estimated body fat (bf%), squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ), 5-, 10- and 20- m sprint time, upper and lower body strength (1RM) and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test 2 (Yo-Yo IR2). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine seasonal and positional variations. Anthropometric variations were observed with an overall increase in participants' body mass and a concomitant decrease in ΣSkf8 and bf% (-21.5%, p = 0.002, η = 0.15; -1.43 %, p = 0.004, η = 0.13). Performance variations showed improvements in sprint time over 5- (p = 0.001, η = 0.19) and 10-m (p = 0.008, η = 0.11), SJ (p = 0.013, η = 0.1), CMJ (p = 0.013, η = 0.1) height and Yo-Yo IRT2 (p < 0.001, η = 0.34) noted from pre-season to mid-season. Significant anthropometric variations are observed between the pre-season and early in-season, meanwhile significant performance variations are observed between the pre-season and mid-season. Distinct positional variations are evident for both anthropometric and performance characteristics at all time points. Applied practitioners should consider these findings when implementing a seasonal training plan.

Language: en