In-season training responses and perceived wellbeing and recovery status in professional soccer players

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 14;16(7):e0254655. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254655. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

This study aimed to describe professional soccer players' training responses during a competitive season and to investigate the relationship between these responses with wellbeing and recovery indices. Thirteen professional soccer players from the same Spanish Second Division team were monitored during a sixteen-week in-season period. Players' external loads were analyzed using global positioning measurement units (GPS). Additionally, subjective reporting of sleep quality, sleep duration, fatigue, muscle soreness, and stress were assessed with a customized wellness questionnaire at the beginning of each training session. A two-step cluster analysis identified profiles of different training responses generally described as lower-demand sessions, intermediate-demand sessions, running-based sessions, and sprint-based sessions; which were discriminated by different total distance covered and high-intensity actions. Interestingly, no probabilistic interactions were found between these training responses with wellbeing and recovery markers (i.e., Bayes factor < 1 suggesting no evidence, for all the variables). These findings may raise concerns about using self-reporting tools, as they show that players' wellness data is probably not accounted for when coaching staff plan and optimize the training process. However, results should be interpreted with caution, due to representing a single team and coaching staff.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Bayes Theorem
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Running
  • Seasons*
  • Soccer*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and European Social Fund (ESF), through a Doctoral grant endorsed to the first author (SFRH/BD/138499/2018) under the Human Potential Operating Program (POPH); and also, by the ‘Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Programa Operativo de la Región de Castilla-La Mancha’ endorsed to the fifth author (2018/11744). Furthermore, the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.