Are acute:chronic workload ratios of perceived exertion and running based variables sensible to detect variations between player positions over the season? A soccer team study

Hadi Nobari; Ersan Arslan; Alexandre Duarte Martins; Rafael Oliveira

doi:10.1186/s13102-022-00445-x

Are acute:chronic workload ratios of perceived exertion and running based variables sensible to detect variations between player positions over the season? A soccer team study

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2022 Mar 28;14(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s13102-022-00445-x.

Authors

Hadi Nobari^{1

2

3}, Ersan Arslan⁴, Alexandre Duarte Martins^{5

6}, Rafael Oliveira^{5

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Sports Scientist, Sepahan Football Club, Isfahan, Iran. hadi.nobari1@gmail.com.
² Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. hadi.nobari1@gmail.com.
³ Department of Physiology, School of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003, Cáceres, Spain. hadi.nobari1@gmail.com.
⁴ Faculty of Sport Sciences, Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, 60250, Tokat, Turkey.
⁵ Sports Science School of Rio Maior-Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, 2040-413, Rio Maior, Portugal.
⁶ Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Departamento de Desporto E Saúde, Escola de Saúde E Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, Largo Dos Colegiais, 7000, Évora, Portugal.
⁷ Research Centre in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal.
⁸ Life Quality Research Centre, 2040-413, Rio Maior, Portugal.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to describe and compare the in-season variations of acute: chronic workload ratio (ACWR) coupled, uncoupled, and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) through session rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE), total distance (TD), high-speed running distance (HSRD) and sprint distance (SPRINT) in three different periods of an elite soccer season according to player positions.

Methods: Twenty male elite players (age: 29.4 ± 4.4) from an Asian First League team were daily monitored for twenty consecutive weeks during the 2017-2018 in-season. Forty-seven trainings and twenty matches were monitored using global positioning system units (GPS) to collect TD, HSRD and SPRINT. Through the collection of s-RPE, TD, HSRD, and SPRINT by ACWR and EWMA were calculated for each training session.

Results: The results revealed that according to different periods of the season, workload measures observed in mid-season were meaningfully higher compared with early-season (g = ranging from 0.53 to 4.98) except for EWMA_SPRINT. In general, wingers and strikers tended to have greater scores in workload measures compared to the defenders and midfielders (g = ranging from 0.41 to 5.42).

Conclusions: These findings may provide detailed information for coaches and sports scientists regarding the variations of acute and chronic workload ratio and external loading in-season and between player positions in an elite soccer team.

Keywords: Defenders; External load; High-speed running; Internal load; Midfielders; Strikers.