Wednesday, August 8, 2012

From U Queensland-Australia: High-Intensity Running and Sprinting in Elite Women's Soccer Competition

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22868237


 2012 Jul 31. [Epub ahead of print]

High-Intensity Running and Sprinting in Elite Women's Soccer Competition.

Source

School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University in Brisbane and the School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

To our knowledge, no study has investigated the concurrent repeated, high-intensity (RHIA) and repeated-sprint activity (RSA) of intermittent team sport competition.

PURPOSE:

In this study, we report on the RSA of elite Women's football competition. In addition, we describe the nature of RHIA (e.g. striding and sprinting activities) that involve a high energy cost and are associated with short duration (i.e. ≤20 seconds) recovery periods.

METHODS:

Thirteen elite women soccer players underwent video-based time-motion analysis on 34 occasions during national and international standard matches. RSA and RHIA were defined as successive (i.e. 2) sprints, or striding and sprinting efforts that occurred with ≤20 seconds between efforts.

RESULTS:

The number of RSA and RHIA bouts performed was similar between the first and second half of matches. Sprinting and striding/sprinting durations tended to remain relatively stable irrespective of the number of efforts in a RSA or RHIA bout, or the period of play. However, recovery duration between efforts increased in the second half, and when a greater number of efforts were performed per bout.

CONCLUSION:

These findings suggest that first to second half reductions in RHIA and RSA do not occur in elite Women's soccer competition. However, players increase the amount of low-intensity recovery undertaken between RHIA and RSA efforts, most likely in an attempt to maintain RHIA and RSA performance. These findings emphasize the importance of repeated-sprint and effort ability to elite Women's soccer, and highlight the importance of training this quality to prevent reductions in performance during competitive match-play.

No comments:

Post a Comment