The Association Between Training Load Indices and Injuries in Elite Soccer Players

Tiernan, C, Comyns, T, Lyons, M, Nevill, AM, and Warrington, G. The association between training load indices and injuries in elite soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 36(11): 3143–3150, 2022—To investigate the association between contact injuries, noncontact injuries, and training load indices, across different lag periods in elite soccer players. Internal load (session rate of perceived exertion) was collected from 15 elite soccer players over 1 season (40-weeks). Acute (7 days), chronic (28 days), acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) (uncoupled), exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) ACWR, and 2-, 3-, and 4-week cumulative load were calculated on a rolling weekly basis. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between contact, noncontact injuries, and training load indices, across different lag periods (5 and 7 days). A player was at a significantly higher risk of a noncontact injury 5 days later, if week-to-week acute load changes increased (odds ratio [OR] = 1.97). An increase in EWMA ACWR was associated with an increased risk of both a contact (OR = 1.30) and noncontact injury (OR = 1.35), 5 days later. An increase in 2-week cumulative load (OR = 1.77) was associated with an increased risk of a contact injury 7 days later and 3-week cumulative load (OR = 1.55) 5 days later. These findings suggest that to reduce the potential risk of a noncontact injury, training load should be gradually increased, avoiding an increase in week-to-wee...
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research