Quantification of a Professional Football Team's External Load Using a Microcycle Structure

Martín-García, A, Gómez Díaz, A, Bradley, PS, Morera, F, and Casamichana, D. Quantification of a professional football team's external load using a microcycle structure. J Strength Cond Res 32(12): 3520–3527, 2018—The aims of this study were to (a) determine the external load of a football team across playing position and relative to competition for a structured microcycle and (b) examine the loading and variation the day after competition for players with or without game time. Training and match data were obtained from 24 professional football players who belonging to the reserve squad of a Spanish La Liga club during the 2015/16 season using global positioning technology (n = 37 matches and n = 42 training weeks). Training load data were analyzed with respect to the number of days before or after a match (match day [MD] minus or plus). Training load metrics declined as competition approached (MD-4> MD-3> MD-2> MD-1; p MD + 1R; p
Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research