Aerobic and anaerobic capacity of adult and young professional soccer players

MARONGIU, ELISABETTA;CORONA, FRANCESCO;Milia R;TOCCO, FILIPPO;CRISAFULLI, ANTONIO

2012-01-01

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Abstract

While VO2maxhas been widely investigated, there is few research on anaerobic capacity (AC) in soccer players. Previous studies reported that AC is age-dependent and that young individuals had lower AC compared with adults. Thus, we wondered whether AC would have proven more useful than VO2maxin differentiating adult soccer players from young players. A total of 37 male athletes from a professional team were recruited and divided into two sub-groups: the adult (AD, n = 20) group, older than 19 years, and the young (YO, n = 17) group, ranged from 16 to 18 years. Each participant underwent an incremental test on a treadmill to assess maximal velocity (Vmax), anaerobic threshold (AT) and VO2maxand a supramaximal exercise at a velocity 10 % higher than Vmaxto measure AC. The AD group reached higher AT and VO2maxwith respect to the YO group (55.23 ± 4.65 vs. 51.48 ± 4.73 mL min-1kg-1), whereas no difference was found in parameters related to the AC. In conclusion, young soccer players had the same AC as adult, but they displayed a lower VO2max. These findings indicated that AC in professional players is fully developed already when they are young while aerobic capacity is still to be developed.