| Abstrakt: |
Soccer players require well-developed aerobic and anaerobic ability to remain alert for 90 minutes and perform technical and tactical actions using quick and dynamic movements. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a training program, of the playing position, and the duration of game participation on aerobic capacity. Twenty-five professional, 25 amateur players participated in this study and 25 soccer players were served as the control group. We used the Conconi test to measure aerobic and anaerobic ability at the beginning and the end of a 12 week training program. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA, significance threshold p ≤ .05) was used to evaluate the effect on the following endurance variables: anaerobic threshold (AT), total distance covered, speed achieved at AT, and heart rate at test termination. We found that training program improved the AT (p = 0.001, F1,48 = 58.2), the total distance covered (p = 0.001, F1,48 = 35.2), the speed achieved at AT (p = 0.001, F1,48 = 34.5), and the heart rate at test termination (p = 0.003, F1,48 = 9.5). Duration of participation and playing position also affected AT, total distances covered, and speed players achieved at AT in both professional and amateur players; heart rate at test termination was also affected in amateur players. The training program had a positive effect on aerobic capacity, which was also affected by the playing position and the duration of game participation. The Conconi test was an effective method for evaluating aerobic and anaerobic ability of soccer players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
