Journal of Novel Physiotherapies
Open Access

Research Article

Physical Activity and High-Intensity Running during Sided Games vs. Competitive Match-Play in Elite Soccer Players: A Comparative Study

¹Laboratoire LAMHESS (EA 6309), University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France

²Tunisian Research Laboratory ‘‘Sport Performance Optimization’’, National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports Tunis, Tunisia

³Human performance laboratory, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

⁴Center for Research and Innovation on Sport, University of Lyon, University Lyon, France

⁵International Federation of Football Association (FIFA)/Education and Technical Development Department, Zurich, Switzerland

⁶Athlete Health and Performance Research Centre, Aspetar, Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar

⁷FIFA Medical Excellence Centre, Santy orthopedicae clinical, Sport Science and Research department, Lyon, France

^#These authors have contributed evenly as senior authors to this article

*Corresponding Author:

Dellal Alexandre
OGC Nice (soccer)
Parc des sports Charles Erhmann
177 route de Grenoble, 06201 Nice, France
Tel: 0033630515311
Email: alexandredellal@gmail.com

Received date: October 17, 2016; Accepted date: December 09, 2016; Published date: December 16, 2016

Citation: Dellal A, Mehdi R, Moktar C, Serge C, Pui WD, et al. (2016) Physical Activity and High-Intensity Running during Sided Games vs. Competitive Match-Play in Elite Soccer Players: A Comparative Study . J Nov Physiother 6:320. doi: 10.4172/2165-7025.1000320

Copyright: © 2016 Dellal A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the physical activity of players within different sided games (SSG and LSG) and with those found among elite soccer match-play.
Methods: Fourteen elite soccer players (age: 23.1 years; height: 178.4 cm; weight: 73.7 kg and body fat mass 8.8%) participated in 3 competitive matches and their data were compared to the following sided games: 5 vs. 5 and 6 vs. 6, 7 vs. 7, and 9 vs. 9. Total distances covered/min (TDC), TDC/min at high intensity running (between 16 and 23 km/h-1) and TDC/min at very high intensity running (>23 km/h-1) were analyzed during all SSGs and official match-play with GPS technology (15 Hz).
Results: Post-hoc analysis indicated that the TDC/min was significantly higher during official match-play, 9 vs. 9, and 7 vs. 7 when compared to 6 vs. 6 and 5 vs. 5 (P<0.001). Moreover, the TDC/min, and the TDC/min at high and very high running intensity were significantly higher during the official match-play and large-sided games (9 vs. 9 and 7 vs. 7) than during the 6 vs. 6 and 5 vs. 5 SSG (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The present study showed that physical activity, and especially at very high intensity running, was similar in official match-play and in LSG (9 vs. 9 and 7 vs. 7) whereas SSG (5 vs. 5 and 6 vs. 6) induced lower solicitations at the speed thresholds analyzed. In this context, SSG seems not allow to fully recreate the physical match-play demands with a specific difference for the high intensity running activities.

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