Anaerobic Power across Adolescence in Soccer Players

• Authors: Pantelis Nikolaïdis
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Purpose. Although the contribution of anaerobic power in soccer performance is recognized, this component of physical fitness is not well-studied in adolescent players. The aim of this study is to investigate the development of anaerobic power across adolescence in a laboratory setting. Methods. Male adolescents (N = 217; aged 12.01-20.98 y), classified into nine one-year age-groups, and adult players (as the control group, N = 29; aged 21.01-31.59 y), who were all members of competitive soccer clubs, performed the 30-s Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) against a braking force of 0.075 Kg · Kg-1 of body mass. Results. Compared with previous age-matched studies on the general population, the participants exhibited superior WAnT scores. The Pearson moment correlation coefficient between age and peak power (Ppeak) was r = 0.71 (p < 0.001) and between age and mean power (Pmean) r = 0.75 (p < 0.001). Even when body mass or fat free mass was taken into account, the effect of age on these parameters remained (0.51 < r < 0.55, p < 0.001). One-way analysis of variance revealed differences in anaerobic power between the age groups across adolescence (p < 0.001), with the adult and age groups in the higher spectrum of adolescence performing better than those in the lower spectrum, supporting the aforementioned findings. Conclusions. We confirmed the importance of short-term power in adolescent soccer players, as well as the strong association between this sport-related physical fitness parameter and body mass and fat free mass (0.89 < r < 0.94, p < 0.001). However, what is novel is that we demonstrated that age effect on Ppeak and Pmean remained even when body mass and fat free mass were factored out.

Keywords

EN

adolescent; physical fitness; exercise test; soccer; growth

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Human Movement
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 342-347

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2011

online

25 - 12 - 2011

Contributors

author

Pantelis Nikolaïdis

• Hellenic Army Academy, Athens, Greece

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10038-011-0039-1