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The study aimed to compare the effects of foam roller (FR) and vibration foam roller (VFR) on blood flow parameters, measured by Doppler ultrasonography in professional soccer players. A randomized crossover design was used, and 10 professional soccer players participated in 3 experimental sessions: FR, VFR, and a control condition (CC). The maximum velocity (MVel) and maximum volume (MVol) blood flow parameters were measured in the common femoral artery of the dominant leg at 5 different time points as follows: before (pre), immediately after (post 09), 10 (post 109), 20 (post 209), and 30 minutes (post 309) after the intervention. Both FR and VFR involved two 45-second sets with 15-second rest between sets in the quadriceps and hamstring, while CC required sitting for 240 seconds. The FR condition showed a significant increase in MVel (p, 0.01) at all time points after the intervention, and an increase in MVol (p< 0.05) only at post 09 compared with pre. The VFR condition showed a significant (p, 0.05) increase in MVel at post 09 and post 109 and an increase (p< 0.05) in MVol at post 09 compared with pre. In comparison with CC, the FR and VFR conditions presented significantly (p<0.05) higher MVel values at post 09, post 109, post 209, and post 309 than CC. For both FR and VFR conditions, the MVol not only revealed a significant (p< 0.05) increase at post 09 but also at post 109 for VFR compared with CC. In summary, the FR and VFR interventions demonstrated a similar increase in blood flow parameters, suggesting that both strategies may accelerate physiological recovery in elite soccer players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alonso-Calvete, A, Padrón-Cabo, A, Lorenzo-Martínez, M, and Rey, E. Acute Effects of Foam Rolling on Blood Flow Measured by Ultrasonography in Soccer Players. J Strength Cond Res 35(11): 3256–3259, 2021—In recent years, foam rolling (FR) has become a popular device for recovery to increase range of motion and decrease pain after sport practice and competition. However, there is little evidence about the underlying physiological effects of FR, specifically in blood flow parameters. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze acute effects of FR on blood flow parameters (maximal velocity and maximal volume) measured by Doppler ultrasonography in soccer players. Twelve soccer players were assessed in 3 different situations: pre-FR intervention, immediately after FR intervention, and 30 minutes after FR intervention. The femoral artery was measured in the dominant leg with subjects in horizontal lying position. Before the intervention, subjects completed one familiarization session with FR. The FR intervention consisted of 2 sets, each with 45 seconds of FR and 15 seconds of rest between sets with a high-density foam roller in quadriceps, hamstrings, and iliotibial band. Results showed a significant increase in both maximal velocity (p < 0.001; effect size [ES] = 0.81) and maximal volume (p = 0.001; ES = 1.73) after intervention in comparison with pretest, but after 30 minutes, there were no significant differences. Therefore, this increase of the blood flow could promote important advantages for postexercise recovery, suggesting an acute effect that may contribute to the understanding of local physiological mechanism of FR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of plyometric training with an agility ladder on components of physical fitness in youth soccer players. A total of twenty male under-13 soccer players were randomly assigned to a plyometric training group with an agility ladder (n=10) or a control group (n=10). Before and after training intervention linear sprint test (5 m, 10 m, 20 m), vertical jump ability (squat jump, countermovement jump and countermovement jump with arms), agility test, and slalom dribble test were assessed. The plyometric training with agility ladder was applied two times per week over six weeks. Data were analyzed using linear mixed model. The plyometric training group showed significant improvements (p<0.001) from pre-test to post-test in countermovement jump, countermovement jump with arms, and slalom dribble test. In the control group, no significant enhancements were obtained in all performance tests (p>0.05). The between-group analysis showed significant differences in countermovement jump with arms (p=0.03), but no significant differences (p>0.05) were found in squat jump, countermovement jump, sprint, agility test, and slalom dribble test. In conclusion, the short-term plyometric training with agility ladder seems to be ineffective and not time-efficient to improve physical fitness in youth soccer players. However, the interpretation of these results must be understood within the sample size limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyse the effect of age on between-match variability of physical performance in professional soccer players. For this purpose, observations on entire match performance were collected on 787 professional soccer players competing in the first or second division of Spanish league during the 2017–2018 season. Players were classified into six groups according to their age: G1 (≤22.5 years), G2 (22.6–25.1 years), G3 (25.2–27.5 years), G4 (27.6–30.1 years), G5 (30.2–33.1 years) and G6 (≥33.2 years). Coefficients of variation (CVs) were calculated individually for each player and performance variable: total distance, low- intensity, medium-intensity, high-intensity running (HIR), sprinting, number of HIR, number of sprints, average speed and maximal speed. The main finding of this study was that players under 25.2 years (G1 and G2) showed lower CVs for high-intensity activities (HIR and sprinting) in comparison with players over 33.1 years (G6). These findings provide useful information for soccer coaches, who could put extra attention on physical performance of the oldest players when they have to play an entire match, because their performance is more variable and uncertain in comparison with the youngest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foam rolling (FR) is a common strategy used after training and competition by players. However, no previous studies have assessed the effectiveness of FR as a recovery tool in sports populations. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of FR (20 minutes of FR exercises on quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, gluteals, and gastrocnemius) and passive recovery (20 minutes sit on a bench) interventions performed immediately after a training session on Total Quality Recovery (TQR), perceived muscle soreness, jump performance, agility, sprint, and flexibility 24 hours after the training. During 2 experimental sessions, 18 professional soccer players (age 26.6 ± 3.3 years; height: 180.2 ± 4.5 cm; body mass: 75.8 ± 4.7 kg) participated in a randomized fully controlled trial design. The first session was designed to collect the pretest values of each variable. After baseline measurements, the players performed a standardized soccer training. At the end of training unit, all the players were randomly assigned to the FR recovery group and the passive recovery group. A second experimental session was conducted to obtain the posttest values. Results from the between-group analyses showed that FR had a large effect on the recovery in agility (effect sizes [ES] = 1.06), TQR (ES = 1.08), and perceived muscle soreness (ES = 1.02) in comparison with the passive recovery group at 24 hours after training. Thus, it is recommended that soccer coaches and physical trainers working with high-level players use a structured recovery session lasting from 15 to 20 minutes based on FR exercises that could be implemented at the end of a training session to enhance recovery between training loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect resisted sprint training using weighted vests (WVs) compared with unresisted sprint (US) training on physical fitness (countermovement jump, 10-m sprint, 30-m sprint, and repeated sprint ability [RSA]) in amateur male soccer players. Nineteen soccer players (age: 23.7 ± 4.5 years; height: 178.3 ± 5.8 cm; body mass: 72.9 ± 5.2 kg) were randomly assigned to a WV (n = 10) or a US (n = 9) group. The intervention program had to be performed 2 times a week over 6 weeks. The only difference between the 2 interventions was that the WV group performed all the sprints with an additional weight of 18.9% ± 2.1% of body mass. Within-group analysis showed significant improvements (p < 0.001) in 10-m and 30-m sprint performances from pretest to posttest in WV (+9.42% and +6.04%) and US (+10.87% and +5.10%). Players in both WV and US also showed significant enhancements in RSA average time (AT), fastest time, and total time from pretest to posttest. Percentage changes in 30-m sprint performance, for both groups combined, had a very large correlation with percentage changes in AT of RSA. In the between-groups analysis, there were no differences between the sprint training groups (WV vs. US) in any variable. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that both sprint training methods used seem to be effective to improve soccer-related performance measures, and could be beneficial to players and coaches in field settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]