Anthropometric and physiological parameters of professional soccer athletes

Abstract

This study aimed to demonstrate the relationship of anthropometric, physiologic, cardiovascular and neuromuscular parameters in soccer players. 24 professional male athletes were recruited (24.04 ± 5.16 years-old) from a soccer club of the City of Curitiba, which were submitted to body composition, treadmill maximal effort, anaerobic threshold and the Yo-yo intermittent Recovery 2” assessments. The main results were: VO_2Max: 62.66 ± 2.64 ml/kg/min; speed at the anaerobic threshold: 13.82 ± 0.87 km/h; distance in the Yo-yo test: 1251.67 ± 340.74 m. The main correlations observed were: total distance in the Yo-yo test and the anaerobic threshold was r=0.40 and with the maximal speed in the treadmill r= 0.43. These results indicated that the anaerobic capacity determined by the anaerobic threshold speed may be related with the capacity of the participants to recover after intermittent efforts. It was observed that all variables showed mean values comparable to those reposted in the literature of professional soccer players.