Author(s): MICHAELIDES, M., PARPA, K., Institution: UCLAN CYPRUS, Country: CYPRUS, Abstract-ID: 276

INTRODUCTION:
It is important to regularly monitor the aerobic endurance performance of professional soccer players throughout the season. Sub-maximal blood lactate assessment is a useful tool for detecting changes in endurance fitness, with lactate threshold determination possibly being a more sensitive indicator of aerobic endurance performance than VO2 max. Many studies and practitioners are showing particular interest in the changes in velocities that are needed for the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), specifically at the 4 mmol/l threshold (v-4Mm). In this study, we investigated the v-4Mm before the preseason preparation, followed by a post-preseason preparation submaximal test up to 14 km/h.
METHODS:
A total of twenty-one elite soccer players participated in the study. The treadmill running protocol began with a velocity of 8 km/h, followed by 3-minute increments of 2 km/h. The Lactate Plus analyzer (NOVA Biomedical, USA) was used for blood analysis, requiring 0.7 μL of blood, and the measurement time was 13 seconds for every increment change.
RESULTS:
Repeated measures analysis demonstrated a significant difference in La++ accumulation (F(1.74,70) =192.69,p<0.001) across the 4 velocity increments. The analysis demonstrated no significant interaction, indicating a significant decrease in blood La++ accumulation for all 4 incremental velocities following the preseason preparation. Particularly before the pre-season preparation, only 35% of the athletes had blood lactate accumulation below the 4 mmol/l threshold after running the 3min 14km/hour increment. During the follow-up testing, 95% of the athletes accumulated less than 4 mmol/l La++ running the 3-minute 14km/hour increment. According to the literature and the results of this study, the v-4Mm is less than 14 km/h before the pre-season preparation, while the v-4Mm after the preseason preparation is at higher velocities.
CONCLUSION:
To avoid unnecessary overloading of the professional football players just before the beginning of the season, we propose a submaximal test that includes a final stage of 3 minutes at 14km/h run. Failure to induce 4 mmol/l OBLA could be considered an indicator of aerobic physical fitness readiness. This should apply especially to professional soccer players who have a 4 mmol/l OBLA threshold at velocities below 14km/h.