Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition of Soccer Referees; Do These Correlate With Proper Performance?

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Abstract

Background:

The elite-level referee is exposed to similar physical demands to those placed on a midfield soccer player. They have an important responsibility to implement the rules of the game. So, good health and performance of soccer referees have a great importance.

Objectives:

The purpose of this study was to assess the cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition of all 78 soccer referees officiating at the Iranian Premier League and determine the correlation between these parameters and performance.

Patients and Methods:

In a cross-sectional study, all referees selected for the competitions were enrolled. Participants underwent exercise stress test, pulmonary function test and body composition assessment. Then the weekly scores of each referee, assessed by qualified supervisors of national federation were obtained using the FIFA standard form throughout the season (34 weeks) and registered.

Results:

Among 78 participants (including 32 center and 46 side referees), mean and standard deviation of age, body mass index, percent of body fat, VO _2max and performance scores were 37 ± 3.8, 23.6 ± 2.1, 20.7 ± 3.9, 59.9 ± 7.1 and 85.8 ± 0.25, respectively. No significant correlation between referees’ mean score and selected parameters were found.

Conclusions:

It seems that the acquired scores of top-class referees may be influenced by multiple factors other than the laboratory findings of cardiopulmonary fitness and body composition.

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Most cited references 26

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Physiology of soccer: an update.

Tomas Stølen, Karim Chamari, Carlo Castagna … (2005)

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is performed by men and women, children and adults with different levels of expertise. Soccer performance depends upon a myriad of factors such as technical/biomechanical, tactical, mental and physiological areas. One of the reasons that soccer is so popular worldwide is that players may not need to have an extraordinary capacity within any of these performance areas, but possess a reasonable level within all areas. However, there are trends towards more systematic training and selection influencing the anthropometric profiles of players who compete at the highest level. As with other activities, soccer is not a science, but science may help improve performance. Efforts to improve soccer performance often focus on technique and tactics at the expense of physical fitness. During a 90-minute game, elite-level players run about 10 km at an average intensity close to the anaerobic threshold (80-90% of maximal heart rate). Within this endurance context, numerous explosive bursts of activity are required, including jumping, kicking, tackling, turning, sprinting, changing pace, and sustaining forceful contractions to maintain balance and control of the ball against defensive pressure. The best teams continue to increase their physical capacities, whilst the less well ranked have similar values as reported 30 years ago. Whether this is a result of fewer assessments and training resources, selling the best players, and/or knowledge of how to perform effective exercise training regimens in less well ranked teams, is not known. As there do exist teams from lower divisions with as high aerobic capacity as professional teams, the latter factor probably plays an important role. This article provides an update on the physiology of soccer players and referees, and relevant physiological tests. It also gives examples of effective strength- and endurance-training programmes to improve on-field performance. The cited literature has been accumulated by computer searching of relevant databases and a review of the authors' extensive files. From a total of 9893 papers covering topics discussed in this article, 843 were selected for closer scrutiny, excluding studies where information was redundant, insufficient or the experimental design was inadequate. In this article, 181 were selected and discussed. The information may have important implications for the safety and success of soccer players and hopefully it should be understood and acted upon by coaches and individual soccer players.

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Physical and metabolic demands of training and match-play in the elite football player.

Jens Bangsbo, Magni Mohr, Peter Krustrup (2006)

In soccer, the players perform intermittent work. Despite the players performing low-intensity activities for more than 70% of the game, heart rate and body temperature measurements suggest that the average oxygen uptake for elite soccer players is around 70% of maximum (VO(2max). This may be partly explained by the 150 - 250 brief intense actions a top-class player performs during a game, which also indicates that the rates of creatine phosphate (CP) utilization and glycolysis are frequently high during a game. Muscle glycogen is probably the most important substrate for energy production, and fatigue towards the end of a game may be related to depletion of glycogen in some muscle fibres. Blood free-fatty acids (FFAs) increase progressively during a game, partly compensating for the progressive lowering of muscle glycogen. Fatigue also occurs temporarily during matches, but it is still unclear what causes the reduced ability to perform maximally. There are major individual differences in the physical demands of players during a game related to physical capacity and tactical role in the team. These differences should be taken into account when planning the training and nutritional strategies of top-class players, who require a significant energy intake during a week.

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Energetics of high-intensity exercise (soccer) with particular reference to fatigue.

Mary T. Reilly (1997)

Soccer entails intermittent exercise with bouts of short, intense activity punctuating longer periods of low-level, moderate-intensity exercise. High levels of blood lactate may sometimes be observed during a match but the active recovery periods at submaximal exercise levels allow for its removal on a continual basis. While anaerobic efforts are evident in activity with the ball and shadowing fast-moving opponents, the largest strain is placed on aerobic metabolism. On average, competitive soccer corresponds to an energy expenditure of about 75% maximal aerobic power. The energy expenditure varies with playing position, being highest among midfield players. Muscle glycogen levels can be reduced towards the end of a game, the level of reduction being reflected in a decrease in work rate. Blood glucose levels are generally well-maintained, although body temperature may rise by 2 degrees C even in temperate conditions. The distance covered by players tends to under-reflect the energy expended. Unorthodox modes of motion-running backwards and sideways, accelerating, decelerating and changing direction-accentuate the metabolic loading. These are compounded by the extra requirements for energy associated with dribbling the ball and contesting possession. The overall energy expended is extreme when players are required to play extra-time in tournaments. Training, nutritional and tactical strategies may be used to reduce the effects of fatigue that may occur late in the game.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Asian J Sports Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Asian J Sports Med

Journal ID (doi): 10.5812/asjsm

Journal ID (publisher-id): Kowsar

Title: Asian Journal of Sports Medicine

Publisher: Kowsar

ISSN (Print): 2008-000X

ISSN (Electronic): 2008-7209

Publication date (Electronic): 01 March 2016

Publication date Collection: March 2016

Volume: 7

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: e29577

Affiliations

[1 ]Sports Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, IR Iran

[2 ]Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, IR Iran

[3 ]Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran

Author notes

[* ]Corresponding author: Farzin Halabchi, Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), P. O. Box: 14395578, Tehran, IR Iran. Tel: +98-9122041774, Fax: +98-2188003539, E-mail: fhalabchi@ 123456tums.ac.ir

Article

DOI: 10.5812/asjsm.29577

PMC ID: 4879900

PubMed ID: 27231524

SO-VID: bd4f3ed6-c164-40d5-af25-ac2810612d4d

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 19 May 2015

Date revision received : 10 September 2015

Date accepted : 28 September 2015

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Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition of Soccer Referees; Do These Correlate With Proper Performance?

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Abstract

Background:

Objectives:

Patients and Methods:

Results:

Conclusions:

Related collections

Karger: Nutrition and Dietetics

Most cited references 26

Physiology of soccer: an update.

Physical and metabolic demands of training and match-play in the elite football player.

Energetics of high-intensity exercise (soccer) with particular reference to fatigue.

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Cited by 3

Most referenced authors 139