Introduction. Soccer is a sport which involves different aspects of physical fitness such as aerobic endurance and sprint ability. It is characterized by a wide range of actions including sudden starts, jumps and continuous repositioning during relatively long periods. Health-related parameters have already been associated with individual fitness tests in adolescents, but an evaluation considering fitness as a multifactorial entity is still lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare cardiovascular health indicators between overall fitness levels in pubertal soccer players.
Methods. A total of 106 soccer players (76 males, 12.7 ± 0.6 y) participated in this study. A Fitness Index (FI) was computed as the sum of the sex-specific Z-scores calculated from four fitness tests: handgrip strength, long-distance jump, 30-meters sprint and 20-meters shuttle-run test. Following a 10-hour fasting, blood samples were collected and cardiovascular disease markers were analyzed. Subtotal lean, fat and trunk fat masses were evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Independent T-tests were applied to evaluate differences in cardiovascular parameters between participants in the lowest (Q4) and highest (Q1) quartiles of the FI.
Results. Fat mass percentages of subtotal whole body and trunk were significantly higher in Q4, while subtotal lean mass was lower among these participants than those in Q1 (all p < 0.05). In addition, differences were also found in the lipid profile, with the Q4 group showing higher blood LDL level and lower values of blood HDL (both p < 0.05). Fasting glucose levels did not differ significantly between both groups (p > 0.05).
Conclusions. It can be concluded from our results that differences in cardiovascular health might be found in adolescent football players depending on their fitness levels. Further studies should focus on determining the contribution of each individual fitness parameter on the overall index.
Corresponding author. jmarin.hu@gmail.com
