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Cited by 2,325Sports Performance and TrainingCardiovascular and exercise physiologySports injuries and prevention

Physiology of Soccer: An Update

St??len, Tomas, Chamari, Karim, Castagna, Carlo, Wisl??ff, Ulrik·2005·Sports Medicine
DOI 10.2165/00007256-200535060-00004
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Abstract

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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Crossref · 10.2165/00007256-200535060-00004

Cites

123 of 123 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • During soccer practice, movements such as accelerations, changes in direction, or vertical jumps are affected by weight, so muscle training, impact loading, and body fat reduction are important in physical preparation to improve performance.

    “In fact, during soccer practice, there are a multitude of movements that are affected by weight, such as accelerations, changes in direction, or vertical jumps, so muscle training, impact loading, and body fat reduction are important in physical preparation to improve performance in soccer [71,110].”

    From Body Composition of Male Professional Soccer Players Using Different Measurement Methods: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2023) · cites this paper as [110]

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Authors
St??len, T., Chamari, K., Castagna, C., & Wisl??ff, U.
Affiliations
  • Centre National de la Médecine et des Sciences des Sports (TN)
  • University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
ORCID
Venue
Sports Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2005
Volume
35
Issue
6
Pages
501-536
ISSN
0112-1642 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2165/00007256-200535060-00004
OpenAlex
W2164863841
Cited by
2,325
References
123
Citations by year
2026: 145 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 169 · 2023: 151 · 2022: 172 · 2021: 177 · 2020: 144 · 2019: 129 · 2018: 134 · 2017: 118 · 2016: 98 · 2015: 111 · 2014: 129 · 2013: 110 · 2012: 87
FWCI
5.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports injuries and prevention
Keywords
soccer, elite soccer players, peer reviewers, cardiorespiratory fitness, anaerobic threshold, endurance training, resistance training, physical fitness, physiological testing, player selection, anthropometry
MeSH terms
Europe, Female, Humans, Male, Soccer, Weight Lifting, Exercise

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