Regional Lean Soft Tissue and Intracellular Water Are Associated with Changes in Lower-Body Neuromuscular Performance: A Pilot Study in Elite Soccer Players
Open accessAbstract
The assessment of body composition over a competitive season provides valuable information that can help sports professionals to evaluate the efficacy of training and nutritional strategies, as well as monitoring athletes’ health status. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of changes in body composition and hydration status with changes in lower-body neuromuscular performance in soccer. Twenty-two male professional soccer players (mean ± SD; age: 26.4 ± 4.8 years; height: 184.3 ± 5.7 cm; body mass: 81.1 ± 6.5 kg; body fat: 11.6 ± 1.5%) took part in the study, for which they were tested at the initial and final stage of the competitive season. Total (whole body) and regional (arms and legs) lean soft tissue (LST) were estimated to obtain the body composition profile. Total body water (TBW) content, including extracellular (ECW) and intracellular (ICW) water, was obtained to monitor players’ hydration status. Countermovement jump (CMJ) height, power, and strength were used to derive players’ lower-body neuromuscular performance. The results showed that changes in legs LST and ICW significantly (p < 0.01) explained (r2 = 0.39) the improvements in CMJ height, power, and strength from the initial to the final stage of the season. Given the high demand imposed on the lower limbs during a soccer season, being more susceptible to change compared to whole-body LST, assessing regional LST and ICW would be more appropriate to provide extended information on players’ readiness.
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Smaller parts of FFM such as LST and ALST are closely related to skeletal muscle components and particularly informative of strength and power expression in elite soccer players.
“As already mentioned, smaller parts of the FFM such as LST and ALST are closely related to skeletal muscle components and particularly informative of strength and power expression in elite soccer players [43].”
The participants of the present study had higher FFM and ALST values than previous groups, in line with previous studies on soccer players.
“In contrast, the participants of the present study had higher FFM and ALST values, which are in line with previous studies on soccer players [29, 43].”
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“In contrast, the participants of the present study had higher FFM and ALST values, which are in line with previous studies on soccer players [29, 43].”
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- Authors
- Bongiovanni, T., Tinsley, G., Martera, G., Orlandi, C., Genovesi, F., Puleo, G., Rossi, A., & Trecroci, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Milan (IT)
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Nutrition Department, Spezia Calcio, 19123 La Spezia, Italy
- University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
- Manchester City Football Club (GB)
- Reggina 1914 Football Club, 89132 Reggio Calabria, Italy
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Rossi, Alessio
- Venue
- European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-07-22
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 882-892
- ISSN
- 2174-8144 (ISSN-L)
- 2254-9625
- PMC
- PMC9332301
- OpenAlex
- W4286586977
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 2.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ThinkTech (Texas Tech University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) (submittedVersion)
- ISTI Open Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (871042)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports injuries and prevention
- Keywords
- intracellular water, total body water, hydration status, body composition, countermovement jump, soccer players, competitive season, athlete readiness
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