Comparing Internal And External Workloads In Practice And Games In Collegiate Soccer Players

PURPOSE:Collegiate soccer presents unique challenges to players and coaches due to the protracted nature of the season and associated fixture congestion. It is common for athletes to take part in four practice sessions and compete in two competitive games each week. As such, managing physical preparation and adequate recovery can be difficult. Coaches have sought to address this by measuring the demands of practice and games using global positioning systems (GPS) and altering training prescriptions as necessary. However, the physical demands of practice as it relates to game play have not been fully explored in male college soccer players. Therefore, we compared the external (GPS) and internal (heart rate) loads in practice and games across a collegiate soccer season. METHODS:GPS and heart rate data was analyzed for male Division II soccer players (n = 20) over 8 weeks of the competitive season (14 competitive fixtures, 28 practices). External loads including total training load (TL, AU), total distance (TD, meters), high speed running (HSR, meters), accelerations (AC), decelerations (DC) and internal load (heart rate, HR, bpm) were compared across practice and games. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to determine if differences exist across conditions, with statistical significance set a p = <0.05. RESULTS:Mean external training loads were significantly higher in games compared to practice (TL 226.4 vs. 97.25 AU, p = <0.0001; TD 8708 vs. 4271 m, p = 0.0003; HSR 2849 vs. 863 m, p = 0.0004; AC 94.1 vs. 53.3, p = 0.004; DC 90.1 vs. 46.3, p = 0.002). Mean internal loads were also significantly elevated in games (133 vs. 124 bpm, p = 0.005). Concurrent with consistent weekly average load reduction in practice, the most challenging practices were significantly less demanding than gameplay for external loads (31-72% reduction, p = 0.03 - 0.0004), however, internal loads were similar in the most demanding practices vs. games (131 vs. 133 bpm, p = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS:GPS-derived weekly external loads are significantly reduced in practice compared to games in collegiate soccer players. Moreover, the hardest practices are significantly less demanding than gameplay. Despite scheduling restrictions, coaches may want to consider more adequately replicating the demands of game play while managing athlete recovery.