Effects of very short rest periods on physical performance parameters in division I university women's soccer players: Does an additional rest day make a difference?

Certain conferences in Division I university women's soccer have recently changed from ∼43-h to ∼67-h rest periods between matches, presenting an opportunity to directly measure the effects of one additional day of rest on physical performance parameters. This study compared short rest ( n = 23) and a long rest ( n = 24) groups with data analyzed in 10-min segments at the beginning and end of each half of two matches. In the second match of the week, High Speed Running (HSR) declined from the first 10 min at the 35–45-min segment in both the long (by 27%, p = 0.016) and short rest (by 33%, p < 0.001) groups, recovering to normal in the 45–55 min segment in the long rest group but not the short rest group, which remained 27.5% lower than 0–10 ( p = 0.022). Both the long and short rest groups were also lower at the 80–90-min segment (by 25% ( p = 0.04) and 38% ( p < 0.001), respectively). Players in the short rest group experienced significant reductions in match 2 compared to match 1 in several time segments for decelerations (22%-23% change p ≤ 0.05), high-speed running (19%-25% change p ≤ 0.05), speed intensity (14%-15% change p ≤ 0.05), and total distance (11%-13% change p ≤ 0.05), but no reductions were found in the long rest group. Effect sizes for changes between match 1 and 2 were moderate to large. Overall, shorter rest was found to be associated with significant negative changes in physical performance, particularly for HSR. Coaches should be aware of short rest windows and implement strategies to enhance recovery and potentially reduce the chance of injury.