Emerson Cruz de Oliveira

Repeated-sprint ability determined in game in elite male Brazilian football players

ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyse if the ability of elite Brazilian football athletes to perform repeated sprints, evaluated in real game situations, correlates with their previously determined VO2max. Methods: We analysed data from 10 male elite Brazilian football athletes, who had their movements monitored in the field through GPS devices, during 17 matches of official championships. For analysis of athletes’ movements in the field, we considered a block of repeated sprints (BRS), activities characterised by at least 3 sprints with velocity ≥20 km/h separated by a maximum of 21 s between each sprint. Results: There was no correlation between the ability to perform BRS in real game situations and the previously determined VO2max of athletes (r = 0.5828; p = 0.0770). On the other side, there was a positive correlation between the performance of blocks of repeated sprints and the number of actions within the blocks (r = 0.6712; p = 0.0336), and a negative correlation between the performance of blocks of repeated sprints and the recovery time between one block and another (r = –0.9191; p = 0.0002). Conclusions: Repeated-sprint ability determined in the game in elite male Brazilian football players is not correlated with VO2max.