The Influence of Seasonal Period and Match Outcome on External Load in Professional Soccer Players: Analyzing the Effect of Winning and Losing Streaks
Abstract
Highlights
- The team accumulated higher weekly training load (TL) after medi-um-performance streaks. Contrarily, weekly training volume was lower after drawn matches than after won matches.
- Although there was not a clear trend on evolution on TL, most of variables de-creased as the season progressed.
- Identifying the weeks with higher training demands is crucial for effective load management and preventing injury risk for overreaching.
- Practitioners should reduce the weekly training demands after high- or medi-um-performance streaks or, even, after lost matches since players will try to per-form their maximum efforts on those weeks.
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Instruments
2.4. Variables
2.4.1. Weekly External Load
2.4.2. Latest Match Outcome
2.4.3. Seasonal Period
2.4.4. Performance Streaks
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. The Influence of Latest Match Outcome on Weekly External Load
3.2. The Influence of Seasonal Period on Weekly External Load
3.3. The Influence of Performance Streaks on Weekly External Load
4. Discussion
Limitations, Future Directions and Practical Applications
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
TL | Training load |
TD | Total distance |
MSR | Medium-speed running |
HSR | High-speed running |
VHSR | Very high-speed running |
Sprint | Sprinting speed running |
ACC | Accelerations |
DEC | Decelerations |
LMM | Linear mixed models |
GPS | Global positioning system |
ES | Effect size |
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Variables | High Performance | Medium Performance | Low Performance | p | Between Weeks Comparison (ES) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coeff (SE) | Coeff (SE) | Coeff (SE) | HP vs. MP | HP vs. LP | MP vs. LP | ||
TD (m) | 21,637 (1250) | 26,025 (1490) | 20,665 (1140) | a *, c ** | −1.11 (−2.18, −0.05) | 0.25 (−0.64, 1.13) | 1.36 (0.31, 2.41) |
MSR (m) | 4342 (217) | 5025 (259) | 3962 (198) | a *, c ** | −1.00 (−2.05, 0.06) | 0.56 (−0.34, 1.45) | 1.55 (0.48, 2.62) |
HSR (m) | 1096 (73.9) | 1254 (88.3) | 1001 (67.4) | c * | −0.68 (−1.71, 0.35) | 0.41 (−0.48, 1.30) | 1.09 (0.06, 2.11) |
VHSR (m) | 1008 (63.9) | 1120 (76.4) | 920 (58.4) | c * | −0.56 (−1.58, 0.47) | 0.43 (−0.46, 1.32) | 0.99 (−0.03, 2.01) |
Sprint (m) | 88.3 (13.1) | 134.1 (15.7) | 80.7 (12.0) | a *, c * | −1.10 (−2.16, −0.04) | 0.18 (−0.70, 1.07) | 1.29 (0.24, 2.33) |
PL | 1069 (63.7) | 1297 (76.1) | 1029 (58.1) | a *, c ** | −1.13 (−2.20, −0.07) | 0.20 (−0.69, 1.08) | 1.33 (0.28, 2.38) |
ACC (n°.) | 73.7 (4.95) | 91.0 (5.91) | 67.6 (4.52) | a *, c ** | −1.11 (−2.17, −0.05) | 0.39 (−0.50, 1.28) | 1.50 (0.43, 2.57) |
DEC (n°.) | 68.5 (4.77) | 82.7 (5.70) | 62.3 (4.35) | a *, c ** | −0.95 (−2.00, 0.10) | 0.41 (−0.48, 1.30) | 1.36 (0.31, 2.41) |
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Ponce-Bordón, J.C.; Polo-Tejada, J.; Lobo-Triviño, D.; Sanabria-Pino, B.; Raya-González, J.; Muñoz, A.; García-Calvo, T. The Influence of Seasonal Period and Match Outcome on External Load in Professional Soccer Players: Analyzing the Effect of Winning and Losing Streaks. Sensors 2025, 25, 4090. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25134090
Ponce-Bordón JC, Polo-Tejada J, Lobo-Triviño D, Sanabria-Pino B, Raya-González J, Muñoz A, García-Calvo T. The Influence of Seasonal Period and Match Outcome on External Load in Professional Soccer Players: Analyzing the Effect of Winning and Losing Streaks. Sensors. 2025; 25(13):4090. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25134090
Chicago/Turabian StylePonce-Bordón, José C., Jorge Polo-Tejada, David Lobo-Triviño, Borja Sanabria-Pino, Javier Raya-González, Alberto Muñoz, and Tomás García-Calvo. 2025. "The Influence of Seasonal Period and Match Outcome on External Load in Professional Soccer Players: Analyzing the Effect of Winning and Losing Streaks" Sensors 25, no. 13: 4090. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25134090
APA StylePonce-Bordón, J. C., Polo-Tejada, J., Lobo-Triviño, D., Sanabria-Pino, B., Raya-González, J., Muñoz, A., & García-Calvo, T. (2025). The Influence of Seasonal Period and Match Outcome on External Load in Professional Soccer Players: Analyzing the Effect of Winning and Losing Streaks. Sensors, 25(13), 4090. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25134090