Prevalence of non-functional overreaching in elite male and female youth academy football players
Date
2017-06-20Author
Williams, CA
Winsley, RJ
Pinho, G
de Ste Croix, M
Lloyd, RS
Oliver, JL
Date issued
2017-06-20
Journal
Science and Medicine in Football
Type
Article
Language
en
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Rights
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Embargo
2018-12-20
Reason for embargo
Publisher policy
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of non-functional overreaching (NFOR) and overtraining (OT) in elite male and female youth football players.
Methods: Two-hundred and forty-two youth football players (n = 138 boys and n = 104 girls) aged between 12 and 17 years completed a questionnaire to identify the occurrence of NFOR/OT and associated symptoms.
Results: No players experienced OT. Significant sex differences for NFOR were found between girls 9% compared to boys 27% (P < 0.05). For players that experienced NFOR, 33% of girls and 60% of boys experienced multiple bouts. Compared to girls, boys completed higher volumes of football training (16.3 ± 4.5 versus 12.7 ± 5.7 h per week, P < 0.05), but training load was not a significant predictor of NFOR for either sex. In both sexes, NFOR was associated with tiredness, a lack of appetite, sore or heavy muscles, feeling in a bad mood, and feeling apathetic.
Conclusion: Male and female elite youth football players engaged in high training volumes and experienced similar NFOR symptoms. However, there is a much higher prevalence of NFOR in boys and in those who have suffered previous bouts of NFOR.
Description
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.
Citation
Published online 20 June 2017
ISSN
2473-3938