Football Fitness Testing

Why perform specific football fitness tests?

Performing specific football fitness tests is a very useful tool for a number of reasons. It is helpful for finding a baseline level of fitness as well as monitoring players’ progress and establishing areas that the player needs to improve upon. It can also be used as an incentive to players to make them train harder in order to see improvements when re-tested. So it can be viewed as a form of goal setting for the individual, a process which is shown to be an effective training tool. Assessment may also be useful to the coach to evaluate the effectiveness of the training programmes set

What can be tested?

The main components of fitness are:

• Aerobic capacity (VO 2max)
• Anaerobic capacity
• Power
• Strength
• Flexibility
• Body composition

It is possible to test all of these but the coach must decide which ones are the most important and relevant. It is believed that for football, the most appropriate of the components to test may be aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity and power. Below is a chart showing the amount of time football players spend doing different activities during a match. This gives an idea as to what areas are most important in football.

Aerobic Capacity

Aerobic capacity is the term for an individuals’ cardiovascular fitness. It is one of the body’s three energy systems and is responsible for long duration, low intensity exercise, such as jogging around the football pitch during a match. This is very important in football as the higher level of fitness the player has, the better equipped they will be to continue running in the latter stages of the match, and delay the onset of fatigue. The gold standard for measuring aerobic fitness is VO 2max tests.

VO 2max relates to the volume of oxygen that the body can uptake and is measured in the amount of oxygen in millilitres (ml) that the body can use per kilogram (kg) of body mass per minute (min). An individual with a high VO 2max score means that a high level of oxygen can be utilised by the body to send to the working muscles. A low VO 2max score may mean an insufficient amount of oxygen can be utilised by the body and therefore the individual would become fatigued at a quicker rate. VO 2max is. Professional footballers have a VO 2max somewhere in the region of 60-65ml/kg/min. A summary of scores for the general public are shown below:

There are numerous VO 2max tests that can be used for different populations. All the different types however effect how valid and reliable they are. The different types are explained below:

Maximal / Submaximal

Maximal tests require the athletes to exercise until exhaustion and they physically cannot continue. Submaximal tests allow the performer to exercise at a lower level and predict what will happen when you exercise harder. Submaximal tests are calculated from equations to do with the heart rate. They are not as accurate as they only predict and do not measure exactly. However, they are a lot safer, especially in older people.

Direct / Indirect

Direct tests require the exerciser to wear a mask that calculates all the inspired and expired air precisely. These tests are very accurate but the equipment is specialist and expensive. Indirect tests predict what would happen (similar to the submaximal tests). These tests are not as accurate but much easier, quicker and cheaper.

Specificity

Specificity refers to what the test is performed on. For example there are lots of cycle tests for VO 2max but this is not very specific to a footballer. Therefore, running tests may be more specific and give more reliable results.

Anaerobic Capacity

An individuals’ anaerobic capacity involves the two other energy systems in the body. They are used in high intensity, low duration exercise and an example of when it may be used is whilst sprinting. Due to the high intensity, it causes lactic acid to build up quickly in blood, which prevents exercise continuing.

The first energy system utilises the body’s supplies of adenosine triphophate (ATP), which are responsible for providing all the body’s energy. This system only lasts for approximately 6 seconds of maximal exercise before all the ATP is exhausted. The second anaerobic source is called the creatine phosphate (CP) system. This replenishes the ATP molecules to then re-use for energy. This system lasts for up to 2 minutes of exercise before the aerobic energy system takes full charge and performance intensity decreases.

Throughout a match the aerobic system will be the predominant system working with anaerobic systems being used for short sprints. The best way of testing anaerobic capacity is by taking blood whist exercising so that blood lactate can be measured. However, this is rather unhygienic and the equipment can be expensive to purchase. Tests that can be performed more easily for anaerobic capacity are tests for speed and power. Speed is the ability to move quickly and power is the ability to produce speed in the shortest time possible.

Other Areas to Test

The other factors of football fitness are strength, flexibility and body composition. Strength tests can be performed on players in several ways to establish maximal strength or maximal endurance. Maximal strength tests aim to establish what weight the individual can lift once. This is known as a one rep max test (1RM). Alternatively, endurance tests aim to find what they can lift ten times for example (10RM).

Flexibility is defined by the amount of range of motion available around a joint. This can be measured in several ways like using a sit and reach test or by measuring exact angular movement from the limb with a goniometer (like a protractor).

Body Composition is to do with the amount of body fat somebody has. There are several ways of establishing this which is discussed in more depth (LINK). There are optimal weights for individuals of certain heights to be and this is something that can be easily monitored on a frequent basis.

How Often Should I Test?

Football fitness testing can be performed whenever the coach wishes. Some of the VO 2max tests are very tiring and therefore can be used as part of training as it adds an element of competition. However, improvements can not be expected all the time. Every 6-8weeks would give enough time for improvements to occur and then show on the tests.