Positional differences in peak- and accumulated-training load relative to match load in highly-trained female football players

Introduction The evaluation of the physical load of the training process is paramount not only as an attempt to decrease injury rates or to verify the effectiveness of interventions but mostly to find the best way to stimulate the players and optimise their physical capacity. Literature has focused mainly on professional meńs football and future research on female football is mandatory. Thus, this study aimed to compare a) the peak periods in training sessions and matches and b) the accumulated-training load of microcycles and official matches by playing position in female football players. Methods A total of 80 female football players competing in the Norwegian top-division were involved in this study in which match load (ML) and training load (TL) from a total of 103 official matches and 120 training sessions were collected. Physical parameters analysed included total distance (TD), acceleration distance (Acc dist ), high-speed running distance (HSRD), sprint distance (SpD), 5-min peak TD (TD peak ), 30-sec peak of HSRD (HSRD peak ), 30-sec peak of SpD (SpD peak ), and maximum speed. Results While TD covered during the microcycle was higher than in the match for every playing position, no significant differences were observed for HSRD and SpD. While TD peak in match was higher for FB, CM, WM and FW ( p < 0.001), differences in HSRD peak were only observed for FB ( p < 0.001) and WM ( p = 0.002). Discussion The present study corroborates the evidence reported in men's football, where the lower training/match ratios of HSRD and SpD when compared with TD and accdist reveal that the common build-up of training weeks might not give the contextual opportunities for the appearance and/or accumulation of high-speed actions.