Effects of Intense Interval Exercise Activity on Muscle Injury Symptoms in Soccer Players

Introduction: Football match is an interval sport, with intense explosive attempts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a bout of high intensity interval exercise on muscle injury markers in male soccer players. Methods: Nineteen male soccer players with mean age: years; BMI: 21.80±2.44 kg.m^-2 and VO2max 62.16±4.89 ml.kg^-1.min^-1 were selected purposefully and divided randomly into experimental and control groups. Copenhagen football test was taken from experimental group and control group had no activity at that time. 24 hours before and after the test, blood samples were drawn from all subjects to assay creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. Data were analyzed using independent sample and paired sample t-tests (p≤0.05). Results: The results showed that serum CK (p=0.001) and LDH (p=0.021) levels increased significantly after the Copenhagen football protocol. Conclusion: intense interval sports activities, such as what happens in a football match, result in muscle damage in the players. Therefore, such exercises can be used for football players adaptation for the tournament and reduce the recovery time after that. Observing the increased markers of muscular damage due to Copenhagen soccer protocol, indicates that intensive interval exercise like whatever occurs in a soccer match, may lead to muscular damages in players.