Abstract
1/2026
vol. 43
Original paper
The loading impact of training and match-play on non-contact muscle injuries in elite male soccer players. A seasonal analysis
- School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
- Brentford FC Football Research Centre, Brentford FC, London, UK
- Research Centre in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal
- Santarém Polytechnic University, School of Sport, Av. Dr. Mário Soares, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal
- Performance and Analytics Department, Parma Calcio 1913, 43121 Parma, Italy
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
- Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, 00-809 Warsaw, Poland
- Research and Development Center Legia Lab, Legia Warszawa, Poland
- Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
- High Performance Sport Center, Croatian Olympic Committee, Zagreb, Croatia
- Research Centre in Sports, Health and Human Development, Covilhã, Portugal
- Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
- Department of Sport, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Biol Sport. 2026; 43: 107–114
Online publish date: 2025/08/06
This study investigated the relationship between acute and chronic training load metrics and non-contact muscle injuries in elite soccer players employing a novel statistical approach. A retrospective analysis was conducted during the 2020/21 season on 30 senior outfield players from an English Premier League club. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology monitored total distance, high-speed running (HSR) distance (5.5–7 m/s), sprint distance (> 7 m/s), and peak speed during training sessions and matches. A total of 42 injuries were documented, with an incidence of 8.94 injuries per 1000 hours, although only 12 non-contact muscle injuries were included in the analysis that occurred at 2.5 per 1000 hours of exposure. Acute (7-day) and chronic (28-day) training loads were examined, and data preprocessing addressed missing values and multicollinearity. To address class imbalance, the dataset was balanced using the Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique (SMOTE) prior to logistic regression. Four significant predictors were retained: acute HSR (β = -0.175, p < 0.001), acute sprint distance (β = -0.613, p < 0.001), acute peak speed (β = 1.101, p < 0.001), and chronic total distance (β = 2.234, p < 0.001). The model demonstrated excellent discriminative ability with an AUC-ROC of 0.80. The results showed that higher acute volumes of HSR and sprint distance serve as protective factors against non-contact muscle injuries, whereas an increase in acute peak speed and chronic total distance significantly elevates injury risk. These findings underscore the importance of regular exposure to HSR to enhance injury resilience, while excessive load and peak speed may contribute to neuromuscular fatigue and overload.
Keywords
External load, Football, Non-contact muscle injuries, Sprinting, High-speed running, Soccer
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