The effect of intensive endurance exercise and probiotic yogurt consumption, on aerobic, anaerobic, white blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils in young Football players

The Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intensive endurance exercise and probiotic supplementation on aerobic, anaerobic power, white blood cell (WBC), lymphocytes (LYM), monocytes (MON) and neutrophils (NUT) in young Football players. This study was semi-experimental, 36 young Football players with height 172± 0.77 cm, weight 66.76±5.87 kg and BMI 21.27±2.09 kg/m2, randomly assigned into control (n=18) and experimental (n=18) groups. Medical examinations and physical fitness tests were performed before and after training done. They performed a training program for 8 weeks, three times a week, every session 90 to 120 min. Experiment group consumed 400 ml probiotic yoghurt one hour before every session of training. Both groups trained aerobic exercise with 60-75% and anaerobic with 80-100% (MHR). To determine the variables blood samples were taken four times. Initially, before the training program, there were not significantly different amounts of variables. After 8 weeks in the experiment group, the levels of lymphocytes and neutrophils significantly increased. Any report about URTI infection was not observed. Eight weeks training improved the aerobic and anaerobic power, meanwhile reduce the incidence of URTI after ingestion of probiotic yoghurt. As a conclusion, it is recommended to the athletes to consume probiotic supplement before intensive endurance exercises.