EVALUATION OF AEROBIC CAPACITY IN SOCCER PLAYERS: COMPARISON OF FIELD AND LABORATORY TESTS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the maximal oxygen uptake ( ·VO2max) values in soccer players as assessed by field and laboratory tests. Fourteen amateur soccer players (mean age: 21.9 ± 2.5) performed 2 maximal field tests: the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YIRT), and the 20-m multi-stage shuttle run test (MST), as well as 1 maximal test on the treadmill with the Bruce treadmill test (BTRT) protocol. A portable telemetric ergospirometry device was used during all the tests to determine ·VO2max. In addition, an estimated ·VO2max value was calculated for players after all the tests. At the end of the study, no significant differences were found between field and laboratory tests in terms of measured ·VO2max, HRmax and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) (p>0.05), whereas significant differences were found between field and laboratory tests in terms of estimated ·VO2max (p