IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i5p2739-d759615.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biological, Psychological, and Physical Performance Variations in Football Players during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Prospective Cohort Study

Author

Listed:
  • Giulia My

    (Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technologies (Di.S.Te.B.A.), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Santo Marsigliante

    (Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technologies (Di.S.Te.B.A.), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

  • Antonino Bianco

    (Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90144 Palermo, Italy)

  • Daniele Zangla

    (Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90144 Palermo, Italy)

  • Carlos Marques da Silva

    (Life Quality Research Center (CIEQV), Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, 2000-044 Santarem, Portugal)

  • Antonella Muscella

    (Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technologies (Di.S.Te.B.A.), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy)

Abstract

This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate whether COVID-19 lockdown caused biological, psychological, and/or physical performance variations in footballers. We compared the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons evaluating the plasma volume, hematological parameters, iron/ferritin, creatine kinase, vitamin D, cortisol, testosterone, and physiological state of players of the Italian football major league (Serie A). Measurements were performed before the preparatory period (T0), at the beginning (T1) and in the middle (T2) of the championship, and in March (T3) and at the end of season (T4). The results showed that in the 2019/2020 season affected by the lockdown, the weight, BMI, and fat mass percentage were higher than in the previous season. Hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cells, and ferritin decreased during both seasons, more significantly than in the regular season. During both seasons, creatine kinase increased from T2 whilst iron concentrations decreased in T3. Testosterone increased in both seasons from T0 to T3 and returned to initial levels at T4; cortisol increased in T2 and T3 during the 2018/2019 season but not during the COVID-19 season. Physical performance tests revealed differences associated with lockdown. Thus, although from a medical point of view, none of the evaluated changes between the two seasons were clinically relevant, training at home during lockdown did not allow the players to maintain the jumping power levels typical of a competitive period.

Suggested Citation

  • Giulia My & Santo Marsigliante & Antonino Bianco & Daniele Zangla & Carlos Marques da Silva & Antonella Muscella, 2022. "Biological, Psychological, and Physical Performance Variations in Football Players during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Prospective Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2739-:d:759615
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2739/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2739/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Książek & Aleksandra Zagrodna & Anna Bohdanowicz-Pawlak & Felicja Lwow & Małgorzata Słowińska-Lisowska, 2021. "Relationships between Vitamin D and Selected Cytokines and Hemogram Parameters in Professional Football Players—Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-10, July.
    2. Lin Zhang & Minghui Quan & Zhen-Bo Cao, 2019. "Effect of vitamin D supplementation on upper and lower limb muscle strength and muscle power in athletes: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Sabrina Demarie & Emanuele Chirico & Christel Galvani, 2022. "Prediction and Analysis of Tokyo Olympic Games Swimming Results: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Swimmers’ Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Myong-Won Seo & Jong Kook Song & Hyun Chul Jung & Sung-Woo Kim & Jung-Hyun Kim & Jung-Min Lee, 2019. "The Associations of Vitamin D Status with Athletic Performance and Blood-borne Markers in Adolescent Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Álvaro García-Romero-Pérez & Francisco Javier Ordonez & Fernando Reyes-Gil & Elena Sonsoles Rodríguez-López & Ángel Oliva-Pascual-Vaca, 2021. "Muscle Damage Biomarkers in Congestion Weeks in English Premier League Soccer Players: A Prospective Study for Two Consecutive Seasons," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Davide Ferrari & Giovanni Lombardi & Marta Strollo & Marina Pontillo & Andrea Motta & Massimo Locatelli, 2020. "A Possible Antioxidant Role for Vitamin D in Soccer Players: A Retrospective Analysis of Psychophysical Stress Markers in a Professional Team," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-11, May.
    2. Giulia My & Santo Marsigliante & Okba Selmi & Antonella Muscella, 2023. "Analysis of the COVID-19 Lockdown Impact on Biological Parameters and Physical Performance in Football Players," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Pantelis T. Nikolaidis & Beat Knechtle, 2021. "Is It Time for Sports and Health in the Era of Covid-19 Pandemic?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-3, January.
    4. Rim Sioud & Raouf Hammami & Javier Gene-Morales & Alvaro Juesas & Juan C. Colado & Roland van den Tillaar, 2022. "Effects of Game Weekly Frequency on Subjective Training Load, Wellness, and Injury Rate in Male Elite Soccer Players," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Myong-Won Seo & Jong Kook Song & Hyun Chul Jung & Sung-Woo Kim & Jung-Hyun Kim & Jung-Min Lee, 2019. "The Associations of Vitamin D Status with Athletic Performance and Blood-borne Markers in Adolescent Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    6. Alfredo Córdova-Martínez & Alberto Caballero-García & Enrique Roche & Daniel Pérez-Valdecantos & David C. Noriega, 2022. "Effects and Causes of Detraining in Athletes Due to COVID-19: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-12, April.
    7. Zhiyuan Jiang & Yuerong Hao & Naijing Jin & Yue Li, 2022. "A Systematic Review of the Relationship between Workload and Injury Risk of Professional Male Soccer Players," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2739-:d:759615. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.