Incidence of athletic injuries and overtraining in soccer

Abstract

Introduction: Overtraining has been associated with sports injuries and reduced athletic performance among soccer players. Objective: To analyze the clinical symptoms of overtraining as well as the incidence of athletic injuries in soccer players. Methods: The subjects of the study were 23 male soccer players from a professional team of a sports club in Campo Grande (MS), Brazil. Participants were divided into two groups that were exposed to training and paying times of different duration: G1, with 2.2±1.9 hours of weekly exposure time, and G2, with 10.3±2.2 hours. The study was conducted during the state championship. A morbidity survey and a Medical Symptoms Questionnaire of Overtraining were used to register the injuries. Results: While G1 presented 0.15±0.02 athletic injuries per 1000 h of exposure, G2 showed 0.17±0.01 for the same exposure time (p<0.05). G2 exhibited important signs of overtraining, principally from a psychological and recuperative perspective. Conclusion: Exposure to training and football matches is associated with overtraining and athletic injuries.