Muscle power and maximum oxygen consumption in athletes with different field football tactical positions: a systematic review

Abstract

Football is a collective sport that, for each position in which the player acts, there is a different function and action in relation to his movement on the field of play. In this sense, it is possible that such disparities imply specific physical adaptations for each position. Thus, through a systematic review, this study aimed to analyze the scientific literature and identify possible differences in performance parameters (muscle power and Maximum Oxygen Consumption-VO₂ max) of male football players, according to the position tactics performed. The database consulted was SPORTDiscus, with a recruitment of publications made in the last 10 years in Portuguese and English. The terms used for the search were: “football” or “football”, “tactical position” and “training” (in portuguese: futebol, posição tática e treinamento, respectivamente). These were combined with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR”. All articles were filtered and analyzed using the CADIMA platform which, after going through the inclusion criteria, 11 studies were included. The findings obtained were divided into two parameters: muscle power and VO₂ max. For the muscle power parameter, the analyzed studies used vertical jump tests, speed tests (between 5 and 30m) and the Running Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) as evaluative methods. For this variable, there was a tendency for the highest values ​​presented in the tests to be for attackers, but these results were not unanimous in all examined studies. As for VO₂ max, a difference was seen in the results between goalkeepers and outfield players, with goalkeepers having the lowest values ​​observed. With the results presented, it is concluded that outfield players have VO₂ max higher than goalkeepers, however, for the muscle power variable, more studies on the subject are necessary for better clarification on the positional differences in field football