Hammami, R, Granacher, U, Makhlouf, I, Behm, DG, and Chaouachi, A. Sequencing effects of balance and plyometric training on physical performance in youth soccer athletes. J Strength Cond Res 30(12): 3278–3289, 2016—Balance training may have a preconditioning effect on subsequent power training with youth. There are no studies examining whether the sequencing of balance and plyometric training has additional training benefits. The objective was to examine the effect of sequencing balance and plyometric training on the performance of 12- to 13-year-old athletes. Twenty-four young elite soccer players trained twice per week for 8 weeks either with an initial 4 weeks of balance training followed by 4 weeks of plyometric training (BPT) or 4 weeks of plyometric training proceeded by 4 weeks of balance training (PBT). Testing was conducted pre- and posttraining and included medicine ball throw; horizontal and vertical jumps; reactive strength; leg stiffness; agility; 10-, 20-, and 30-m sprints; Standing Stork balance test; and Y-Balance test. Results indicated that BPT provided significantly greater improvements with reactive strength index, absolute and relative leg stiffness, triple hop test, and a trend for the Y-Balance test (p = 0.054) compared with PBT. Although all other measures had similar changes for both groups, the average relative improvement for the BPT was 22.4% (d = 1.5) vs. 15.0% (d = 1.1) for the PBT. BPT effect sizes were greater with 8 of 13 measures. In conclusion, although either sequence of BPT or PBT improved jumping, hopping, sprint acceleration, and Standing Stork and Y-Balance, BPT initiated greater training improvements in reactive strength index, absolute and relative leg stiffness, triple hop test, and the Y-Balance test. BPT may provide either similar or superior performance enhancements compared with PBT.

Balance, strength and power relationships may contain important information at various maturational stages to determine training priorities. Purpose: The objective was to examine maturity-specific relationships of static/dynamic balance with strength and power measures in young male athletes.Methods: Soccer players (N = 130) aged 10–16 were assessed with the Stork and Y balance (YBT) tests. Strength/power measures included back extensor muscle strength, standing long jump (SLJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), and 3-hop jump tests. Associations between balance with strength/power variables were calculated according to peak-height-velocity (PHV).Results: There were significant medium-large sized correlations between all balance measures with back extensor strength (r = .486–.791) and large associations with power (r = .511–.827). These correlation coefficients were significantly different between pre-PHV and circa PHV as well as pre-PHV and post-PHV with larger associations in the more mature groups. Irrespective of maturity-status, SLJ was the best strength/power predictor with the highest proportion of variance (12–47%) for balance (i.e., Stork eyes opened) and the YBT was the best balance predictor with the highest proportion of variance (43–78%) for all strength/power variables.Conclusion: The associations between balance and muscle strength/power measures in youth athletes that increase with maturity may imply transfer effects from balance to strength/power training and vice versa in youth athletes.

Introduction: Studies that combined balance and resistance training induced larger performance improvements compared with single mode training. Agility exercises contain more dynamic and sport-specific movements compared with balance training. Thus, the purpose of this study was to contrast the effects of combined balance and plyometric training with combined agility and plyometric training and an active control on physical fitness in youth. Methods: Fifty-seven male soccer players aged 10–12 years participated in an 8-week training program (2 × week). They were randomly assigned to a balance-plyometric (BPT: n = 21), agility-plyometric (APT: n = 20) or control group (n = 16). Measures included proxies of muscle power [countermovement jump (CMJ), triple-hop-test (THT)], muscle strength [reactive strength index (RSI), maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of handgrip, back extensors, knee extensors], agility [4-m × 9-m shuttle run, Illinois change of direction test (ICODT) with and without the ball], balance (Standing Stork, Y-Balance), and speed (10–30 m sprints). Results: Significant time × group interactions were found for CMJ, hand grip MVIC force, ICODT without a ball, agility (4 m × 9 m), standing stork balance, Y-balance, 10 and 30-m sprint. The APT pre- to post-test measures displayed large ES improvements for hand grip MVIC force, ICODT without a ball, agility test, CMJ, standing stork balance test, Y-balance test but only moderate ES improvements with the 10 and 30 m sprints. The BPT group showed small (30 m sprint), moderate (hand grip MVIC, ICODTwithout a ball) and large ES [agility (4 m × 9 m) test, CMJ, standing stork balance test, Y-balance] improvements, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, both training groups provided significant improvements in all measures. It is recommended that youth incorporate balance exercises into their training and progress to agility with their strength and power training.

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious viral disease that has spread globally, resulting in the ongoing pandemic. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific treatment for COVID-19. Preventive measures to reduce the chances of contagion consist mainly of confinement, avoiding crowded places, social distancing, masks, and applying strict personal hygiene as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). After the first wave of infection in many countries, the potential effects of relaxing containment and physical distancing control measures suggest that as a result of these measures, a second wave of COVID-19 appears probable in these countries. In sport, the period of self-isolation, and quarantine, for COVID-19 affects the physical preparation of athletes as well as their mental health and quality of life to an even greater extent (i.e., nutrition, sleep, healthy lifestyle), and thus, relevant and practical recommendations are needed to help alleviate these physical and mental health concerns. Our review aims to summarize the physiological and psychological effects of detraining associated with athletes’ confinement during the proposed second wave of COVID-19. This article also proposes answers to questions that concern the advantages and disadvantages of different types of social media platforms, the importance of nutrition, and the effects of sleep disturbance on the health and modified lifestyle of athletes during this worldwide pandemic. Thus, this review provides some general guidelines to better manage their modified lifestyle and optimally maintain their physical and mental fitness with respect to measures taken during this restrictive proposed second wave of the COVID-19 confinement period.

Or after endurance) on relevant fitness variables in youth soccer players. Fifty-seven young elite-level male field soccer players (13.7 ± 0.5 years; 164 ± 8.3 cm; 53.5 ± 8.6 kg; body fat; 15.6 ± 3.9%) were randomly assigned to a control (n = 14, CG) and 3 experimental training groups (twice a week for 12 weeks) strength before (SE, n = 15), after (ES, n = 14) or on alternate days (ASE, n = 14) with endurance training. A significant (p = 0.001) intervention main effect was detected. There were only trivial training sequence differences (ES vs. SE) for all variables (p > 0.05). The CG showed large squat 1 repetition maximum (1RM) and medium sprint, change of direction ability, and jump improvements. ASE demonstrated a trivial difference in endurance performance with ES and SE (p > 0.05). Large to medium greater improvements for SE and ES were reported compared with ASE for sprinting over 10 and 30 m (p < 0.02). The SE squat 1RM was higher than in ASE (moderate, p < 0.02). Postintervention differences between ES and SE with CG fitness variables were small to medium (p ≤ 0.05) except for a large SE advantage with the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (p < 0.001, large). This study showed no effect of intrasession training sequence on soccer fitness-relevant variables. However, combining strength and endurance within a single training session provided superior results vs. training on alternate days. Concurrent training may be considered as an effective and safe training method for the development of the prospective soccer player....

The purpose of this study was to assess test-retest reliability, discriminative and criterion-related validity of the modified Illinois change-of-direction (CoD) test with ball dribbling-speed (ICODT-BALL) in young soccer players of different biological maturity and playing levels. Sixty-five...