Examination of the external and internal load indicators' association with overuse injuries in professional soccer players

OBJECTIVES: Research in professional soccer focusing on the relevance of external and internal load indicators for injury prevention is scarce. This study examined the relationship between load indicators and overuse injuries. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Data were collected from 35 professional male soccer players over two seasons. Following load indicators were examined: total distance covered (TD), distance covered at high speed (THSR; >20kmh-1), number of accelerations (ACCeff; >1ms-2), number of decelerations (DECeff; 1.18) resulted in a higher injury risk. In contrast, a lower injury risk was found when comparing medium ratios for ACCeff (0.87-1.12), DECeff (0.86-1.12), and RPE x duration (0.85-1.12) to low ratios. CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate that mainly external load indicators are associated with increased or decreased injury risk. The monitoring of various load indicators is recommended for injury prevention in professional soccer.status: publishe