Investigation of Internal Load During Yo-Yo Test according to the Playing Positions of Amateur Football Players

The aim of this study was to examine the internal load of amateur football players during the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 (Yo-Yo AT1) test according to the playing positions. A total of 26 men (defenders 10, midfielders 10 and attackers 6) who played in Amateur Football clubs and had no health problems, aged 20,88±4,09 years on average, with a height of 177,19± 7,11 cm and a body weight of 71,00±9,17 kg, were voluntarily participated in the study. Participants were asked to stay in a supine position for 15 minutes after measuring their height and body weight to determine their resting heart rate. Before the Yo-Yo test, 10 minutes of dynamic movements, 5 minutes of warm-up consisting of active and passive stretching, 5 minutes of cooling and 5 minutes of passive stretching were performed after the test. The heart rate of the players was recorded with a precision of 1 millisecond with the Polar RS 800CX brand telemetric device throughout the entire protocol. Analysis of heart rate were done with POLAR Pro Trainer 5 computer software. In these analyzes, the data regarding the periods spent in different percentages of HRmax and the ratio of these times to the total test time were determined. SPSS 15 was used in statistical analysis of these parameters. As the data were not dispersed normally, comparisons to playing positions were made using Kruskall Wallis H test. No statistically significant difference was detected by playing positions in terms of distance, VO2maks, average heart rate and perceived difficulty rating related to Yo-Yo test (p>0,05). Likewise, the playing positions were similar in terms of the Yo-Yo test period, the periods spent in different percentages of HRmax and the ratio of these times to the total test time (p>0,05). As a result, although a statistically significant result was not obtained in the examined parameters, it can be said that there were some differences according to the playing positions in the periods spent in different percentages of HRmax and the ratio of these times to the total Yo-Yo AT1 test time. As a result, it can be said that performance evaluation and training planning should be done considering these differences.