ABSTRACT
The standard method of determining the physical and cardiorespiratory performance capacities of subjects is bicycle ergometry. Similar to the bicycle ergometer test described by Nowacki (1975) and Nowacki and Schäfer (1984) in which subjects are stressed with work loads proportional to body weight, is a method set up to correlate work load and body weight on the treadmill by changing its speed and slope Nowacki (1983). Furthermore Nowacki and Cai (1986) presented a work load test on the treadmill especially designed to consider the mode of stress of soccer players during training and match-play. Despite the large number of soccer players all over the world, one still has to agree with Bachl and Prokop (1977) that research dealing with performance capacity of professional soccer players is lacking. For the purpose of a detailed investigation several football teams of both amateur and professional leagues have been tested on a bicycle ergometer. The teams included players of the German 1974 World Championship team, the national team players nominated for the 1982 World Championship, and the most successful 1981 German Youth team (European and World Champions). Subsequently, in addition to the bicycle ergometer tests, two selected teams were further subjected to the special treadmill test and the field test.
