ABSTRACT
Soccer matches last for a minimum of 90 min during which players cover between 8 and 12 km, of which sprinting accounts for 11% of the total activity (Reilly 1996). Many of the critical phases of play are performed at high intensity and so it is very important that players are able to attain consistently high levels of exercise intensity at intervals throughout the match. The ability to maintain sprinting speed during repeated efforts seems to be strongly correlated with intramuscular glycogen stores. Players with low initial glycogen concentrations in the leg muscles cover less distance and sprint less often compared to players with higher initial glycogen stores (Saltin, 1973). Muscle glycogen levels are characteristically depleted by at least 50% during a soccer match (Shephard and Leatt, 1987) and so the initial levels of muscle glycogen must influence a player’s performance towards the end of the match (Saltin, 1973). Consequently, although a diet which replenishes and maintains adequate muscle glycogen levels is crucial to professional footballers, their diets are reported to be sub-optimal both in terms of total energy intake and energy balance, with too little energy consumed as carbohydrate and too much as fat (Bangsbo, 1994). The present study examined both total energy intake (MJ) and the percentage contribution from carbohydrates, fat and protein, in a group of senior professional players from an English First Division club.
