ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the influence of a pre-season conditioning programme upon the fitness profiles of professional soccer players. The physical preparation of the professional soccer player in England has principally been based upon an intense 5-7 week period of pre-season training. A battery of fitness assessments was administered to all players one day prior to and one day before the end of pre-season training. Anthropometric measures included height, body mass and percent body fat estimated from skinfold thickness. Analysis of anthropometric measures revealed no significant differences in body mass. Sum of skinfolds and associated estimation of percent body fat were observed to be reduced significantly at the end of the conditioning programme. Statistical differences between pre- and post-conditioning fitness profiles were analysed using ANOVA repeated measures design. The chapter discusses the effectiveness of a conventional pre-season conditioning programme in favourably altering maximal aerobic power, skinfold thickness and agility run performance of English professional soccer players.
