Study: Unlocking Male Youth Soccer Players’ Peak Performance Potential: Exploring the Impact of Maturation, Age, and Physical Demands on Neuromuscular Injury Risk and Recovery Following Competitive Matchplay . Image Credit: matimix / Shutterstock Two-day rest periods aren't enough for young athletes, with muscle damage persisting for up to a week, risking performance drops and higher injury rates. In a recent study published in the journal Youth , researchers in Spain and the United Kingdom conducted a comprehensive physiological assessment of the relationships between fatigue markers post-soccer matches and the optimal recovery periods.
Their study cohort comprised 26 elite male academy players (U-14 = 14, U-16 = 12) evaluated across eight metrics of post-match fatigue, including perceived well-being. Assessments were conducted pre-match (baseline) and at 0-, 48-, 72-, 96-, and 120 h post-match. Study findings reveal that landing mechanics were the only fatigue metric that remained unaffected following a competitive European league match.
Player performance in all other metrics was observed to substantially decline significantly, ranging from 3.8% to 71.3% of baseline values.
Notably, while most metrics returned to baseline values following 48 hours of rest, muscle damage markers, namely creatine kinase (CK) and urea (UR), remained elevated until 168 hours, highlighting that extended rest periods are required for muscle recovery. These findings underscore the necessity of .