Training intensity distribution of young elite soccer players

Abstract The current study described the training load and intensity distribution of 30 elite Under 20 soccer players (17.9 ± 0.6 years, 180.3 ± 5.7 cm, 73.7 ± 8.8kg) from a 3-time FIFA Club World Cup champion. Session-rating of perceived exertion (s-RPE), internal training load (ITL) and monotony were recorded across 40 training sessions. Mixed-effects modeling was used for data analysis. The athletes performed 33.0 ± 6.9 out of 40 planned training sessions. Most common reasons for absence from training included sickness or minor injuries. Overall, these training sessions summed 2928.7 ± 627.6 minutes. Athletes performed significantly more training sessions at low and moderate intensity zones than at high-intensity zone (p