Acute skin temperature responses to the 30-15 intermittent fitness test in professional male soccer players
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v73.109970Keywords:
infrared thermography, thermal imaging, muscular imbalance, injury prevention, fatigue monitoring, footballAbstract
Introduction: Thermal imaging technology provides detailed insights into the skin temperature patterns and asymmetries of athletes, offering valuable data to enhance performance, assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation, monitor fatigue, and prevent injuries.
Methods: The aim of this study was to assess acute skin temperature responses before and after the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test in professional male soccer players. Twenty-one professional soccer players performed a 30-15 IFT, and the running time, peak velocity, and true velocity were calculated. Thermal images of the players were acquired using an infrared thermal camera before and immediately after the 30-15 IFT, and skin temperature measurements were analyzed from the anterior thigh, anterior leg, posterior thigh, and posterior leg.
Results: The skin temperature asymmetries differed significantly between all regions of interest, with the greatest difference in the anterior and posterior thighs. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the 30-15 IFT parameters were not correlated with the posttest skin temperature asymmetry for any of the region of interests. However, there were significant negative correlations between pretest skin temperature asymmetry in the posterior leg region and all 30-15 IFT parameters for running time (r=0.30; p<.05), peak velocity (r=0.3; p<.05), and true velocity (r=0.25; p<.05). Finally, athletes with lower baseline skin temperature asymmetries in the posterior leg region have better 30-15 IFT performance.
Conclusion: Thermal imaging can be used to assess muscular asymmetries following specific endurance tests or conditioning training, and this information can provide valuable information for optimizing performance and injury prevention.
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