The effects of plyometric training with additional weight applied to football athletes-students on some physical and physiological features and chronic muscle damage

Various training programs are applied in order to improve many physical and physiological characteristics of athletes during training. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of plyometric training with additional weight on physical performance and muscle damage findings in football player-students. Physical performance tests and blood samples of the athlete-students (male 23.41 +/- 3.2 years old) were collected both from sample and the control groups at the first week of the study (third week of the preparatory camp) and at the last training of the twelfth week. During the study, plyometric training programs were applied to the additional weight group(AWG) (%1 of the body weight) and no additional weight group (AG). Standard football training programs were applied to control group. By the end of first and twelfth week, players' BMI and body fat percentage tests were applied together with the physical tests of shuttle, yoyo, vertical jump, horizontal jump, agility and sprint performance tests. Blood samples were also taken to check muscle damage control markers (CK and LDH, p>0.05). According to the results of tests performed at the end of first and twelfth weeks' plyometric trainings on group with additional weight group (AWG), shuttle, yoyo and horizontal jumping were found to be significantly increased, while sprint performance, BMI and body fat performance tests were significantly decreased. The test results of the group without additional weight (AG) was; significant increase in shuttle, yoyo and vertical jump while significant decrease in sprint performance and fat %. By the end of twelve week plyometric trainings, no muscle damage has been observed in (AWG), CK pre-training (229,00 +/- 155,25) and post training values (242,33 +/- 193,67) (P=0,861), and LDH pre-training (169,75 +/- 40,85) and post-training (174,33 +/- 39,12) values. As a result of the study, the physical performances of football players-athletes-students increased with 8-week plyometric training with additional weights (shuttle, yo-yo, face tests, ball dribbling left and right foot tests). No muscle damage (CK and LDH) was found in laboratory results. As per the evaluated results; while plyometric training with added weights increased physical performance, it did not cause muscle damage.