Typical weekly workload of under 15, under 17, and under 19 elite Portuguese football players

This study aims to describe the time-motion and physiological performance profiles of footballers whose ages are under 15 (U15), under 17 (U17), and under 19 (U19) during a typical week of a competitive season. A total of 151 elite Portuguese players U15 (age 14.0 +/- 0.2;n=56), U17 (age 15.8 +/- 0.4;n=66), and U19 (age 17.8 +/- 0.6;n=19) were monitored during 33 training sessions (TSs) (U15n=12; U17n=11; and U19n=10 TSs). The TS data were captured at 15Hz by global positioning systems devices and divided into post-match (session after the match), prematch (session before the match), and middle week (average of remaining sessions). The U15 middle week showed a higher number of sprints, distance covered in intermediate speed zones, and time spent above 90% HRmax, while the prematch presented a higher distance covered above 18km center dot h(-1) and time spent below 75% HRmax. In U17, both prematch and post-match data presented lower values than middle-week data in most of the variables. The post-match data in U19 presented higher values of distance covered above 13km center dot h(-1), body impacts above 10G, and time spent above 85% HRmax, while middle week showed higher values in body impacts in most of the zones. In addition, the prematch data presented 35% to 100% less values than the middle-week data. Understanding the weekly workload variations according to the competition and the developmental ages of the players can contribute to optimising short- and mid-term planning.