IMPACT OF EXERCISE INDUCED MUSCLE DAMAGE ON SPRINT AND AGILITY PERFORMANCE

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of exercise induced muscle damage on sprint and agility performance.Methods: Eleven healthy male soccer players [( ±SD) age: 21.63 ± 1.91 years; stature: 176.63 ± 5.31cm; body mass: 70.36 ± 3.72kg] who did not perform any high intensity physical training during last 3 months volunteered to participate in this study. Agility and sprint running times were measured, following determination of athletes muscle soreness level using visual analog scale (VAS), before (baseline) and at 1st, 24th, 48th, 72nd and 96th hours after muscle damaging exercise protocol. Five sets of 20 repetitions drop jumps were performed as a muscle damage exercise protocol. Repeated measure ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.Results: Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant changes in muscle soreness [F(5-50)= 196.65, p≤0.01], agility [F(5-50)= 32.034, p≤0.01] and sprint running times [F(5-50)= 9.28, p≤0.01] relevant with time intervals. Muscle soreness and agility test times were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than baseline values at all time intervals (1st, 24th, 48th, 72nd and 96th hours). Sprint running time was significantly (p≤0.05) increased at 1st, 24th, and 48th hours compared to baseline values.Conclusion: Consequently, results of the study revealed that exercise induced muscle damage affect agility and sprint performance negatively. The respondents should be careful in including unfamiliar exercises and exercises including intense eccentric contractions during the process of training planning for sports branches, where agility and sprint are important features.