We all know that speed is the time it takes a person to get from one spot to another, and
agility is controlling the body while moving from one direction to another. The main reason I
chose this article to review was to get a better understanding of the correlations between the 1-
repetition maximum/body mass (SREL) in the front and back squats and change-of-direction
sprints (Keiner et al., 2014).
There are several spots in today’s world, and each sport has a different physical demand.
Speed and strength are two of the most common physical demands you will find in most sports.
Speed and strength will vary between sports. For example, in half of all sports, the athlete will
sprint less than 10 meters. Here, athletes that participate in soccer will sprint up to 30 meters at a
time. The time it takes the athlete to run from point a to point b is determined by the athlete’s
speed, strength, and endurance. Various studies have shown a medium-to-high correlation
between these measurements (Keiner et al., 2014). During the acceleration phase of the sprint,
studies have shown a connection between strength, sprint performance, and strength
measurement (Keiner et al., 2014). In many sports, the athlete will not only sprint in one
direction; they will also have to sprint in a different direction. The agility test is used to measure
this movement. There are agility tests that can be used, but many of them do not coincide with
the athlete’s sport. We must keep in mind that studies have shown no correlations to strong
correlations between strength and speed-strength parameters for the change of direction due to
different test designs and different strength and strength-speed parameters. (Keiner et al., 2014).
There are many exercises an athlete can perform to improve their change of direction ability, but
he should keep in mind that regular soccer training programs may be supplemented with
complex training to improve sprint, jump, and change of direction performance (Thapa et al.,
2021). This study is important because it helps us understand the correlation between strength
training and change of direction sprint preference.
This study was conducted by gathering 112 youth soccer players, divided into two
separate groups: the strength training group and the control group. During the first four weeks,
the strength training group participated in a periodization phase that contained two strength
training sessions per week along with three to four soccer workouts. The strength training
programs consist of parallel back and front squats, bench press, neck press, deadlifts, standing
row, and trunk muscle exercises. The next eight weeks, the strength training group conducted a
hypertrophy training program. During week eight, the strength group executed 5 sets of 10
repetitions with a 3-minute rest between each set, followed by 5 sets of 6 repetitions with a 3-
minute rest between each set, and ended the workout with 5 sets of 4 repetitions and a 5-minute
rest between each set. At the end of the training, the 112 youth soccer players conducted the
change-of-direction sprint test using three double-light barriers separated in a 60-degree triangle
spaced 5 m apart. The athletes were tested by sprinting 2.5 m, changing direction, sprinting 5 m,
changing direction, and sprinting 2.5 m. The athlete would run a total of 10 meters per test. The
training methods that were used could improve the athlete's change-of-direction sprint. Studies
have found that plyometric training provides better benefits than strength training to improve
vertical jump, linear sprint, and change of direction performance in female soccer players
(Pardos-Mainer et al., 2021), with moderate to large correlations between jumping height, linear
sprinting, and sprints with change of direction (Suarez-Arrones et al., 2020).
In the beginning, there was no significant finding in all parameters of the change of
direction in C-cohort. The effect sizes of group differences in the absolute amount of time
changes are 0.5 < d > 0.8. During the second test, there were significant p < 0.05 differences in
analyses of repeated measurements for both groups (Keiner et al., 2014). In the B-Cohort, there
was a significant time change of d > 1.5, and during the second test, there was a significant
change of p < 0.05 (Keiner et al., 2014). In the last and final A-Cohort, there was an absolute
time change of d>1 for the first test and an absolute time change of p<0.05 for test two (Keiner et
al., 2014).
The study found positive effects between additional strength training and the change of
direction sprint, with a moderate to high significant difference between maximum strength and
the change of direction sprint. I found this odd because other studies found little to no correlation
between strength training and change of direction. For example, Pardos-Mainer et al. (2021)
found plyometric training provides better benefits than strength training to improve vertical
jump, linear sprint, and change of direction performance in female soccer players. The good
thing I found about this study is that it shows that strength training does have a positive impact
on change of direction. The negative aspect of this study is that they used youth athletes who
may or may not have ever participated in a well-balanced strength training program. Overall, I
think this study is good, but it could be interpreted in many ways, both negative and positive.
In closing, the author set out to find the connection between training and a change of
direction. The study took 112 youth soccer players and divided them into two groups: the
controlled group and the strength training group. The strength training group participated in a
four-week periodization phase, followed by an eight-week hypertrophy training program. The
hypertrophy training program consists of 5 sets of 10 repetitions with a 3-minute rest between
each set, followed by 5 sets of 6 repetitions with a 3-minute rest between each set, and ending the
workout with 5 sets of 4 repetitions and a 5-minute rest between each set. At the end of the
training program, all 112 youth athletes tested their change of direction sprint using three double
light barriers separated in a 60-degree triangle. The study found positive effects between
additional strength training and the change of direction sprint. As previously stated, overall, I
think this study is good, but it could be interpreted in many ways, both negative and positive.
References
Keiner, M. , Sander, A. , Wirth, K. & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2014). Long-Term Strength Training
Effects on Change-of-Direction Sprint Performance. Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research, 28 (1), 223-231. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318295644b.
Pardos-Mainer E, Lozano D, Torrontegui-Duarte M, Cartón-Llorente A, Roso-Moliner A. Effects
of Strength vs. Plyometric Training Programs on Vertical Jumping, Linear Sprint and
Change of Direction Speed Performance in Female Soccer Players: A Systematic Review
and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 6;18(2):401. doi:
10.3390/ijerph18020401. PMID: 33419178; PMCID: PMC7825561.
Suarez-Arrones L, Gonzalo-Skok O, Carrasquilla I, Asián-Clemente J, Santalla A, Lara-Lopez P,
Núñez FJ. Relationships between Change of Direction, Sprint, Jump, and Squat Power
Performance. Sports (Basel). 2020 Mar 19;8(3):38. doi: 10.3390/sports8030038. PMID:
32204331; PMCID: PMC7183057.
Thapa RK, Lum D, Moran J, Ramirez-Campillo R. Effects of Complex Training on Sprint, Jump,
and Change of Direction Ability of Soccer Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-
Analysis. Front Psychol. 2021 Jan 22;11:627869. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.627869.
PMID: 33551937; PMCID: PMC7862112.
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