CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS AND ISOKINETIC MUSCLE STRENGTH OF ELITE ASIAN JUNIOR SOCCER PLAYERS

There is a scarcity of descriptive data on the physiological characteristics of elite Asian junior soccer players. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cardiorespiratory fitness and isokinetic muscle strength of elite junior soccer players in Hong Kong. It was conducted in conjunction with the selection of the Hong Kong team to the 1989 Gothia Cup held in Sweden. Twenty-one top junior soccer players were selected as subjects for the study. The following means (+/-SD) were observed: age 17.3 +/- 1.1 years; height 172.5 +/- 6.2 cm; weight 62.8 +/- 7.0 kg; body fat 5.2 +/- 1.8%; forced vital capacity (FVC) 4.6 +/- 0.6 L; maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) 58.6 +/- 2.9 ml . kg-1 . min-1; anaerobic threshold (AT) 76.7 +/- 10.2% of VO2max; peak isokinetic dominant knee extensor and flexor strengths 3.28 +/- 0.37 Nm . kg-1 and 1.84 +/- 0.24 Nm . kg-1; hamstring to quadriceps peak torque ratio (H/Q) 56 +/- 0.6% measured at 60-degrees s-1. Hong Kong players appeared to have comparable aerobic power, light body weight, poor flexibility and above average isokinetic muscle strength compared to other international junior soccer players. Training programs to improve the contralateral knee muscle imbalance and to increase the fast speed movement capability of the non-dominant knee flexors are recommended.