Bruce-Low, Stewart

Keehne, Phillip

Neville, Chris

Wright, James

English

The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery – Level 1 (IR1) test is frequently used within professional soccer for the evaluation of a player’s physical performance; however, it’s exhaustive nature often limits the frequency of testing and the implementation of test results to coaching sessions. In replacement, it is suggested the sub-maximal 6-min Yo-Yo IR1 (Yo-Yo IR1sub) is more appropriate for routine testing, with much less impact on coaching planning and delivery. Previous research has demonstrated that the heart rate (HR) responses in the final minute of the Yo-Yo IR1sub are strongly correlated (r = –0.74) to a player’s relative maximum HR (%HRmax) (1). More recently, Owen et al. (2) and Doncaster et al.(3), concluded absolute HR taken in the final minute of the YoYo IR1sub provides a practical alternative to the Yo-Yo IR1, due to good levels of reliability (CV = 1.1–1.6%). There is, however, a lack of research focused on the sensitivity of the Yo-Yo IR1sub to detect change across a soccer mesocycle (e.g., pre-season)

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Reliability and Sensitivity of the Yo-Yo IR1subThe Reliability and Sensitivity of the Sub-maximalYo-Yo Intermittent Recovery test during a 6-weekPre-seasonPhillip Keehne, 1 2 James Wright, 1 Chris Neville, 1 Stewart Bruce-Low 31Faculty of Sport, Health and Social Sciences, Solent University, Southampton, UK2FC Cincinnati, Ohio, USA3School of Health, Sport and Biosciences, University of East London, UKExercise Testing | Sports | Adaptation | Physiological/PhysiologyHeadlineThe Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery – Level 1 (IR1) test isfrequently used within professional soccer for the eval-uation of a player’s physical performance; however, it’s ex-haustive nature often limits the frequency of testing and theimplementation of test results to coaching sessions. In re-placement, it is suggested the sub-maximal 6-min Yo-Yo IR1(Yo-Yo IR1sub) is more appropriate for routine testing, withmuch less impact on coaching planning and delivery. Previousresearch has demonstrated that the heart rate (HR) responsesin the final minute of the Yo-Yo IR1sub are strongly correlated(r = –0.74) to a player’s relative maximum HR (%HRmax)(1). More recently, Owen et al. (2) and Doncaster et al.(3),concluded absolute HR taken in the final minute of the Yo-Yo IR1sub provides a practical alternative to the Yo-Yo IR1,due to good levels of reliability (CV = 1.1–1.6%). There is,however, a lack of research focused on the sensitivity of theYo-Yo IR1sub to detect change across a soccer mesocycle (e.g.,pre-season).AimThis study aimed to establish the reliability of Yo-Yo IR1sub,and the sensitivity of percentage average heart rate (%Avg.HR) and percentage heart rate max (%HRmax) during a full6-week pre-season with professional soccer players.DesignLongitudinal.MethodsAthletes. c Fifteen professional soccer players (mass 79 ± 8kg, stature 183 ± 8 cm, age 20 ±2 years, professionally con-tracted 2.8 ±2.9 years) were recruited to participate within thestudy. All participants were recruited from the same team andplayed in an elite development/under-21 league, representingan English Premier League club (1st tier). The study wascompleted in alignment with the declaration of Helsinki andwas approved by the host university ethics committee. Eachparticipant completed a Yo-Yo IR1 at the beginning and endof a 6-week pre-season, and a Yo-Yo IR1sub at the beginningof each training week.Yo-Yo IR1 and Yo-Yo IR1sub Protocols. c The Yo-Yo IR1 testconsisted of 20 m shuttles separated by a 10-s active rest, con-sisting of 2 x 5 m walking. Each participant completed thisprotocol until volitional exhaustion, or until they twice failedto complete the shuttle in time with the audio beep after onewarning. The Yo-Yo IR1sub was completed following the sameprotocol outlined above, but all participants were stopped atthe start of the 6th minute. Testing was performed on an arti-ficial grass pitch surface, with players wearing soccer boots atthe same time of day (10:45 h). Weather conditions were sim-ilar during all Yo-Yo IR1sub tests (temperature 20.0 ± 0.9◦C).During all testing sessions, physiological responses weremonitored through a global positioning system (GPS) (ViperPod, 10-Hz, Statsports, NI) and heart rate belt recording at5-s intervals (FS1, Polar Electro, Finland). To prevent inter-unit and belt error, each player was assigned the same deviceand belt for each session (4). The %Avg. HR and % HRmaxduring the Yo-Yo IR1sub were calculated from the average HRobserved during the entire duration of the 6-min test, and rel-ative to the maximum HR observed during the Yo-Yo IR1.Statistical Analyses.To examine the sensitivity of the Yo-YoIR1sub during pre-season, participants who had completed onetest per week for the duration of the 6-week period were in-cluded for analysis (n = 8). To establish the reliability ofthe Yo-Yo IR1sub, participants who had completed two trialswithin 1-week of each other were included for analysis (n =15). Finally, to compare the difference between the pre pre-season and post pre-season, participants who had completedthe Yo-Yo IR1 in weeks 1 and 6 were included for analysis (n= 10). Comparisons of HR data between weeks were anal-ysed through a one-way repeated measures ANOVA, with asimple contrast to compare weekly changes in %Avg. HR and%HRmax. A paired-samples t-test was used to compare thetotal distance covered during the full Yo-Yo test between week1 and week 6 of pre-season. The reliability of the Yo-Yo IR1subwas measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) andCV, with a value of <5% deemed acceptable (5). The smallestworthwhile change (SWC) was calculated for %Avg. HR and%HRmax following guidelines by Hopkins (5). The substantialchange (6) was calculated as the SWC + CV. All data arepresented as mean ± SD, with statistical analyses completedusing SPSS (v26, IBM) and statistical significance set at P <0.05.ResultsThe mean distance performed during the Yo-Yo IR1 signifi-cantly increased following the 6-week pre-season training, P= 0.002 (pre = 2384 ± 239 m vs. post = 2732 ± 278 m)(Figure 1). A one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed asignificant difference between the weekly %Avg. HR duringthe Yo-Yo IR1sub test (P = 0.001). Additionally, there was asportperfsci.com 1 SPSR - 2022 | September | 173 | v1Reliability and Sensitivity of the Yo-Yo IR1subsignificant difference between weeks for %HRmax (P < 0.001),demonstrating that the Yo-Yo IR1sub test is sensitive to thephysiological changes observed during pre-season (Table 1).Following repeat testing of the Yo-Yo IR1sub, a CV for%Avg. HR and %HRmax of 3.6% and 1.6%, respectively wereobserved. The SWC for %Avg. HR and %HRmax was 2.1%and 1.6%, respectively, resulting in a substantial change of5.7% and 3.2%, respectively. Additionally, an ICC of 0.66was observed for %Avg. HR and 0.76 for %HRmax. Giventhe reported changes in %Avg. HR and %HRmax were 9.8%and 8.8%, respectively (Table 1), it is suggested that the Yo-Yo IR1sub is sensitive to monitor meaningful physiologicalchanges.Table 1. Mean of %Avg. HR and %HRmax during each week of pre-seasonWeek 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 % Change(Week 1-6)%Avg. HR 82 ± 3 78 ± 4* 75 ± 4* 75 ± 5* 73 ± 5* 74 ± 4* 9.8%HRmax 91 ± 4 86 ± 4* 83 ± 4* 84 ± 4* 83 ± 5* 83 ± 3* 8.8Fig. 1. Yo-Yo IR Test Performance (distance in m), pre- and post- pre-seasonDiscussionThis study aimed to ascertain the reliability of the Yo-YoIR1sub and its sensitivity during a soccer 6-week pre-season.The results suggest that the non-exhaustive Yo-Yo IR1subdemonstrates acceptable between-day reliability, together withthe sensitivity to detect physiological changes over a 6-weekpre-season. These findings suggest that the Yo-Yo IR1subcould potentially provide valuable information for sports sci-entists and coaches from non-exhaustive methods concerningthe evaluation of physical performance and how individualsrespond differently during pre-season (Figure 2 and 3).The results of this study suggested that the Yo-Yo IR1subis reliable with a CV of 3.6% for %Avg. HR and 1.6% for%HRmax. These results are in line with previous research byKrustrup et al.(7), Fanchini et al.(8) and Owen et al. (4), whoall reported that the Yo-Yo IR1sub is a reliable testing proto-col, with a CV of 4.9%, 2.2% and 1.6% reported, respectively,when measuring HR in the 6th minute of the testing proto-col. It is essential in applied sports science research for testingmethods to demonstrate reliability between testing days, es-pecially when used to monitor changes in performance.Following a 6-week pre-season, the participant’s Yo-Yo IR1performances significantly improved by approximately 12%(Figure 1), which is in line with the results of a study by Krus-trup et al.(8), but less than the 25% improvement observed byFanchini et al. (8). It is noted, however, that Fanchini et al.(8) completed post-training block testing following a periodof 3 weeks of training and 8 weeks of soccer-specific trainingand matches. The participants in their study would thereforehave had a longer time to gain cardiorespiratory fitness. Inaddition to the greater period of training exposure, Fanchiniet al. (8) completed their study using youth soccer player(age = 17 ± 1 years) from a 4th division Italian professionalclub, and it is widely documented that greater Yo-Yo IR1 per-formance occurs for amateur/semi-professional soccer playerswhen compared to professional players (9,10).Directly comparing week 1 to week 6, an improvement of9.8% and 8.8% was observed for %Avg. HR and %HRmax.Therefore, with %Avg HR and %HRmax demonstrating a CVof 3.6% and 1.6%, a SWC of 2.1% and 1.56%, alongside asubstantial change of 5.4% and 3.2%, respectively, the actualchange in performance of -8 and -9% (Table 1) observed duringpre-season can be interpreted as a worthwhile and detectablechange. This study has suggested that the Yo-Yo IR1sub issensitive to detect physiological changes within professionalsoccer players, with significant differences observed for all HRmeasures between each week when compared to week 1 (Table1).sportperfsci.com 2 SPSR - 2022 | September | 173 | v1Reliability and Sensitivity of the Yo-Yo IR1subFig. 2. Individual weekly %Avg. HR responses during the Yo-Yosub. The solid black line represents the group meanFig. 3. Individual weekly %HRmax responses during the Yo-Yosub. The solid black line represents the group mean.Practical Applications• The results demonstrate that the Yo-Yo IR1sub can pro-vide valuable information about soccer fitness during a pre-season training period, without the requirement for maxi-mal testing.• It is suggested that the Yo-Yo IR1sub reduces the impact onthe coaching programme, on the strength of being under-taken at the start of a session, allowing for all practitionersto work symbiotically, rather than having to compete foradditional time within a typical coaching plan.• It suggested that sub-maximal testing is utilised through-out the season to monitor the performance of professionalsoccer players.Limitations• All participants within this study were part of the samesoccer team, and whilst this is essential for controlling ex-ternal variables, it is unclear if the results of this studycould be generalized to other teams, with a different pre-season training plan.• It is noted that the sample size of this study is relativelysmall (n = 8–15), and the use of professional soccer play-ers from a development/under 21 squad, meant that someplayers had to be excluded from the study, or sections ofthe analyses, due to being on loan, or being recruited torepresent the senior team.Conflicts of InterestThe authors confirm there are no conflicts of interest.DatasetDataset available on request to the authors.sportperfsci.com 3 SPSR - 2022 | September | 173 | v1Reliability and Sensitivity of the Yo-Yo IR1subTwitter: Phillip Keehne (@PhilKO1), James Wright(@wright_a_james), Chris Neville (@c_nev1), StewartBruce-Low (@Profsbl)References1. Bradley PS, Mohr M., Bendiksen M, Randers MB, FlindtM, Barnes C, Hood P, Gomez A. Anderson, JL, Di MascoM, Bangsbo J, Krustrup P. Sub-maximal and maximal Yo-Yointermittent endurance test level 2: heart rate response, repro-ducibility and application to elite soccer. Eur J Appl Physiol.2011 Nov; 111(6): 969–978.2. Owen C, Jones P, Comfort P. The reliability of the sub-maximal version of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test inelite youth soccer. J Trainology. 2017 May; 6(1): 31–34.3. Doncaster G, Scott M, Iga J, Unnithan V. Reliability ofheart rate responses both during and following a 6 min Yo-YoIR1 test in highly trained youth soccer players. Sci Med Foot-ball. 2019 May; 3(1): 14–20.4. Owen A, Newton M, Shovlin, Malone S. The use ofsmall-sided games as an aerobic fitness assessment supplementwithin elite level professional soccer. J Hum Kinet. 2020 Jan;71(1): 243–253.5. Hopkins WG. A New View of Statistics. Internet Societyfor Sport Science: Retrieved from http://www.sportsci.org/resource/stats/ 2000; (Accessed 19 September 2018).6. Altmann S, Neumann R, Härtel S, Woll A, Buchheit M. Us-ing submaximal exercise heart rate for monitoring cardiores-piratory fitness changes in professional soccer players: a repli-cation study. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2021 Aug; 16(8):1096–1102.7. Krustrup P, Mohr M, Amtsrup T, Rysgaard T, JohansenJ, Steensberg A, Pedersen PK, Bangsbo J. The Yo-Yo inter-mittent recovery test: Physiological response, reliability, andvalidity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Apr; 35(4): 697–705.8. Fanchini M, Castagna C, Coutts A, Schena F, McCallA, Impellizzeri FM. Are the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery testlevels 1 and 2 both useful? Reliability, responsiveness and in-terchangeability in young soccer players. J Sports Sci. 2014Dec. 32(20): 1950–1957.9. Rampinini E, Impellizzeri FM, Castagna C, Abt G,Chamari K, Sassi A, Marcora SM. Factors influencing physi-ological responses to small-sided soccer games. J Sports Sci.2007 Aug; 25(6): 659–666.10. Atkins SJ. Performance of the Yo-Yo intermittent re-covery test by elite professional and semi-professional rugbyleague players. J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Feb; 20(1):225–230.Copyright: The article published on Science Performanceand Science Reports are distributed under the terms ofthe Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits un-restricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, pro-vided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and thesource, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicateif changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedi-cation waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwisestated.sportperfsci.com 4 SPSR - 2022 | September | 173 | v1

The Reliability and Sensitivity of the Sub-maximal Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery test during a 6-week Pre-season

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The Reliability and Sensitivity of the Sub-maximal Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery test during a 6-week Pre-season

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