p-ISSN: 1300-0551
e-ISSN: 2587-1498

C. DUMLUPINAR1, F. TURGAY2, S. BEREKET-YÜCEL3, A. ÇEÇEN-AKSU4

1Kayserispor Kulübü, Kayseri
2Gençlik ve Spor İl Müdürlüğü, Sporcu Sağlık Merkezi, İzmir
3Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bölümü, Manisa
4Arkas Spor Kulübü, İzmir

Keywords: Nitric oxide, lactate elimination, aerobic threshold, anaerobic threshold, soccer, exercise

Abstract

Endurance and recovery capacity is very important in football performance. The role of nitric acid (NO) as a basic vasodilator and metabolic regulator remains unclear in football performance. The relationships between basal serum NO levels and blood lactate during and following a maximal incremental shuttle were investigated for this purpose. A total of 88 active male professional soccer players (SG) (23.3 ± 2.2 yrs) and 20 physical education students (CG) (22.5 ± 3.6 yrs) participated in the study. Fasting venous serum nitric acid levels (Griess method) and full blood counts were measured. Subjects performed an intermittent shuttle run with increasing speeds until volitional fatigue, followed a 15 min passive recovery period. Heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (LA) levels were obtained at the end of each stage, to determine aerobic (ATS) and anaerobic threshold speeds (ANTS). Three minute heart rate recovery (HRR) and 15 min lactate elimination (LER) rates were calculated. For statistical purposes, p<0.05 was considered significant. As predicted; NO, ATS, ANTS, LER, HRR levels for soccer players were significantly higher than those of the students. Positive significant relationships were found between basal serum nitric acid levels and maximal LA and 15 min post-exercise LA levels, which was not the case for exercise LA and HR levels. These findings may indicate that football training has positive adaptive effects on basal blood nitric oxide levels and recovery performance.