Abstract
The present study conducted a longitudinal investigation of the characteristics of blood glucose kinetics in elite Japanese soccer players by analyzing blood glucose kinetics during an incremental running test. Ten elite soccer players performed an incremental running test in January and August of 2009 and January of 2010. Blood lactate,blood glucose, oxygen consumption, lactate threshold (LT), glucose threshold (GT) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) were measured during each test. LT was observed in all subjects during all tests, and significant changes in LT and VO2max were not observed. However, the number of GT observations fluctuated between the training periods as 5, 9 and 3, respectively, and a significantly higher observation rate was found during the season. Our results demonstrate that GT cannot always be determined in elite Japanese soccer players. Furthermore, even the well-known endurance capacity indicators, LT and VO2max, do not change significantly after specific training during the season; blood glucose kinetics could change during training, which affects the number of GT observations.
