Does Total Playing Time Affect the Neuromuscular, Physiological, and Subjective Recovery of Futsal Players during a Congested Period?

The aims of this study were to analyze the effects of a congested period (three games in four days) on countermovement (CMJ) jump-landing metrics, heart rate variability (HRV), and total recovery quality (TQR) score in under-19 male futsal players, and to detect the differences between those who played for more minutes (HIGH MIN ) and less minutes (LOW MIN ). Fourteen youth futsal players (age: 17.5 ± 0.5 years; body mass: 70.2 ± 8.5 kg; height: 1.80 ± 0.1 m) participated. HRV, TQR questionnaire, and CMJ metrics (i.e., CMJ height, relative peak power (PP REL ), eccentric and concentric impulse, braking time, and time to peak force) were registered. A linear mixed model and effect sizes (ESs) were used to assess the differences between groups and days. Considering the total sample, a significant decrease was found in the PP REL and TQR score ( p = 0.001-0.013 and ES = 0.28-0.99) on Days 2, 3, and 4 when compared to Day 1. HIGH MIN group presented a significant decrease in PP REL on Day 3 ( p = 0.004; ES: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.39-2.65) when compared to Day 1, and in the TRQ score on Day 3 ( p = 0.002; ES: 1.98; 95% CI: 0.18-2.46) and 4 ( p = 0.003; ES: 2.25; 95% CI: 0.52-3.38) when compared to Day 1. Non-significant differences were found for the rest of the metrics and in the group LOW MIN . In summary, neuromuscular performance (i.e., CMJ PP REL ) and subjective recovery were impaired in players with higher playing minutes during a match-congested period when compared to those with less on-court time.