Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate a possible association between the distance covered in the Hoff test with parameters of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2MAX ), anaerobic threshold, anaerobic fitness, and body composition of professional adult soccer players. Methods: Twenty-five professional soccer players (20 ± 3 years) participated in the study. On different days the athletes performed: a graded incremental exercise test in a laboratory to measure VO2MAX; a specific soccer field test called the Hoff test; a running anaerobic sprint test (RAST); an incremental test on an oval circuit to determine the velocity relative to anaerobic threshold (VAnT) and an estimation of body composition. Results: The average VO2MAX corresponded to 4.1 ± 0.1 L min-1 (54.1 ± 1.2 mL kg-1 min-1). The average distance covered during the Hoff test was 1,442.4 ± 30.0 m. The distance covered during the Hoff test showed significant correlations with absolute and expressed in an appropriated scale VO2MAX (r = 0.44, p = 0.02; r = 0.42, p = 0.02, respectively) while no significant differences were found with body composition, VAnT and RAST variables. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the distance covered during the Hoff test has weak correlation with VO2MAX determined in treadmill running, and no correlation with VAnT, body composition and RAST outcomes, probably due to the non-specificity of the proposed tests when associated with the Hoff test. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
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