INTRODUCTION: Pre-season changes in the physical performance of elite women soccer players are scarce. So, the aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of 5-weeks of specific soccer training (4-6 sessions/week), during the preparatory period, on the aerobic performance of elite women soccer players. METHODS: The sample was composed by 24 elite women soccer players with an average of 22 years of age. It was applied the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test for the evaluation of aerobic performance. A paired sample t-test was used to compare differences between pre and post preparatory period. The level of significance was established at p * 0.05. RESULTS: After 5-week specific soccer training the women soccer players significantly improved the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test performance (p<0.001; *% =23.3). CONCLUSION: It was recently demonstrated that it is possible to develop aerobic and power abilities of elite women soccer players during 8-weeks of pre-season using an equalized ratio of soccer training and strength-power training schedules (Kobal et al., 2021). The same authors found an improvement of 28,5% in aerobic performance in the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test. An improvement in Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test performance was also observed in U12-U16s pre-post season (Emmonds et al., 2020). It can be concluded that 5-weeks of specific soccer training allowed a significant increase in the aerobic performance of elite women soccer players. Future studies should analyze seasonal changes in the neuro-muscular performance of elite soccer players.
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