THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH IN THE STEP-BY-STEP DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS' PHYSICAL FITNESS

Abstract

Optimising physical fitness in football requires an integrated, sequential training process that harmonises physiological adaptation with the progressive acquisition of sport-specific skills. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of a systematic, step-by-step approach grounded in contemporary periodisation theory for developing the key fitness components of amateur male football players aged 17–19 years over a twenty-four-week competitive macrocycle. Thirty-six athletes were randomly assigned to an experimental group following a structured meso- and microcycle plan built on the principles of cumulative workloads, variability, and delayed transformation, and to a control group that trained according to a conventional weekly model emphasising uniform loads. A battery of laboratory and field tests—maximal oxygen uptake, repeated-sprint ability, countermovement jump height, and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1—was administered at baseline, mid-point, and post-intervention. Two-way ANOVA revealed significant group-by-time interactions (p < 0.05) favouring the systematic programme for all indicators, with the greatest relative improvements observed in aerobic capacity (+11.8 %) and repeated-sprint index (+8.6 %). The findings confirm that a logically ordered progression of training stimuli produces superior adaptive responses compared with traditional undifferentiated scheduling, highlighting the necessity of evidence-based periodisation for youth performance enhancement.