Tracking Cardiorespiratory Responses in Real-Time for Argentine Youth Soccer Players During the 20-m Shuttle Run Test

Argentina is the current and three-time “World Cup” Champion, as well as the current and most successful team in “Copa América” history. We aimed to evaluate the cardiopulmonary fitness profile of youth soccer players from the first league of the Argentine Football Association (AFA). We evaluated ten highly trained youth soccer players from the AFA by applying an on-field cardiopulmonary exercise test (20-meter Shuttle Run Test - 20m-SRT) with wearable gas analyzer (mix-chamber mode). Mean velocity at maximal oxygen uptake (vO2max) was 12.3±0.7 km·h-1. The maximal oxygen uptake (O2max) on-field was 67.1 ± 5.3 mL·kg−1·min−1. The O2 at the first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2) were identified at 67.0±3.0% and 84.7 ± 3.7%, respectively. Argentine soccer players exhibit exceptional cardiopulmonary fitness, comparable to that of professional athletes, underscoring their potential for high performance. Support staff, fitness or health professionals, and researchers can now compare cardiopulmonary differences between Argentine youth soccer players and other populations.