External Load During Warm-Up and Early-Match Running Performance of Starting and Substitute Football Players: A Within-Player Comparison.
- 1Department of Sport Sciences, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain.
- 2Performance and Health Department, FC Lugano, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
- 3FSI Lab, Football Science Institute, 18016 Granada, Spain.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) compare the absolute and relative external load during the warm-up of starting and substitute professional football players; (2) describe the subsequent running performance during the first 15 min of match play; and (3) quantify the within-player variability of the warm-up (WU) external load between roles. Methods: Sixteen professional male players (Swiss Second Division) were monitored using 10 Hz GPS units across 13 official matches (106 observations). Starters completed a standardized ~25 min on-field warm-up, while substitutes performed a cyclical sideline warm-up. Running performance was analysed during the first 15 min of play and across three consecutive 5 min intervals (0-5, 5-10, and 10-15 min) in the same players under both match-entry conditions: starters and substitutes. Results: Starters' warm-up showed significantly longer duration (p < 0.001; d = 3.5), greater total distance covered in both absolute and relative terms (p < 0.001, d = 6.6; p < 0.001, d = 5.1, respectively), and higher maximal speed (p < 0.001; d = 1.4) compared to substitutes. However, substitutes covered more distance between 19.8 and 25.2 km·h⁻¹ in either absolute and relative terms (p < 0.05, d = 1.3; p < 0.001, d = 3.6; respectively). No significant differences were found in external load during the overall 0-15 min match period between roles. Nevertheless, block-specific analysis revealed that substitutes performed significantly a greater number of decelerations (p < 0.05; d = 0.5), distance covered between 19.8 and 25.2 km·h⁻¹ (p < 0.05; d = 0.79) and sprinting during the initial 0-5 min period (p < 0.05; d = 1.24). Conclusions: Substitutes' warm-up exhibited substantially higher variability across almost all external load metrics compared with the warm-up completed by the starters, except for slightly higher or identical variability in the number of accelerations and decelerations.
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BibTeX
@article{bagattini2026external,
title = {{External Load During Warm-Up and Early-Match Running Performance of Starting and Substitute Football Players: A Within-Player Comparison.}},
author = {Gabriele Bagattini and Luis Suarez-Arrones and Manuele Ferrini and Jose Asian-Clemente},
journal = {Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/jfmk11040432},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924711},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - External Load During Warm-Up and Early-Match Running Performance of Starting and Substitute Football Players: A Within-Player Comparison.
AU - Gabriele Bagattini
AU - Luis Suarez-Arrones
AU - Manuele Ferrini
AU - Jose Asian-Clemente
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology
DO - 10.3390/jfmk11040432
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924711
AB - Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) compare the absolute and relative external load during the warm-up of starting and substitute professional football players; (2) describe the subsequent running performance during the first 15 min of match play; and (3) quantify the within-player variability of the warm-up (WU) external load between roles. Methods: Sixteen professional male players (Swiss Second Division) were monitored using 10 Hz GPS units across 13 official matches (106 observations). Starters completed a standardized ~25 min on-field warm-up, while substitutes performed a cyclical sideline warm-up. Running performance was analysed during the first 15 min of play and across three consecutive 5 min intervals (0-5, 5-10, and 10-15 min) in the same players under both match-entry conditions: starters and substitutes. Results: Starters' warm-up showed significantly longer duration (p < 0.001; d = 3.5), greater total distance covered in both absolute and relative terms (p < 0.001, d = 6.6; p < 0.001, d = 5.1, respectively), and higher maximal speed (p < 0.001; d = 1.4) compared to substitutes. However, substitutes covered more distance between 19.8 and 25.2 km·h⁻¹ in either absolute and relative terms (p < 0.05, d = 1.3; p < 0.001, d = 3.6; respectively). No significant differences were found in external load during the overall 0-15 min match period between roles. Nevertheless, block-specific analysis revealed that substitutes performed significantly a greater number of decelerations (p < 0.05; d = 0.5), distance covered between 19.8 and 25.2 km·h⁻¹ (p < 0.05; d = 0.79) and sprinting during the initial 0-5 min period (p < 0.05; d = 1.24). Conclusions: Substitutes' warm-up exhibited substantially higher variability across almost all external load metrics compared with the warm-up completed by the starters, except for slightly higher or identical variability in the number of accelerations and decelerations.
SN - 2411-5142
ER -