Updating futsal physiology, immune system, and performance

ABSTRACT

Futsal promotes stress by handling the ball, physical contact, and exhaustive muscle contractions, elevating the risks for injury, oxidative stress, and inflammation after a training session or a match. In this review, we critically evaluate the more recent advances in the performance and health of futsal players. We searched the effects of futsal on performance, physiological parameters, muscle injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Although the stressful factors apply to all futsal players, goalkeepers require special attention during the competition and the recovery phase. We also show that the FIFA injury prevention programme, called The 11+, is effective in improving athletic performance and avoiding injury in futsal players. Research with different training durations and intensities and a wider range of studies involving oxidative stress, inflammation, and physiological mechanisms are of interest to design a more precise map of the biochemical regulation of training load and competition season in futsal.

KEYWORDS:

• Indoor soccer
• exercise
• muscle damage
• inflammation
• oxidative stress

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) [Grant number 12/20596-2 and 09/06039-0]; CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) [Grant number 308700/2017-1 and 305818/2018-0]; and CAPES (Foundation for the Coordination and Improvement of Higher Level or Education Personnel) [Grant number 88882.314890/2013-01, Finance Code 001].