Seasonal changes in the physical activity levels of youth Gaelic football players

Abstract

This study quantified changes in physical activity (PA) levels attained by adolescents during Gaelic football participation across two time points in a season and determined if these changes affected the overall daily PA levels of the participants. 130 Adolescents (65 male, 65 female; mean age 15.3±1.5 yrs) wore an activPAL accelerometer to determine total moderate physical activity (MPA), vigorous physical activity (VPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during a seven-day measurement period, including during Gaelic football participation. The PA measurement was completed at two time points, in line with the “preseason” (T1) and “in-season” (T2) phases. Between T1 and T2, females significantly increased time spent in MVPA daily (p<0.001, d=0.95), on sports days (p=0.036; d=0.30), on non-sports days (p<0.001; d=0.43), and during Gaelic football participation (p<0.001, d=0.90). Males did not record any significant changes in PA over time (p>0.05). At T2, there were no significant differences in time spent in MVPA daily, on sports days and non-sports days, and during Gaelic football participation between males and females (p>0.05). The results suggest that the change in daily PA levels by females is a consequence of increased MVPA attained during Gaelic football participation and reduced barriers to PA across the time points.