Proposal for a Specific Aerobic Test for Football Players: The ``Footeval''

{The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of the ``Footeval'' test, which evaluates football players' aerobic level in conditions close to those of football practice (intermittent, including technical skills). Twenty-four highly trained subjects from an elite football academy (17.8 +/- 1.4 years, 5 training sessions per week) performed two Footeval sessions in a period of 7 days. Physiological variables measured during these sessions (VO(2)max 58.1 +/- 5.6 and 58.7 +/- 6.2 ml.min(-1).kg(-1); RER 1.18 +/- 0.06 and 1.19 +/- 0.05; LaMax 11.0 +/- 1.4 and 10.8 +/- 1.1 mu mol.L-1; HRmax 194 +/- 6 and 190 +/- 7 b.min(-1); Final step 10.71 +/- 1.2 and 10.83 +/- 1.13 and the RPE = 10) highlighted maximal intensity and confirmed that players reached physiological exhaustion. Comparison of values measured in both sessions showed large to very large correlations (Final level; 0.92, VO(2)max; 0.79, HRmax; 0.88, LaMax; 0.87) and high ICC (Final level; 0.93, VO(2)max; 0.87, HRmax; 0.90, LaMax; 0.85) except for RER (r = 0.22