Roberto Mancini Starts Saliva Testing at Man City: The Science Theory

Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, has introduced saliva tests to the club in a bid to monitor the player’s hormone levels.

The astute application of this technique to a football setting could prove very useful for City.

The demands in the Premier League are already high, but as the club aspires to play in the Champions League soon, their squad may be spread ever thinner. As any manager would say, success at this level is a marathon, not a sprint, with strong likelihood of chronic fatigue and injury.

This is often caused by the consequence of the physiological demands experienced during a competitive football season. An imbalance in certain hormones is an indicator of fatigue and early detection could prevent injury in certain players.

Mancini will have a delicate balancing act on his hands, but by using saliva testing he can track his players’ hormonal balance throughout the season to get the most out of his side.

The Science behind the benefit of using this technique

The antagonistic relationship between anabolic and catabolic processes can affect performance. During a football match, an increase in cortisol (a catabolic hormone) and decrease in testosterone (an anabolic hormone), and the consequent large decrease of the testosterone to cortisol ratio, suggests it places considerable stress on the endocrine system.

Furthermore, chronic catabolic/anabolic imbalance is also more likely in a sport such as football, where repeated eccentric muscle contractions are required. Research also indicates that players entering the season with low circulating concentrations of testosterone and elevated levels of cortisol can experience reductions in performance during a season, with performance decrements exacerbated in starters over non-starters.

The ability to assess the hormone levels of the players could therefore provide invaluable guidance when picking teams and deciding if individuals are match fit.

This article was written by Katie Hobbs for Half Volley , the half science, half comment sports blog.

References

Changes in hormonal and lipid profile after a soccer match in male amateur players; Serbian Journal of Sports Sciences Original article.

Hypogonadism as a cause of recurrent muscle injury in a high level soccer player: a case report; International Journal of Sports Medicine.

Changes in Exercise Performance and Hormonal Concentrations Over A Big Ten Soccer Season in Starters and Nonstarters; Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.