Correlating diurnal variations in peak athleticism with buccalgene expression in youth football players

Hourly variations in athletic performance are a well-documentedphysiological phenomenon in individual and team sports includingfootball. Measuring the timing of maximal performance couldpotentially improve performance. Evidence suggests that buccalgene expression correlates with athletic performance, yet this hasnot been studied in sport-specific participants. Therefore, the studyaimed to (A) examine the expression of Per2 and Bmal1 genes in 45youth football players and correlate with countermovement jump(CMJ) performance; (B) investigate the fluctuations in Per2 andBmal1 expression levels and CMJ performance at various timepointsduring a regular training day. CMJ metrics (Reactive Strength Index-Modified, Force at Peak Power, Eccentric Duration, and Peak Power)and gene expression levels were measured in 45 youth footballplayers at 08:30 and 17:30. Exercise timing made a significant dif-ference in each measured performance metric at the individual andsquad level. Thirty-four participants displayed increases in RSI-mod(p < 0.001) over the morning measurements. This contributed to an8% increase in overall squad performance (p = 0.0009), which sig-nificantly correlated to buccal gene expression (R2 = 0.94). Profilingplayer buccal gene expression could inform the timing of trainingand rehabilitation protocols to coincide with maximal athletic per-formance in football, other team sports, and individual sports.

Keywords

Football gene expression athletic performance exercise timing counter-movement jump

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.15/5826

Citation

Thomas, A., Wheeler, J., Bishop, R., Prato, M. F. G., Karakuş, O., Cain, E., Kana-Ah,A.,Nisbet,D., Oliveira,R. & Morgans, R. (2025). Correlating diurnal variations in peak athleticism with buccal gene expression in youth football players. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2025.2530293