Quantification of Internal and External Load in School Football According to Gender and Teaching Methodology

The design of teaching tasks determines the physical and physiological demands that students are exposed to in physical education classes. The purpose of this study is to quantify and compare, according to gender and teaching methodology, the external (eTL) and internal (iTL) load resulting from the application of two programs that follow different teaching methodologies, i.e., a Tactical Games Approach (TGA) and Direct Instruction (DI), to teach school football. The Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPEs) recorded in the assessments were also studied. A total of 41 students in the fifth year of primary education from a state school from Spain participated in the study (23 boys and 18 girls), aged from 10 to 11 (M ± SD, 10.63 ± 0.49 years) and divided into two class groups. All the sessions were monitored with inertial devices that made it possible to record physical activity and convert the information into kinematic parameters. The results indicated that the students who followed the TGA method recorded higher iTL values (heart rate) and spent more time performing high-intensity activities. Boys recorded higher eTL, iTL, and RPE values than girls. There was an evolution in the RPE between the assessments, with both groups presenting a more efficient RPE in the posttest. The TGA method favors student physical fitness and health, thus, this method is recommended when planning physical education sessions.