Surprisingly Speak significantly correlated with Yo-Yo IR1 performance while VO2max did not. This result is in accordance with a previous study [4] in which the authors reported a similar correlation between the speed associated to VO2max and intermittent performance evaluated with the FIET, but not with VO2max. This finding also reinforces the importance of Speak for evaluation of futsal players as this parameter has been demonstrated to discriminate between players’ competitive level [3].
The mean VO2max observed in the current study is similar to that reported in previous studies with elite Brazilian players [2, 9], but lower than the values reported (i.e. ∼67-71 mlkg-1min-1) in a more recent study [10] in which a graded treadmill test was employed. In this regard, it would be suggested that differences in running protocols among studies would be influencing results as both VO2max and Speak could be affected by protocol