BACKGROUND: Soccer is an intermittent team sport that demands high aerobic capacity. On field, soccer players' aerobic capacity, assessed through the maximal oxygen uptake (VO<
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2<
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max), is usually determined by an intermittent recovery test. The aim of this study was to obtain a construct validity of a new intermittent recovery test (IRT) with a fixed speed and a progressive decrement of rest period. METHODS: Twenty-five male soccer players were recruited to perform an incremental continuous test (ICT) and the new IRT, to compare their physiological data. Fifteen male soccer players were involved to perform a test-retest of IRT to assess its reliability. RESULTS: VE<
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peak<
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, absolute VO<
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2<
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max, relative VO<
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2<
/inf>
max and VCO<
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2<
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peak registered during ICT and IRT correlated strongly (Pearson's correlation coefficient ranges from 0.75 to 0.80, with very large as magnitude of effects and with P<
0.001). IRT showed reliability from good to excellent regarding VE<
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peak<
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, absolute VO<
inf>
2<
/inf>
max, relative VO<
inf>
2<
/inf>
max, VCO<
inf>
2<
/inf>
peak and covered distance (ICC values ranged from 0.82 to 0.95). CONCLUSIONS: These findings and its underlying physiological and muscular demands, suggest that IRT can be considered as a valid and reliable test to assess aerobic capacity in soccer players during the competitive period.