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The Complete Guide to Soccer Fitness
Belinda Alaniz
It is well known the fitness is crucial for all soccer players. The most important fitness components in soccer include aerobic capacity, flexibility, strength, and speed. From these fitness components aerobic capacity and strength can be improved the most by physical training, but there are ways to help improve your flexibility and speed as well. This is your Complete Guide to the Soccer Fitness that you want to achieve.
Aerobic capacity:
Aerobic capacity' describes the functional capacity of the cardio respiratory system, (the heart, lungs and blood vessels). Aerobic capacity is defined as the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during a specified period, usually during intense exercise. Aerobic exercise increases heart rate and cardiovascular endurance, so the more aerobic training you get, the more endurance you will build. It is important for any player to be able to last the game.
You need to train for a minimum of 20 minutes so that your body can reach and maintain an increased heart rate. An easy way to get in some aerobic training is through long distance running. After all, most of your time during the game is spent running, so it's necessary to condition your body for endurance, as well as strength for sudden bursts of speed.
You can run just about anywhere there's a wide-open area, such as along the side of a street, in the park, on a track, or on the beach. Just make sure the area is well lit and that you don't run for more than 40 minutes to prevent exhaustion or cramping. And keep in mind, running is much more fun when you have a buddy to accompany you.
In a typical game, soccer players usually travel between 5.5 and 6.8 miles! That's a lot of ground to cover, so you'll need to build up your endurance and in no time you will notice your improvement.
Flexibility:
Flexibility is the absolute range of movement in a joint or series of joints and muscles that is attainable in a momentary effort with the help of a partner or a piece of equipment. It is a term for the ability to easily bend an object or the ability to adapt to different circumstances. Any soccer player would love to be able to bend it like beckham.
It is important for all players to do some stretching during their beginning warm up. Do not how ever perform a soccer stretching routine designed to increase flexibility at the start of a training session or a game. There are studies that suggest it can decrease power and hinder a player's performance. Stretching to increase flexibility requires a different approach.
Each stretch should be held for 20-30 seconds and should be repeated at least20twice (preferably three time). So for example, you wouldn't perform a calf stretch, then a hamstring stretch then a quad stretch etc., and then repeat the whole routine. Instead you would perform 3 calf stretches, then 3 hamstring stretches and so on. You will not notice results right away but with persistence you should see them within 6-8 weeks.
Extra Tips to stretching:
Breathe! Avoid breathing holding as you stretch as this can raise blood pressure and leave you feeling dizzy.
Makes sure your body in completely warm before you start. Either do 5-10mins of light aerobic exercis e or do your stretches at the end of a training session.
Do NOT hold a stretch that is in anyway painful. It should feel tight and that tightness should diminish as you hold the stretch. Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds. "Shake out" the limb and joint and repeat for a total of 2 to 3 sets.
For optimal results try to stretch every day or at least 3-4 times a week
Strength:
In soccer weight training, the goal is not to add pounds of muscle mass. The goal is to have muscles that are strong, fast, and have outstanding endurance. Upper body weight training for soccer is not nearly as important as weight training for the legs, but we should still do it for overall strength and conditioning.
For weight training squats are recommended. Now we aren't just going to do squats, but we are going to do 20 rep squats. That means that after a light warm-up set, you load the bar to a weight you think you can get 20 reps with. Let's say that you are pretty strong, so you are going to begin with 220 pounds. You get under the bar, with it resting across your upper back, and stand up with it. Now step back out of the racks and stand with your feet shoulder width ap art or wider. Take a deep breath and hold it as you descend until your hips are slightly lower than the top of your knees. At that point, rise quickly to the full standing position and exhale. Repeat that for 20 reps no matter how tired you get. If it was easy, add some weight. If it was hard, then keep it the same, because that is how it is supposed to feel. Rest for about 5 minutes between sets and do 3 sets total. Take a break for about 5 to 10 minutes and then go to the leg curl machine to work on your hamstrings. You will be doing 4 sets of 15 reps. Here's the catch. You will also be doing 4 sets of 15 reps on the Stiff-Legged Dead lift in between each set of Leg Curls. Your hamstrings are very important to your speed, so you want them to be very strong. Make sure to stretch them well between each set. Finish your leg workout with 3 sets of 25 reps on the Standing Calf raise machine.
The upper body workout for the soccer weight training program will be done two days after the leg workout. You will alternate upper and lower body workouts like this: Lower body on day one, no training on day two, Upper body on day three, no training on day four, Lower body on day five, no training on day six or seven, Upper body on day eight, and so on.
Speed:
Soccer can be a tough sport to train for. Soccer athletes must have not only an endurance base, but also the ability to sprint at full speed for short distances.
Acceleration development should be a major focal point in your training program and you should spend a lot of time working on proper acceleration mechanics. Being able to accelerate quickly and powerfully is probably the most important skill that needs to be improved in all athletes. Athletes in every sport need to be able to run as fast as possible as quickly as possible. Acceleration takes place the first 0-30 meters or to about 3-4 seconds.
For an Acceleration Workout you can run 25 meters at your fastest then take a 3 minute break and continue to do another 25 meters at top speed, repeat for 6 reps20total. Running at full speed, your body will be completely upright and your body will no longer be leaning at an angle as you were during acceleration. By continuing to try to run faster and faster throughout a run, as though you were still accelerating, you are actually going to have a breakdown in running mechanics. By continuing to try to accelerate while beginning to fatigue, you will only slow yourself down faster because you cannot continue to coordinate your movements with accuracy. So in the workout, you want to have your athletes try and relax while they are running at top speed. This might seem odd at first for them, but once they get it, their speed will increase, they won't get fatigued as quickly and it will feel effortless.
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Article submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2008
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