soccer fitness

June 30, 2010

Weight Training Soccer: Conditioning Secrets Revealed

In soccer training Weight training soccer plays an important role in creating tougher and quicker muscles, this you might have heard a lot of times. Your players will have a chance to play at a higher level if they develop themselves using this soccer fitness plan discussed as follows.

In soccer weight training, the goal is to have muscles that are strong, fast, and have great stamina rather that to add pounds of muscle mass. Upper body weight training for soccer is not as important as is for the legs, but we still do it for overall conditioning and strength.

I think fitness training should start with the legs. Begin with the squatting exercises. Now place the bar with which your players can make 20 reps. Considering that they have good strength, hence give them 220 pounds to start with. The exercise involves getting under the bar then placing it on the upper back and finally standing up with it.

Next tell them to stand having their shoulders and feet width apart. Then they should come down while holding it till their hips are only marginally lower than the top of their knees. At this point in weight training soccer, players should quickly rise to the full standing position and exhale. The players must be encouraged to continue even when they are worn-out till they do 20 reps.

Youth Soccer Practice

They should be given a break of 5-10 minutes before switching to the leg curl machine to work on hamstrings. They are required to perform 4 sets of 15 reps each. They will be required to perform 4 sets of 15 reps on the Stiff-Legged Dead lift between each set of Leg Curl exercises. As player’s speed is greatly improves by strong hamstrings, so they should be very tough.

The leg exercises will be completed with 3 sets of 25 reps on the Standing calf-raise machine.

The Incline bench press would be used to start the upper body exercises.
After a warm up exercise, guide players to add enough weight so that the next set of 10 reps gets difficult. They should continue with that weight for 5 sets of 10 repetitions total, while stretching their chest and shoulders, and resting for around 2 minutes between each set.

The second exercise for this portion of the soccer strength training is pull-ups. Their palms must be facing their body so that they can exercise their biceps and back muscles. The last phase of upper body exercises is to concentrate on the abdominals and leg raises of about 5 sets of 20 or more repetitions. Then finish with 5 sets of 50 or more crunches or sit-ups.

In short weight training soccer is only a small portion of the complete training program required to make great soccer players. You should consider joining our youth soccer coaching society to know more about various weight training exercises relevant to the game of soccer; the community also provides videos, articles, pod casts, and newsletters available for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Drills

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June 29, 2010

Weight Training Soccer: 5 Simple Steps To Getting Started

The truth is that if that you should concentrate on enhancing your team’s Weight training soccer sessions when you train them with weights. One might be missing out great benefits of soccer-specific fitness if he/she overlooks it.

Only some of the coaches understand soccer strength training correctly. Youth soccer players are required to be “complete athletes” now.

They have to be quick off the mark and have to have the upper body strength to defy challenges. These players are required to have exceptional level of aerobic and anaerobic resistance to last that period. A coach should know that he is hamming himself, his team and the game if he just insists his players to do weight lifting as the body builders do.

The sports requiring strength mainly in addition to body building, workout to enhance size, bulk and maximum strength. If it really reduces their aerobic endurance levels and even their speed and flexibility they will not be bothered much.

Soccer Conditioning Drills

If you are also thinking of implementing 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions the whole year, you should know that you’ll be missing out a lot from your fitness training sessions.

We will now see the reasons

In soccer, lower body strength is needed for kicking, jumping, tackling, twisting, and turning and also lays the foundation for great speed. Shielding the ball and making the opponts to stay away, requires upper body strength.

“Strength” can be divided into three categories, when we talk about weight training soccer.

Absolute or Maximum Strength: It is the maximum energy that your muscle group can exert in a quick, single movement. For example, a who can leg press 250 lbs has greater strength than another player who can leg press only 200 lbs.

This absolute strength helps to defend the ball and to keep off the opponents. Fundamentally it’s the foundation for muscular speed and power.

Muscular Power: Power is a result of both absolute strength and the speed of movement. If you increase either of these, without lowering the other, the explosive power of players will increase.

But, if you just follow a generalized weight training routine that most of the popular fitness magazines advocate, you will increase power. While those traditional soccer fitness programs can also be altered increasing the speed of contraction.

Strength Endurance: Muscular stamina is the potential of a muscle group to perform continues and high-power activity. Strength endurance and power both are essential for soccer.

A great significant should be given to include strength endurance in your program. However if you don’t alter your training programs and continue with 3 sets of 8-12 reps each, your training programs will not reap much of productive results.

If you just put some time in altering your weight training soccer accurately you will see that it will improve your game 10 times . You are invited to become a member of our youth soccer coaching society to gain more from the reserve of soccer resources like articles, periodic newsletters, and videos at our youth soccer coaching community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide, visit: Youth Soccer Drills

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May 15, 2010

Soccer Conditioning - Who Else Want To Learn Power Training

Soccer conditioning

Don’t you just hate it when coaches underrate the importance of soccer conditioning in relation to the game? You need to start training the kids from day one. Along with this, soccer exercises must form a part of player’s daily practice session to grow as a professional.

Let’s look at it like this. You team members could not practice for a while because of some unforeseen circumstances. They’ve lost touch with even the basic workouts like walking, slow jogging, and running etc for a few weeks.

Now comes the time when players must bounce back on the field. Think about what all they will have to go through in such a case. The players will have to work twice as hard as they used to for the muscles become inflexible and tend to pain.

Here, some soccer workouts are available which will relieve the player’s strain of starting from scratch again. When in the field, soccer tends to draw from all energy systems of players all the way through the game.

Soccer Fitness

There is this fast acting anaerobic system for high intensity work. And the aerobic system works for a balanced source of energy for longer duration of play. Consequently, the soccer conditioning drills allow the players to again build their resilience without stating form scratch again.

As a coach, you must consider devising a plan that is a combination of these energy systems. The plan must be growth oriented which moves from one stage to the next in a predetermined order. This will aid you in working out the entire conditioning part of your program.

The anaerobic energy system utilizes the energy stored in the muscles along with lactic acid, which is the energy metabolism by-product. It helps efficient supply of energy for a minimal amount of time. The quantity of anaerobic energy spent by the player is determined by the player’s position on the field as well as the playing pattern of the team.

Such is the case of the goalkeeper who does not do a lot of running around the field. This gives him an opportunity to sustain his energy for a longer duration.

As long as the body has the energy for its requirement, it sustains the remaining energy. And when the available energy falls short of the required energy, the player feels fatigued. This causes the need for oxygen when the training session extends beyond a standard limit.

The aerobic system works with the anaerobic system in this soccer fitness schedule. Their ability to march ahead with great speed and agility will work wonders at the end of the match when opposition is weak.

It needs your undivided attention. It must be understood that fitness through soccer conditioning is the only way to a winning team. As a coach, it must be at the top of your mind while training young players. Our youth soccer coaching community has valuable resources that can help you design great fitness and conditioning routines. Join it today.

 

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer conditioning.

 

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April 16, 2010

Soccer Conditioning : Who Else Want To Do Balance Training

Soccer conditioning

What if I told you that soccer is a high speed game that requires the players to be in control of their body through soccer conditioning? Control or balance should be on the top of your mind because it is a prerequisite to most aspects of the game.

A continuous enhancement must be observed in player’s performance despite the position that they play in. Just like flexibility training, balance also forms the foundation of soccer fitness. The players start with increasing core strength and firmness where their bodily control helps them a lot.

However, the ultimate goal of balance training is to provide dynamic stability. As a consequence of balance training, players learn to make use of their muscles resourcefully and quickly. It also means that balance training supports quick movements of body by facilitating the players to make a powerful and harmonized base.

In soccer workouts, take account of balance training in any suitable form which bonds making and cutting of body movements. The processing systems in the brain preserve a state of stability which helps the body to be in charge of the bodily moves and reactions. These methods can be taught and enhanced to perk up your team’s performance on the playing ground.

Soccer Fitness

With time and practice, there will be significant improvements in player’s bodily adjustments during different situations in the game. There are some soccer players who have a limited training experience. This is due the fact that players were not familiarized with these balance training mechanisms. However, they have good game skills.

The soccer exercises containing control and balance as a part of training can help improve their efficiency at a quick rate. Soccer conditioning aerobics that lay stress on balancing guidance can help gain even a middling team member.

Having said that, balance training doesn’t need to be extensive. When all the training material is present, training the players on awkward situations is of no use. In every training, be it warm up, weight training, or agility training, sharing even a few guidelines is ample.

You will feel constructive effects if you daily spare just 5 to 10 minutes for the balance training. You must also get to understand that the balance training gives strength to your ankle and knee joints. You also get strong to get hurt.

Many soccer players turn to balance training when they’ve already suffered an injury. After that it is more of taking a remedial route. However, the balance training in your work outs does not assure you of not getting hurt. You need to make your joints balance responsive.

So, the players will get alerted to a disturbed emotional setting. It will permit them to hold out the imprudent strengths in the changing positions in match.

Now that you know this, make sure that the drills continue to be a part of the maintenance phase of training once the basic foundation of soccer conditioning has been established. For lots of stuff on youth soccer and information on training plans, come be a part of our youth soccer coaching community.

 

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Practice.

 

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April 9, 2010

Soccer Conditioning - 4 Action ideas To Power Training

The coaches fail to appreciate the magnitude of Soccer conditioning of players which is very disappointing. You must put your players to training from the first day. Along with this, soccer exercises must form a part of player’s daily practice session to grow as a professional.

We’ll look at it from a different perspective. You team members could not practice for a while because of some unforeseen circumstances. They’ve lost touch with even the basic workouts like walking, slow jogging, and running etc for a few weeks.

And now is the time for the players to make a come back in the field. Think about what all they will have to go through in such a case. In addition, players will find it extremely difficult to perform at the same level that they used to simply because their muscles have become weak.

Here, some soccer workouts are available which will relieve the player’s strain of starting from scratch again. It’s the game of soccer which has the capacity to find and utilize energy from all energy systems during the match.

Soccer Conditioning Drills

There is this fast acting anaerobic system for high intensity work. And the aerobic system works for a balanced source of energy for longer duration of play. As such the players will not need to begin from scratch again to build up their stamina using these soccer conditioning workouts.

You are the coach so it’s up to you to come up with a plan which is a right combination of both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. The plan must be growth oriented which moves from one stage to the next in a predetermined order. It will help you organize the overall conditioning aspect of your training program.

The anaerobic energy system functions through the energy stored in the muscles along with lactic acid, which is the energy metabolism by-product. It aids a ready supply of energy for a limited amount of time. The position at which the player plays as also the team’s playing style determines how much anaerobic energy is used by the player.

For example: a goalie spends a very limited amount time in running around the field. This gives him an opportunity to sustain his energy for a longer duration.

As long as the body has the energy for its requirement, it sustains the remaining energy. When the energy required falls short of requirements, fatigue sets in. This is precisely why the players need oxygen in extended training sessions because they session continues beyond a limit.

The aerobic system works with the anaerobic system in this soccer fitness schedule. Their capacity to keep going even at the end of the match will help them when the opponents are weak.

Don’t take it as a joke. The only way to achieve results is introducing fitness through soccer conditioning. Being the coach this should at the top of your priority list when coaching the kids. Our youth soccer coaching community offers a great deal of resources to help you efficiently conduct soccer conditioning. Become a member now.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide, visit: Soccer Drills

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April 8, 2010

Soccer Conditioning : 3 Things You Must Know

You’ve probably heard it a hundred times that a basic Soccer conditioning program is at the core of a team’s success. It is because of soccer exercises which build strength, agility, and endurance that players manage to stay in shape and thus dream to become match winners for their team.

Still, your team or you may face situations where there is paucity of time to train ahead of a tournament. But you don’t need to compromise on the conditioning exercises because of this. You don’t want your players to get injured before or during the game.

A well planned soccer fitness training course has the capacity to fully train the players even in less that 3 days time. All that is required is sincerity, good plan, and execution. Here are some tips that work fine with short but efficient training programs.

Warming up: Tell the players to kick off with any of these; a five minute jog, heel flicks, high knees, or jumping. In the meanwhile, find time to rest to a minute or so. This should be followed by some stretching of muscles for about 5 minutes to tone them up. Make it a point that these soccer workouts comprise of all the key muscle groups.

Soccer conditioning

Running: Some coaches have a tendency to make the players do constant running. Though it’s absolutely ok, but in my opinion the players should be made to practice only soccer specific running. It means that for 20 to 30 minutes, they do a mix of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order.

This form of running at different speeds helps the players get strong and have more control over their bodies. And they do not feel drained since a walk after the sprint helps balance things out.

Just let the individual players decide on what they wish to do and when. If they wish to do sprints more than light jogging, there is no harm in it. As the players get fitter and their stamina increases, you can increase the duration of your soccer conditioning program by another 5 to 10 minutes.

Stretching: Encourage the players to do it whenever they can; after a training session and after the match. Concentrate on working out the whole body specially the hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Keep in mind that the stretching positions should be longer than the warm-up sessions. Normally, 20 to 30 seconds is fine.

Make the players rest a day before the match. This will help the muscles restore their form and also there will be no possibility of an injury. It is also a time to discuss the strategy with them along with boosting their confidence.

Discuss some funny things or joke so that they feel lighter.

Have faith in me! Once these techniques are applied, your players shall start playing dramatically well. To know more about soccer conditioning, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community which will leave you richer with resources on youth soccer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Drills For Kids

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April 3, 2010

Instant Soccer Conditioning Strategies Anyone Can Use

Let it be known that in Soccer conditioning, to keep changing the force of workouts is some idea to consider. It helps in producing a quality effort in a match or equally a workout. Whenever a competition is forthcoming, coaches have a tendency to be indecisive in their approach.

Talking about training, follow the policy of “less is more” whenever a competition is close. Carry on with the same amount of high intensity, however, cut down on number and duration of drills. It suggests an apt amount of incentive to continue with the performance. Coaches would do exactly the reverse.

What they do is enhance the intensity and number both resulting in negative effects of training and lot of strain. For this reason, the players are not at their physical and mental best on the day of match.

This holds good for after match soccer fitness. The players tend to feel tired, stiff, and experience pain after the match, depending upon the duration of the match. As such, it’s necessary to have a workout session subsequently for the players to recuperate. This will help the players get back to their normal self helping their muscles to relax.

At the same time, see that the sessions are not very broad. In general, 15-30 minutes is more than perfect when it comes to the length of these workouts. The goal must be to counter the stress that occurred during the match or competition.

The best method to recuperate after a match is to practice cooling down. This form of soccer conditioning is effective in cooling the body while at the same time keeping the blood flow normal. Embrace light exercises such as shuffling, skipping, and carioca, in addition to static stretching.

After returning home, the players can take hot or cold showers which make the recovery faster.

Soccer conditioning

Introduce recovery sessions during, between, and after the soccer exercises to relieve the players off the training stress. Long and strenuous sessions may cause the players to under-perform and also feel fatigued.

As the workouts become advanced and the training sessions progress, the strength required for the session should decrease. This will allow the body to prepare itself for the next session.

Follow the days of heavy soccer workouts with light exercises on another day. Include a complete day off in between when the players can rest. Every training session should be followed by a cool down and stretching session. Go for light movement drills, self-massage, as well as body stretches in this session. This will effectively cure the soreness in the muscles due to tissue breakdown.

So there you have it! Add these post match/workout soccer conditioning tips to your sessions and you will be amazed by the results of your workouts. Our youth soccer coaching community has tons of knowledge in the form of articles, newsletters, videos etc. Make a good use of them by registering today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Training

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