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Off-Season Soccer Conditioning

by Rett Larson, MS, CSCS

Most soccer players would like to start their season faster than they’ve ever been, and by “faster” they mean faster at sprinting, not jogging. They’d also like to be able to sprint as hard at the end of 90 minutes as they did at the beginning. Unfortunately, many players think that the best way to build off-season speed and endurance is to start logging in lots of slow miles on the road. One of the common misconceptions about endurance training is that it’s all the same. Here’s a fact: jogging really just gets you good at one thing – jogging. The muscle fibers and energy systems that enable you to summon repeated bursts of speed are completely different than those that help you run for long distances.

Muscles are smart. That’s not to say that the heavily-oiled, oddly tan man-hulk who works out at your local gym is a genius, because that likely isn’t true. But, his individual muscles do have quite a good memory, so when you train them for cross-country running in the off-season, they won’t reward you with sprint-endurance when the season starts. The mechanics of acceleration are totally different than jogging mechanics, so when you spend lots of time running slowly it confuses your neuromuscular system.

Instead of training aerobically with long, steady, medium-intensity exercise, start training anaerobically. Anaerobic training involves repeated short bursts of intense exercise followed by active recovery, much like a soccer match. Your body will become better at replenishing your energy stores, you heart will get stronger, and your respiratory capacity will increase.

Here’s the bad news. Conditioning anaerobically isn’t easy, which is a big reason why everyone doesn’t do it. Workouts will take you less time than a 3-5 mile run, but they’ll push your body harder. The good news is that because of the physical discomfort involved, you’ll grow stronger mentally – and when those thresholds increase, so will your confidence. Knowing that you’ve put in more effort and endured more off-season pain than your opponent can be a powerful motivator late in a match.

The following are some of my favorite types of anaerobic training. As always, if you’re just beginning to work out, you might want to consult a physician to make sure you’re ready.

Hills or Stadium Steps
Olympic marathoner Frank Shorter once said that “hills are speed work in disguise” – which should sound good to you. Hill or stadium step repeats are great for building anaerobic endurance. Be sure to vary the way you attack the hills – run, backpedal, lateral shuffle, skip, hop, bound or anything else that will keep your body guessing. Keep track of your rest intervals between ascents. As you progress, you’ll want to start both increasing the amount of times you ascend as well as decreasing the rest between ascents.

Another key consideration when descending a hill or step is how you might use that time to make your body less prone to injury. Most non-contact injuries in soccer occur when you’re decelerating your body weight, usually with a single leg. Strengthen the muscles that decelerate you as you’re going back down the hill. Gently hop from one foot to the other as you descend, sticking and holding each landing for 3 seconds until the knee, ankle and hip are stabilized. Start with small hops and try to get more dynamic as you get stronger. You should be trying to land as softly and silently as possible.

Jumprope
Jumping rope is a fantastic anaerobic exercise because it works both your upper and lower body, it’s a highly coordinated activity, and it’s very taxing on your cardiovascular system. Practice jumping forward, backward, forward-to-back, side-to-side, single leg hops, running forward and backward, double-jumps, or with your eyes closed. Start with five 30-second jumping intervals, each followed by a minute of rest and work up from there.

Anaerobic Running
If you do love to run or bike, consider switching from steady distance to what runners call a fartlek. A fartlek is a run of varying intensities that are timed. For instance, a common fartlek is a 3-2-1, in which you run for a prescribed time (maybe 18 minutes to start) going 3 minutes slow, 2 minutes medium and 1 minute sprinting. After the 1 minute sprint you immediately repeat with 3 more minutes of slow running, and so on. This is a much more soccer-specific way to run.

If you want to do an interval workout, that’s also great, but in order to keep your body from getting into too much of a steady running pattern (which rarely occurs in soccer), set up obstacles, turns or hurdles. Also, since soccer is becoming an increasingly physical sport, consider mixing in strength exercises like push-ups, squats or pull-ups between sprint bouts.

This off-season, switch from aerobic to anaerobic conditioning and your coach will be amazed at how much faster and tougher you are when the season starts.

Rett Larson, MS, CSCS is the Director of Coaching for Velocity Sports Performance.

About Velocity Sports Performance:
Velocity Sports Performance is a national network of training centers where athletes of all sports, ages and skill levels go to improve their core athletic skills - speed, power and agility. Athletes train in small groups with degreed and certified performance coaches. Velocity Sports Performance is the Official Performance Training Partner of Cal South Soccer. Players who train with Velocity Sports Performance can expect to get to the ball quicker, cover more of the field faster, increase their shot power and reduce their chances of injury. Velocity Sports Performance has training centers throughout Southern California including Irvine, Redondo Beach, Anaheim, Carlsbad, San Diego, West LA and Santa Clarita.