How to get football fit

BearThomas131

As the title says I want to get football fit for the start of next season (August)

I am currently in the gym a good bit doing a mix of cardio and weights I go for a lite jog 2-3 times a week which usually takes me 25 min for 3.5km but at the min that's my max and I do be fairly wrecked after it as I'm fairly heavy and only getting into fitness since jan

Just looking for tips or advice on how to speed up my running fitness in time for the football season

Thanks

LuckyLloyd

Play football a lot. Find as many five a side / 11 a side astro games as you can between now and August.

jive

Do some running to get a semi-decent 5k-10k time. Once you have that base then focus on doing some form of interval training as that will be the most efficient way to get fit for football. I've found that once you start running longer distances it has little or no effect on your capacity to run short bursts around a football pitch, I was running ~16k regularly enough but intervals are the way to go.

Interval training can be in the form of hill sprints, rowing, weights or metcons which combine the lot. I would do a few 5ks first though, take them as slow as you want at the start rome wasn't built in a week... don't huff and puff for 5k take it handy! If you cant do 5k at the min then build up to it, if you're aiming for August then you have time on your side. Also as LuckyLoyd said play some football as that will make the regime a bit more entertaining

shannonman81

I remember a technique years ago we did when I was in a soccer academy. I think it was called fartlech or something like that. You basically spilt the outside of the pitch into six.... So from corner flag to halfway, halfway to other corner flag, that corner to the other, then down to the other halfway, then onto the other corner and then back home(hope that makes sense) anyway you then jog, walk and sprint the sections sometimes two or three and you vary up what way you do it.... For instance

Jog one
Sprint two
Walk one
Sprint one
Jog two... And so on.
The theory being it replicates what you would do in a match.

Dermighty

shannonman81 wrote: »

I remember a technique years ago we did when I was in a soccer academy. I think it was called fartlech or something like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek

Alf Veedersane

Fartlek/interval training and some basic plyometrics worked for me. Failing that, switch to goals

Theresalwaysone

Gym Work:
Power Cleans
Deadlifts
Core Work, static, twisting and crunching.
Unilateral work.

Pitch Work;
Decent 10k time.
Interval Sprints with varying distance.
Box Jumps.

LOTS of mobility and stretching.

nice_guy80

If you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, then go see a S&C coach, tell them what you want and they'll assess you and do up a program for your needs.

BearThomas131

Great replies there guys gonna give them all a good shot,

Insect Overlord

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Fartlek/interval training and some basic plyometrics worked for me. Failing that, switch to goals

Goals is great! Loads of sit-ups, squats, planks, box jumps, twists, push-ups...

siblers

You should look into Insanity. Do that for a few months and you'll be flying fit.

EdenHazard

12 sprints of local pitch, sprint, rest 20 seconds, take break at the 6th, then go again. This is tougher than it sounds.

moc8827

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

Gym Work:
Power Cleans
Deadlifts
Core Work, static, twisting and crunching.
Unilateral work.

Pitch Work;
Decent 10k time.
Interval Sprints with varying distance.
Box Jumps.

LOTS of mobility and stretching.

Are the power cleans and deadlifts really important though for football? I presume it's with fairly light weight, lots of repetition for football? I can understand power cleans for explosive movements, but deadlifts?

Do professional footballers do these exercises?

Not trying to argue, genuinely curious. I'm getting back into football myself and would like to incorporate these exercises in, partly cause I think they're fun, so if it helps me in football, all the better!

EdenHazard

Squats of peace

''You don't want to squat too heavy because that will make you too muscly and you won't be able to run fast''

moc8827

EdenHazard wrote: »

Squats of peace

''You don't want to squat too heavy because that will make you too muscly and you won't be able to run fast''

interesting, thanks!

Alf Veedersane

moc8827 wrote: »

Are the power cleans and deadlifts really important though for football? I presume it's with fairly light weight, lots of repetition for football? I can understand power cleans for explosive movements, but deadlifts?

Do professional footballers do these exercises?

Not trying to argue, genuinely curious. I'm getting back into football myself and would like to incorporate these exercises in, partly cause I think they're fun, so if it helps me in football, all the better!

Presuming we're talking about preparing for a season rather than during the season, why wouldn't you deadlift as part of training for football?

Alf Veedersane

moc8827 wrote: »

interesting, thanks!

Eden was actually quoting Usain Bolt there who has achieved enormous success because he's been able to not get muscly and runs faster because of it...

moc8827

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Presuming we're talking about preparing for a season rather than during the season, why wouldn't you deadlift as part of training for football?

I just didn't think it was particularly important for football.

Theresalwaysone mentioned it among a handful of other exercises - just wondering why it's specified. Would squats not be preferred over deadlifts, if you had to pick one over the other?

Regarding the quote, oh right, I didn't know who that was, just watched the video..

Alf Veedersane

Why would you pick squats over deadlift for football? I'm not trying to catch you out or anything...just want to get a better idea where you're coming from.

moc8827

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Why would you pick squats over deadlift for football? I'm not trying to catch you out or anything...just want to get a better idea where you're coming from.

cause im an idiot who doesn't know what im talking about?

moc8827

ah no, just cause i thought squats covered more muscle groups in the lower body than deadlifts. but maybe im wrong, and maybe alot of the muscle groups covered by squats are going to be covered by other exercises anyway?

Alf Veedersane

moc8827 wrote: »

cause im an idiot who doesn't know what im talking about?

I'm not sure if that's what you think I'm suggesting but it's not. But in preparing for a season, you want to build up overall strength. Neither is going to affect you adversely or slow you down.

From my own experience playing sawker, both (amongst other things) have made me quicker and stronger. And performance improved as a result.

During the season, i wouldn't go overboard on deadlifts and squats, necessarily, but pre-season, no reason why they can't both be in there

moc8827

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I'm not sure if that's what you think I'm suggesting but it's not. But in preparing for a season, you want to build up overall strength. Neither is going to affect you adversely or slow you down.

From my own experience playing sawker, both (amongst other things) have made me quicker and stronger. And performance improved as a result.

During the season, i wouldn't go overboard on deadlifts and squats, necessarily, but pre-season, no reason why they can't both be in there

no, i wasn't, just joking.

Why would you differentiate between pre-season and during season regarding strength? Is it that building strength is a more long-term thing i.e. it stays with you for longer, whereas cardio fitness is more something that you can lose/ gain within a couple weeks. Or is it just that cardio is more important for soccer

Alf Veedersane

No, it's just that with training and matches during the season you can't train with weights to the same extent as you can during pre-season. In the same way that you won't do the same level of fitness training during the season as you'll do pre-season.

gucci

shannonman81 wrote: »

I remember a technique years ago we did when I was in a soccer academy. I think it was called fartlech or something like that.
Jog one
Sprint two
Walk one
Sprint one
Jog two... And so on.
The theory being it replicates what you would do in a match.

used to do that on a gaa pitch for gaa football training,it was absolute torture but one of the best drills /preparation we did.

LuckyLloyd

moc8827 wrote: »

no, i wasn't, just joking.

Why would you differentiate between pre-season and during season regarding strength? Is it that building strength is a more long-term thing i.e. it stays with you for longer, whereas cardio fitness is more something that you can lose/ gain within a couple weeks. Or is it just that cardio is more important for soccer

Time to recover. A 90 minute match at any sort of worthwhile level is going to take a lot of rest to fully recover from. In the offseason with no 90 minute matches, you have an opportunity to push it in the gym and be able to recovery adequately from 3 / 4 weight sessions a week. And when the body fully recovers it gets stronger:

Are the power cleans and deadlifts really important though for football? I presume it's with fairly light weight, lots of repetition for football? I can understand power cleans for explosive movements, but deadlifts?

Do professional footballers do these exercises?

Not trying to argue, genuinely curious. I'm getting back into football myself and would like to incorporate these exercises in, partly cause I think they're fun, so if it helps me in football, all the better!

Don't presume professional footballers train as efficiently as possible. Given the nature of football and its popularity around the globe, there is a natural selection of freak athletes to start with. Robin Van Persie is an absolute beast who has had the volume and supports of a professional structure since a young teenager.

If you were to start eating a pile of food and begin making compound lifts your sole training focus for an extended period you absolutely would become worse at football over the long haul. However, you may be more explosive over the first 10 yards than you ever were before.

The suggestion here is to use the two or three months you have off to work on these compound exercises. Anything that strengthens hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves is going to allow you to apply more force with those muscles. As a consequence, if you make gains in these compound movements it should give you a little extra speed and explosiveness when you go back into your preseason fitness cycle and start playing matches, etc. During the season then, you could do one or two compound sessions a week (two if a game is cancelled), accepting that you're not going to make much gains but looking to roughly maintain your strength levels. Then build again the following summer, etc.

The goal is that, overtime, you'll become a better athlete. Your amateur football cycle after junior football (i.e. school) is finished could be two decades or more. It's a long term game.

From what I've seen, most park teams around the country don't have a clue about what a good pre match warm up is, what 'stretching' should be, how to best use training, etc. At the professional level, the game is only coming out of the dark ages. We are only three decades removed from a Liverpool side that won the European Cup while almost exclusively training via 5 a side games; indulging in heroic pint drinking all through the season; and being served beans and chips in the Melwood canteen. American football and basketball players need to move fast, they train compound lifts. It's about getting the balance right - as a football player you need to move far and you need to be fluid and be able to turn quickly and stay on your toes, etc. But speed and explosiveness can't hurt.

Theresalwaysone

I recommended DL and Cleans, and other hip hinge work because a lot of people a)neglect this or b) have awful mobility from sitting around all day. Obviously the other benefits are great.

Having bad hip mobility, tight glutes/hams/quads leads to a crapload of issues in the groin/abs/glutes/hams and its massively multiplied by running and sprinting with said issues.

Other than that, Pre Season is literally the be all and end all with regards to 'Fitness' for any sport really. All other training is usually just maintainence and skills work.

Alf Veedersane

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Don't presume professional footballers train as efficiently as possible. Given the nature of football and its popularity around the globe, there is a natural selection of freak athletes to start with. Robin Van Persie is an absolute beast who has had the volume and supports of a professional structure since a young teenager.



From what I've seen, most park teams around the country don't have a clue about what a good pre match warm up is, what 'stretching' should be, how to best use training, etc. At the professional level, the game is only coming out of the dark ages.

Fitting choice of example, which shows how professional teams still don't get it right. When RVP was coming back at the start of last season, Moyes actually said they were overtraining him to get back to speed. Moyes brought in lots of training drills and a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result, RVP spent half of the season on the treatment table.

nice_guy80

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Fitting choice of example, which shows how professional teams still don't get it right. When RVP was coming back at the start of last season, Moyes actually said they were overtraining him to get back to speed. Moyes brought in lots of training drills and a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result, RVP spent half of the season on the treatment table.

The main problem with footballers is the lack of recovery time between games. Huge strain on the various energy systems in the body with only 3/4 days between big games.
Plus, many footballers like to socialise and drink which encourages injury.

Alf Veedersane

nice_guy80 wrote: »

The main problem with footballers is the lack of recovery time between games. Huge strain on the various energy systems in the body with only 3/4 days between big games.
Plus, many footballers like to socialise and drink which encourages injury.

But there was a marked difference between his injury record over the two seasons which has been blamed on the type of old-fashioned training Moyes brought in.

But that's beside the point of what the OP was asking for. Lloyd's given a pretty good explanation of what he should train and why.

IK09

shannonman81 wrote: »

I remember a technique years ago we did when I was in a soccer academy. I think it was called fartlech or something like that. You basically spilt the outside of the pitch into six.... So from corner flag to halfway, halfway to other corner flag, that corner to the other, then down to the other halfway, then onto the other corner and then back home(hope that makes sense) anyway you then jog, walk and sprint the sections sometimes two or three and you vary up what way you do it.... For instance

Jog one
Sprint two
Walk one
Sprint one
Jog two... And so on.
The theory being it replicates what you would do in a match.

This is a savage way of pushing yourself, especially when training alone. However, I did a bit of schoolboy coaching with Greig Paterson. He maintains (and I agree) that the most a player needs to be able to sprint is 40m as the average sprinting distance in a match is 28m. But for preseason fitness training, its a great exercise.

The average distance you will cover (position dependent) is 10km. Any team i have ever trained, i try to keep the average kilometer to 6.5mins. So that is what i would be aiming for.

If you can run 8km in an hour you'll be fine.

Alf Veedersane

When I'm doing my own training for football, I used to use the floodlights at the local GAA pitch as markers. They were 40m apart so I'd sprint from one to the next, walk to the next, sharp turn (180 degrees) and sprint, walk, etc etc. Each sprint/walk was 40m.

Repeat until you can taste the vomit in thew back of your mouth

guile4582

BearThomas131 wrote: »

As the title says I want to get football fit for the start of next season (August)

I am currently in the gym a good bit doing a mix of cardio and weights I go for a lite jog 2-3 times a week which usually takes me 25 min for 3.5km but at the min that's my max and I do be fairly wrecked after it as I'm fairly heavy and only getting into fitness since jan

Just looking for tips or advice on how to speed up my running fitness in time for the football season

Thanks

Play 5 aside and have a weight training routine too
throw in cycling and swimming too if you can

but playing 5 aside is the best way. I have seen super fit lads, who can run a lot more than me on the road, but gasp for breath at a game.

it's those quick sprints and turns/bursts of energy and being on your toes that only a good competitive game of 5 a side can bring

even writing this i am like....come on august!!

IK09

guile4582 wrote: »

Play 5 aside and have a weight training routine too
throw in cycling and swimming too if you can

but playing 5 aside is the best way. I have seen super fit lads, who can run a lot more than me on the road, but gasp for breath at a game.

it's those quick sprints and turns/bursts of energy and being on your toes that only a good competitive game of 5 a side can bring

even writing this i am like....come on august!!

There are so many "types" of fitness, football is all bursts of pace. It hits you right in the lungs! The change of pace is hard to train for, and the right warm up is essential. Being able to run 15km, will not prepare you for the tpe of fitness needed for a football match.

Some people call it your "second wind" when you get through the initial sharp shortness of breath. When I used to play GAA our coach used to make sure you had reached this level of exertion in the warm up.