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Soccer Fitness Tips

 

5 Soccer Fitness Tips – How To Improve Speed, Power and Endurance for Soccer Performance

If you implement these soccer fitness tips for training you will raise yourself to a higher level performance on the soccer pitch. Coaches and parents you may wish to take note of these soccer fitness tips to pass on to your players and children respectively

Following these soccer fitness tips,  on a regular basis will help you become stronger, faster and have more stamina than your opponents. The components of soccer fitness training include the following: dynamic warm up, speed training, jump training (plyometrics), recovery.

Soccer Fitness Tips -Tempo Run

 

Soccer Fitness Tips 1 – Dynamic Warm Up

Many coaches train their players to do static stretching while they are cold. This is one of the dangerous holdovers from the past that is out there. You need to do a dynamic warm up. Research has shown that stretching is ineffective for injury prevention.

Dynamic stretching is the way to go as it is realistic to the movement that occurs in as soccer game.

Soccer Fitness Tips 2 – Speed Training

Too many coaches have their players jog for miles at 50% intensity. If this is the case for you, you may wish to look for another coach. Remember you play the game at a high intensity with speed.  If you train at 50% then you train yourself to be slow.

It is important to train for speed both with and with out the ball. Hopefully your soccer coach puts this into your practice just after a good dynamic warm up and before the theme of that day.

Soccer Fitness Tips 3 – Energy System Training – Intervals

Remember soccer is a game of stops- starts and change of direction. One of the best ways you can train for this is by playing small sided games.

You can do this in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 groups and more. Play hard for two to three minutes then actively rest for a minute with simple ball control drills or tricks and repeat three to four times.

Just focusing on these first three soccer fitness tips alone will move your game forward.

Soccer Fitness Tips 4 – Jump Training (Plyometrics)

Too often coaches hear a bout plyometrics and throw their players into the exercises without a proper understanding of how they need to do the exercises properly.

In jump training less is better more. Although unrelated to soccer, hopscotch is an excellent example of jump training.  This type of training should be done at the beginning of practice after a good dynamic warm up.

Soccer Fitness Tips 5- Recovery

Post game or training recovery should begin immediately after with a light “warm down”. This may be in the form of a light jog or light movements from a dynamic warm up. This could include “butt” kicks, forward and backward skips and side to side shuffles. Take ten to fifteen minutes and do these at a slow and steady pace.

Soccer is currently power and speed game and is very physical regardless the age you play. After a game there is lactic acid build up, tired limbs and depleted energy stores.

Sports massage for post game recovery is excellent for both your mind and body. This is most effective two hours after your game.

Here are some more soccer fitness tips for recovery.

You must get at least eight hours of sleep. Your body does most of its post game recovery when you sleep. The body is at rest and can repair itself from damage done in the course of the game.

If you don’t get enough sleep the body releases a hormone called cortisol. It breaks down protein for energy as an alternative to fat. If this occurs over a long period of time your muscles lose strength, your immune system drops and the body gets weaker

Keep in mind that your post game recovery is only as good as what you do during the week for your soccer fitness.

Hopefully these soccer fitness tips will help your performance on the soccer pitch over the long term.

Soccer Fitness Tips - Bonus

Avoid long distance running or jogging at a steady state. This will make you slower, weaker and more likely to develop overuse injuries.

Looking for more soccer fitness tips?

Soccer Fitness Tips from Polar