SOCCER

Gap analysis
Aerobic fitness is pretty good, not far off ideal. All the sprint, agility and leg power tests are below ideal. Especially, the standing broad jump test, suggesting that leg power could be improved. Arm power is fine and therefore needs only to be maintained.

The program
The player has a six-week period of no competitive Soccer  and so we will devise a plan to improve leg power and agility for this period, while maintaining upper body strength and aerobic fitness. 

The progression over six weeks would be to increase the intensity of the plyometric drills and the weight lifted in the gym - e.g., replace squat jumps with drop jumps into lateral sprint. By the end of the six week period the player would be re-tested and hopefully we would see improvements in 30m sprint, standing long jump test and 20 m shuttle run test.

Non-lab-based fitness assessments
Here is a selection of fitness assessments that cover all aspects of physical performance. For each Soccer player  or team one should select
a few relevant tests, using this list as a guide.

Multi-Stage Fitness Test (Bleep test)
Estimates aerobic power or VO2max, in ml/kg/min. Very good for games players as it is specific to the nature of their sport. Not suitable for rowers, swimmers or cyclists as they will achieve higher scores on specific tests. Also, endurance athletes may have trouble with short turns.

Level 8    =   40 ml/kg/min
Level 10   =   47 ml/kg/min
Level 12   =   54 ml/kg/min
Level 14   =   61 ml/kg/min
Level 16   =   68 ml/kg/min
Level 18   =   75 ml/kg/min

Cooper Test
The Cooper test is an alternative test for aerobic fitness. It is very simple, being the maximum distance run in 12 minutes. VO2 max is estimated by the formula = 22.351 x d (km) - 11.288 (ml/kg/min)

VO2 max scores from elite sports:
Endurance runners & cyclists > 75 ml/kg/min
Squash   =   65 ml/kg/min (male)
Soccer    =   60-65 ml/kg/min (male)
Rugby   =   55 ml/kg/min
Volleyball   =   50 ml/kg/min (female)
Baseball   =   50 ml/kg/min (male)

300 yard Shuttle
This is a test of intermediate anaerobic power, i.e., the lactate system. It is performed as a shuttle run over 25 yards ( 300 = 12 x 25 ). This is a good test for games players as the shuttle format makes it sport specific. Especially for soccer.

T - Drill
This is a test of agility. It involves running forwards 10 yards, side- stepping left 5 yards touching a cone, side stepping right 10 yards touching a cone, side-stepping back 5 yards and running backwards 10 yards to the start. This is classic test for Soccer, which involve multidirectional movement.

20 metre Shuttle Run
Another test of agility but a more simple drill involving only sprinting and turning. Good for Soccer . The athlete starts in the middle cone, sprints 5 metres to the left, touches the far cone, turns, sprints 10 metres across to far cone, touches and sprints back to the middle.

Standing Long Jump
A test of maximum anaerobic power (leg). Functional test for initial acceleration and horizontal power. Good scores are 2.50 - 3.30 m (male), 2.3 - 3.0 m (female).

Vertical or Sergeant Jump
A test of maximum anaerobic power (leg). Probably the most widespread test used to test leg power. Considered very functional. Athlete performs a counter movement jump using the arms and touches with one arm as high as possible. This is a functional vertical power test. Good score: 55 - 70 cm (male).

Drop Jump
A further max anaerobic power test (leg). Athlete drops off a bench and instantly rebounds and performs a maximum vertical jump. The score is the maximum drop height at which the athlete can still achieve the same score as on the vertical jump. This is a measure of the athlete's plyometric (SSC) power. Anything less than 18" suggests that SSC exercises for RFD are a priority.

Overhead Medicine Ball Throw
A test of upper body power. The athlete performs the equivalent of a football throw-in with no run-up. 2 - 5 kg ball.

Press Up Max
This is a test of upper-body strength. Correct form is important and must be monitored for a correct test score. For men >45 is excellent, women >30 is excellent. For men <20 is poor, women <8 is poor.

Sit Up Max (1 min)
This is a measure of trunk strength endurance. The Soccer Player performs as many full sit ups as possible in 1 minute with his/her feet held. Good scores are 60 for men and 50 for women. Poor scores are 38 for men, 30 for women.

1 RM Squat
Maximum leg strength test. Considered the most functional of leg strength tests in predicting sprinting and jumping ability. Elite players can achieve 2 x BW (male) and 1.5 x BW (female). 1 RM can be estimated from formula 1 RM = wt x (1 + 0.0333 x reps).

1RM Leg Press
Maximum leg strength test. A useful test as no technique or prior experience is required; however, it is not as functional as the squat. The recommended guideline is that Player should be able to push >2.5 x BW.

1 RM Bench Press
Maximum upper body strength test. The need for maximum upper body strength varies between sports and so it does not always need to be tested. For example, in Soccer a basic upper body strength will suffice . Good scores are 1.25 x BW (male) and 0.8 x BW (female).

Per Cent Body Fat
This is an important test because it relates directly to an athlete's fitness. It can be measured by skin fold formulas or by bio-impedance machines. Too much body fat means aerobic training and nutrition need to be prioritized. Remember: athletes only need to eat a low-fat diet to be lean - not a low calorie diet. Be careful that the test is accurate and that you can trust it; otherwise you could be boosting aerobic training and changing diets for no good reason. A body-fat score can be highly motivational; you do not want to invoke misplaced changes in eating habits. Typical scores for athletes are 6-12% for men and 12-20% for women.

Flexibility
Ideally, the full range of motion for all the major joint movements should be tested, for instance, straight leg raise test for the hamstrings.

Food for thought
All the tests above are easily accessible and will provide the trainer with the information they need to design the training program. However, you do not need to use them all. Select only those which are relevant to the athletes' sport. Sometimes we can be tempted to use a test because it is popular or because there is data available. For instance, quads/hams isokinetic ratios or lactate profile test in lab. Remember to always question exactly what the test is telling you. Make up your own tests. Sometimes it does not matter if no one else uses it, if it is relevant to the athlete and you see the progression.

The assessment results are analyzed to establish which fitness areas need to be developed to raise competitive performance. The design of the training program should prioritize these areas to bring them up to scratch. The fitness areas which are already good can simply be maintained. This principle recognizes the fact that it is difficult to develop all aspects of physical performance at once. This is both because of practical issues - there may be simply a lack of time to work on all areas during the training week - and physiological issues, in that strength and power development is compromised by endurance training.

The following sections will briefly describe appropriate training methods and their dosage for each of the fitness aspects.

Strength and power
At some stage every Soccer player needs to develop strength and power. The best results are achieved with 2-4 times a week training, with little concurrent endurance training. In competitive periods, this is not practical for many sports although research has shown strength maintenance and sometimes improvements are possible through a season with regular strength training. The best solution is for strength and power development to be planned for the off season and then maintained through the season.

To develop max strength, a weights exercise session should be designed. A typical session comprises 5-10 exercises with 2-4 sets of 5-12 RM per exercise. To develop power, plyometric exercises are most commonly used. A session comprises 5-8 exercises with a total of 100 - 300 foot/shoulder contacts per workout, depending on the athlete's level and time of year. Weights and plyometric exercises can be combined in the same session. This is called complex training and is very effective for peaking.

Aerobic endurance
Aerobic fitness is primary for Soccer . However, it is not the only fitness area and if it is focused on too much can be detrimental to strength and power - which are equally, if not more important, in many sports. Trainers must think carefully about the fitness level they believe is appropriate for peak performance and then achieve that. For example, in elite Soccer a high aerobic capacity is key, .

Effective methods of developing aerobic fitness:
a)    4-6 x 2-5 minutes with 2-5 minutes rest. Proven to be very effective for boosting VO2 max when performed once/twice a week.
b)    20 x 200m with 30 seconds recovery or 10 x 400m with 60-90 seconds recovery.
c)    5 - 10 km steady runs.
The advantage of using interval sessions is that the athlete always runs fast, and the volume of training is kept low.

This should help reduce interference with strength and power development. The advantage of steady runs is that they take less recovery time, and are not as psychologically demanding.

To develop aerobic fitness perform session a & b once a week plus two or three steady runs. To maintain aerobic training, perform either sessions a or b once a week. ...and anaerobic

Anaerobic endurance is also important for many sports. This is the ability to work at a high intensity repeatedly. Both the lactate system and the ATP-PC system should be trained, significant lactate system training as it much more continuous. Anaerobic endurance can be developed with 2-3 times a week training.

Effective methods for ATP-PC development:
a)    3 x 10 x 30 m sprints starting every 30 seconds. 5 minutes between sets.
b)    15 x 60 m with 1 minutes rest.
c)    20 x 20m shuttle run, 45 seconds rest.

Effective methods for lactate development:
a)    5-8 x 300m fast, with 45 seconds rest until pace significantly slows.
b)    150m intervals at 400m pace, with 20 seconds rest until pace significantly slows.
c)    8 x 300 m, 3 minutes rest (lactate recovery training).
Some aerobic benefit will also be gained from these sessions. Full anaerobic training should not take place with full aerobic training as well: one or the other must be prioritized.

Speed and agility
Speed and agility are a key to soccer.

Effective methods for acceleration:
a) All max leg strength exercises improve acceleration, as do leg plyometric exercises. Particularly useful ones
are standing long jump, standing triple jump, hurdle hops, combination jumps (horizontal).
b) Sprint starts. For example, 20 x 5 m with 30 seconds recovery. These can be made more specific by incorporating reactions to signals (e.g., the ball) or starting from various positions (e.g., the floor).
c) Foot speed drills. For instance, frappier drills, complete max number of foot contacts in 10 seconds. d) Resisted accelerations. Athlete performs max 10 m efforts with trainer pulling with tubing. Very useful as it is a completely specific way to add resistance sprint start movement. However, must not be overdone as athlete can learn to run with slow cadence. Always finish workout with normal accelerations.

Effective methods for max sprint speed:
a) Hill sprints. 10% gradient up and down.
b) Overspeed running. For advanced athletes only but very effective for improving leg speed. Athlete sprints while being towed by tubing or machine.
c) Sprint drills. There is a whole repertoire of these used worldwide by athletics coaches. If used regularly they are very effective at improving running technique, coordination and stability of synergistic muscles involved in running. For instance, the walking drill.
d) Sprint workout. A typical sprint workout could be 5 - 10 x 30 - 80 m max efforts. 3-5 minutes rest in between.

VERY IMPORTANT TIP 1:
Soccer Players must always be completely fresh for speed training if it is to be effective. Therefore, no heavy weight training or hard endurance training the day before.

VERY IMPORTANT TIP 2:
Speed training sessions must always include long rest periods and focus solely on quality. Speed development is about teaching the neuromuscular system to operate at full speed and power and this is not possible if there is any fatigue. If rests are too short, the training will only develop speed endurance and not maximum speed.

Effective methods for agility:
a) Agility plyometrics. Certain plyometric exercises have an agility component in them. For example, lateral hops, depth jump and 180 turn, line hopping. b) Footwork ladder. Ladder drills are great for foot speed and agility as the ladder forces precision and speed of movement. c) Agility drills and shuttles. A regular workout should be performed including lateral shuffle, crossovers, back stepping etc., plus shuttle runs and drills which involve turning, e.g., the T drill. Focus on quality movement and technique to increase the athlete's agility and grace. These drills can be customized and made more sports-specific once the athlete has mastered the basics. For example, add catching
a ball into the drill.

Balance, coordination and stability
A final area that must be incorporated into a Soccer  training program is balance, co-ordination and stability training. Economy of movement, peak power and agility cannot be optimized unless the athlete has highly developed balance and stability. Balance and co-ordination have to be developed through many different methods as variety is key. Exercises on the wobble board and balance beam are great for this. With a little imagination one can think of many things to challenge an athlete's balance and co-ordination. For instance, balancing on a wobble board while juggling. Stability, especially in the trunk, must also be developed through various methods. I recommend using gymnastic balls, learning some Tai Chi moves, as well as using a medicine ball for the stomach and low back exercises. Particularly effective are static bridging exercises, e.g.,
The Plank, for developing functional core stability. A stability workout should be performed at least twice a week.

For more info contact Jimmy Petruzzi at jpetruzzi@ntlworld.com
Telephone: 07818032622
www.petruzzisocceracademy.com