If your soccer season has ended for another year, that means you should start training now to maximize your body to dominate next year. It may sound crazy, but the best players do it, so why not you?
The trick is to choose the right style of training to maximize your gains in the off-season.
Endurance training is out.
That can wait til late off-season or the pre-season.
Strength, Power, Speed and Agility training is in.
This is what will give you the most benefit when you step on the pitch next year.
The off season is also the optimal time to focus on adding muscle if you need it.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, I want to introduce you to an Off Season Strength & Conditioning Program by John Cissik posted on www.Stack.com. He knows his stuff.
This program has been used by hundreds of high school and college kids so we know it works.
It is suitable for both high school and university age athletes alike, but a word of warning.
If you’ve not done much or any consistent strength training in the past, I highly suggest working with a personal trainer or joining a strength and conditioning program such as my Fit Faster Bootcamp groups before attempting this on your own.
Having said that, 15 year old me had a set of dumbbells and was doing whatever the instructions on the box said. It wasn’t ideal but at least I was doing something.
So I’m going to guide you through this program as if I’m talking to teenage me.
Follow through the rest of this article and I’ll guide you through the program with video demonstrations and suggestions. Keep checking back regularly, read it multiple times so you understand it if need be and watch the videos as often as you need to.
If you have any questions, please email them through to me and I’ll answer them either directly to you and may use the answers to update the article for everyone’s benefit.
Often people go out looking for a program that is a little better or they like more. This leads to switching programs constantly and not sticking to anything. Do this and you’ll never get anywhere with training.
Just focus on giving your all to your training program with small regular gains, and you’ll be streets ahead of other in the long run.
Month 1
Month 1 has just 3 days a week of training.
A strength day, a speed day and a strength endurance day.
I suggest following it as is.
Day 1 – Strength
Back Squats: 3×12-20
Romanian Deadlifts: 3×12-20
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3×12-20
Pull-Ups: 3xMax
Standing Military Press: 3×12-20
Day 2 – 10-15 minutes of speed and agility technique drills
Sprint to Lateral Shuffle: 3×30 meters (switch sides every 5 meters)
Sprint to Backpedal: 3×30 meters
Standing Long Jump: 1×5
Counter-Movement Jump: 1×5 (stick landing)
Day 3 – Metabolic Strength Circuit
Do each exercise with a medicine ball. Perform each for 30 seconds and repeat the circuit three times.
Clean and Press
Chest Pass
Overhead Throw
Twist and Throw
Med Ball Squat (hold ball in front)
Med Ball Romanian Deadlift (hold ball in front)
Med Ball Lunges (hold ball in front)
Med Ball Crunches (hold ball over chest)
Med Ball Leg Raises (hold ball between feet)
Half-field Game: 20-30 minutes
Don’t do more just because you can. Rest is just as important as training.
And you grow when you rest, not when you train.
I’ll walk you through it in the video below, with variations for if you are training at home with minimal equipment.
Not all the links to videos in the stack.com article work, so my videos will make it easier for you.
Getting Focused – Mindset
Before we get into month 2 I’m gonna briefly talk about mindset.
While doing some training will help with your game, having the right mindset will allow you to focus on what you want and commit to doing what you set out to do.
The best players in the world are very focused people.
They know what they want and the work hard for it.
Their attitude is relentless.
If they don’t make the team, they work harder.
If they get injured, they get stuck into their rehab so they are ready to compete as soon as possible.
So what’s your goal?
Why do you want to get better?
Do you just want to beat your friends?
Do you play for fun?
Do you want to win a grand final?
Do you want to play professional?
Do you just want to stay in shape?
Your goal is your goal and doesn’t need to be the same as everyone else.
When I was growing up playing basketball, I just wanted to keep getting better.
I just loved playing and feeling fit.
Going to state or professional level was just too much commitment for me as I wanted to play other sports and do other activities.
Pushing to higher levels involves sacrifice.
If you want it bad enough, it’s all worth it. But just get clear on what you want and why you want it first.
Months 2-3
Month’s 2-3 builds on your initial training by simply adding 2 extra workouts for a total of 5 per week.
Workouts 1, 2 and 3 are the same, except day 1 adds some sprints to the end of the workout.
Workout 4 is an extra speed and conditioning day and the same workout you’ve already been doing.
It doesn’t change as the basics are the best.
Workout 5 is a bodyweight circuit.
Day 5 – Bodyweight Strength Circuit
Do each exercise with your body weight. Perform each for 30 seconds and sprint for 30 seconds between exercises. Repeat the circuit three times.
Squats
Front Lunges
Reverse Lunges
Side Lunges
Inchworms
Walk on Toes
Walk on Heels
Wheelbarrows
Bear Crawl
Push-Ups
Pull-Ups
Dips
Nutrition
Eating quality food is paramount to your success at any strength and conditioning program. This means cutting out the junk food and especially minimizing sugar intake.
Just Eat Real Food.
Meat, eggs, fish, fruit, vegetables, legumes and good fats from nuts, seeds, avocado and oils should be your staple foods. Some whole grains will be beneficial for most people too.
Just eat as much as you need. Some days you will eat more than others.
Precision Nutrition does some great graphics on how much and what to eat so you don’t need to think about it too much. I’ve posted them below.
If muscle gain is something you want or need, then learning what to eat in what quantities at what times will benefit you greatly.
I suggest reading the following articles by Precision Nutrition’s John Berardi & Strength Coach Jason Ferruggia about muscle gaining nutrition.
www.jasonferruggia.com/muscle-building-diet.
If you are not consistent with your food EVERY DAY, you won’t get the benefit of all your hard work at training. So be disciplined with eating.
Same goes for drinking water. The majority of people don’t drink enough water, and athletes are especially bad at it.
I suggest filling up 2-3 1L bottles at the start of each day and making sure you get through at least 2. On days where you are training a lot or it’s hot, you may need even more.
Adding a pinch of Celtic or Pink Himalayan salt to your water will help you retain water so you aren’t going to the toilet every 5 minutes. It also helps with electrolytes. You don’t need sports drinks.
Sports drinks are not necessary for activities under an hour. If you’re playing a tournament with multiple games in a day, then it can be ok.
Rather than drinking the bottled stuff, get the powder and make your own with half or a quarter of what they recommend. The bottled stuff is often higher in concentration than is needed.
Months 4-6
Months 4-6 really step things up.
You are again training 5 days per week but the exercises are more complex and workouts more challenging.
Workouts from day 1, 3 and 5 are all different and now day 3 also has sprints at the end of the workout.
Day 1 – Strength
Hang Clean: 3×6 @ 60% (above knees)
Front Squats: 3×8-12 @ 70%
Back Raises: 3×15-20
Incline Dumbbell Press: 3×8-12
Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows: 3×8-12 each arm
Seated Military Press: 3×8-12
Sprints: 2x10x20 meters with 20 seconds walking recovery between sprints and 5 minutes recovery between sets
Day 2 – 10-15 minutes of speed and agility technique drills
Day 3 – Strength
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3×12-15
Dips: 3xMax
Pull-Ups: 3xMax
3-in-1 Shoulders: 3×12-15
Sprints:
1×20 meters, 10 seconds recovery
1×40 meters, 20 seconds recovery
1×60 meters, 40 seconds recovery
1×80 meters, 60 seconds recovery
2×100 meters, 60 seconds recovery
1×80 meters, 60 seconds recovery
1×60 meters, 40 seconds recovery
1×40 meters, 20 seconds recovery
1×20 meters
Day 4 – 10-15 minutes of speed and agility technique drills
Day 5 – Strength
Back Squats: 3×12-15 @ 60%
Lunges: 3×12-15
Good Mornings: 3×12-15
Back Raises: 3×12-15
Calf Raises: 3×12-15
Half-field Games: 20-30 minutes
You will notice some of the exercises have percentages after the exercise. This is a representation of your 1 rep max for that exercise.
For example, if you 1 rep max front squat was 100kg, then training at 70% would be 70kg.
Not everyone will know their 1 rep max and some shouldn’t even try pushing for a 1 rep max just yet.
If in doubt, just train a little lighter rather than going heavier.
Going too heavy too soon can get you injured. I know, as I made this mistake in my younger days and it took years to recover from.
The speed and conditioning workouts are still the same.
Recovery
Getting enough sleep is one of the keys to making progress with your training.
Aim for 8 hours per night or more if you need it.
If you can get to bed before 1030pm then your body has the best chance of full recovery and according to Paul Chek, will allow mental and physical repair at the body’s optimal time.
Turning off your phone, tablet, computer or any electronic device well before you go to sleep will help your brain to de-stress. Artificial light is a trigger to staying awake.
So learning to turn these devices off an hour or two before you go to sleep will help you sleep better. Same goes for the TV. There’s lots of research showing that reading a fiction book before bed is ideal.
Other forms of recovery include stretching and soft tissue work such as foam rolling or massage. Yoga is also very good to practice regularly.
The professional teams all incorporate this stuff into their training and so should you if you really want to succeed and to stay healthy.
You probably want to train a lot to get better, but don’t do so much that you get injured. It’s a fine balance sometimes.
If you are tired, rest. The number 1 rule of training is ‘keep the athlete healthy’ so be sure you warm up and stretch regularly, get plenty of sleep, good quality food and water.
If you do these things you will set yourself up for an amazing next season,.
Going into the season fitter, stronger and faster is always an advantage.
You can read the original article here: www.stack.com/2013/03/01/off-season-soccer-conditioning.
