Fitness is crucial to the game of soccer, and proper fitness can’t be achieved in the short period of practice time in pre-season. You will help yourself and the team if you come in already fit. It is then easier to maintain your fitness level during the season. Being fit isn’t something you should do for a few weeks just to play soccer — it should be a regular part of your lifestyle.
You should train fitness in a way that is appropriate for the game of soccer. Soccer is primarily an anaerobic sport, not an aerobic one. What we need for soccer is to improve anaerobic (muscular) endurance and recovery time by incorporating sprints, agility and interval training; no distance running over about 2 miles needs to be done. Of course, the best way to train for soccer is to play soccer. Intersperse straight conditioning with ball work and small-sided games. 1v1 is excellent for both soccer conditioning and working on touch and moves, and only requires one other player.
Fitness work can be done on the same day as weight training, just be sure to have a sufficient rest period between the two. However, I don’t recommend doing intense interval training on days where the weight session includes leg/core exercises (squats and deadlifts).
It is important to listen to your body and not overtrain, so you can put maximum effort in when you are training. Allow rest days where you don’t work out at all. If you are struggling with what you have planned for a session, change the exercises, shorten the workout or reduce the intensity. If you feel good, up the intensity, add a few extra sets or reduce your recovery time. A shorter workout at high intensity is preferable to a longer workout done half-heartedly.
Exercise Categories:
A. Short interval
B. Long Interval
C: Endurance
D: Individual fitness work with the ball
E: Small-sided soccer game
F: Other athletic activities (bicycling, basketball, swimming, etc. if done with intensity)
G: Full-sided soccer game
Keys to designing your fitness program:
All sessions should be preceded by a warm-up (5-10 min of easy jogging and stretching) and followed by a cool-down (5-10 min of light jogging and thorough stretching). Make sure to drink plenty of water, eat right, and get proper rest to get the most from your conditioning routine.
Here are some examples of workouts of various intensities. Remember to adjust times and goals for your own fitness levels; push yourself to exceed the goals if you can, and back down if you are struggling. It is generally best to start with the longer aerobic activities and then move to sprints and intervals.
Workout 1 - Light or beginning of program
Workout 2 - Light or beginning of program
Workout 3 - Intermediate
Workout 4 - Intermediate
Workout 5 - Intermediate
Workout 6 - Advanced
Workout 7 - Advanced
Workout 8 - Intermediate with the ball
Workout 9 - Advanced with the ball
Group A: Short Interval. Start with lower reps (5-6) at the start of your program and work up.
5-yard shuttles: Mark a starting point, then place markers at 5, 10 15, 20 and 25 yard distances. Sprint from the starting point to the first (5-yard) marker, back to the start, out to the second (10-yard) marker, and so on. Allow 30-45 seconds rest between shuttles; do up to 10 reps. Take an extra 15 seconds rest every three shuttles.
Jingle-Jangle: 10 yards out and back at a sprint 10 times. Repeat this 5 times with 60-90 sec. rest between repetitions. Do up to 10 reps, with an extra 15 seconds rest every three reps.
Square Run: Mark out a 10-yard square. Start at one corner, sprint to the next corner, shuffle sideways to the next corner, backpedal to the next corner, and do a carioca (alternating foot forward/foot behind each step) to the starting point, all while facing the same direction. Continue 3 more times around the square without stopping (total 4 times around). Rest 45-60 sec. Repeat up to 10 times.
5-10-15 Drill: Mark a starting point, then place markers at 5, 10 and 15 yard distances. Sprint out 5 and back, out 10 and back, out 15 and back using the following variations: 1) Sprint-turn-Sprint back; 2) Sprint out-backpedal back; 3) Backpedal out-sprint back; 4) Shuffle sideways out-carioca back; 5) Make up your own. Do 10 times with 5 or 6 variations.
Group B: Long Interval. Start with lower reps (5-6) at the start of your program and work up.
40-yard shuttles: Set two markers 40 yards apart, out and back three times. 60 seconds rest between sets, extra 15 seconds rest every three sets. Up to 10 reps.
110s: 110 yard sprint, 0:45-1:10 to return to starting point for next sprint. Repeat 10 times, with 15 seconds extra rest every three reps.
Giant Circuits: Divide a soccer field perimeter or similar area into 6 segments (midfield to corner flag, to next corner flag, to midfield on other sideline, to corner, to 4th corner, back to midfield). Alternate jogging and sprinting: jog one segment, , sprint one segment, jog one, sprint one, etc. back to start, then jog 2, sprint 2, jog 2, then sprint 3, jog 3. Rest 3-4 min between each rep; do 2-3 reps.
Super Set: One 110 followed immediately by one 40-yard shuttle. Rest 1:00-1:30. Do 3-5 sets.
Group C: Endurance
Fartlek Run: 20-30 minute run at varying paces: jog, cruise (75%), full sprint, even walk for short periods. You can vary either by distance (jog a block, sprint to the third house, cruise to the stop sign, etc.) or by time (jog 2 min, cruise 30 sec, sprint 10 sec, etc.). This makes going for a run much more soccer-like.
Cooper Run: Simply run as far as you can at a steady pace for 12 minutes. Distance should be 1.5 to just over 2 miles.
Group D: Individual Fitness Work with a Ball
Interval Training with Ball: Run any of the interval training exercises with a ball. For shuttles, use a pattern of dribble out, sprint back, sprint out, dribble back, etc. Other exercises like giant circuits can be done as-is while dribbling a ball.
Figure 8s: Mark a starting point, then place markers at 10 and 20 yard distances. From starting point, dribble ball to first marker, cut around marker, back to start, cut around marker, dribble towards far marker; as you pass the middle marker pull a move as if it were a defender. Cut around far marker and repeat the sequence going the other direction. After cut and moves, explode away. Work for 90 seconds, rest for 90 seconds. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
Juggling: Go for 5-10 minutes continuously with no break. If the ball drops, quickly jog to it and start up again. Challenge yourself by using touches that are more difficult: (weak foot, head etc.), or attempt specific patterns (e.g. right foot, right thigh, head, left thigh, left foot). If you are already a good juggler, juggle while jogging at a steady pace.
If these exercises are easy for you, increase your intensity during the work portion and reduce the rest time between sets.