Welcome or Welcome Back to Ultimate Soccer Training!

I thought I’d have a little fun today. We are going to have plenty of useful soccer-specific strength and fitness training information over the next few weeks and months…but today I thought I’d break things up!

Hey! At least there’s a few soccer-related moments!

CoachZ

Cut Copy – Need You Now from Cut Copy on Vimeo.

A Keith Schofield directed video.

Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training and the Off Season

First, is there ever really an off season for top flight soccer players? At any level? Male or female?

The answer is no!

Should there be?

Well, that’s a topic for another article or series of articles and is part of an ongoing and intense debate!

For the purposes of this article, let’s assume there is something of an off season, even if it is simply a period when a soccer player plays less often. Once established, then the next issue to be addressed is:

What sort of training will provide the greatest edge when the next season begins, in this case, the Fall 2010 season. The answer is complex but, in addition to continuing to keep your foot on the ball, and yourself on the pitch, at least a couple of times a week minimum, it is time to hit the gym.

I receive interesting comments from time to time here on the Ultimate Soccer Training blog. I also receive articles and comments via my other websites, blogs, and social media memberships. The information I receive generally falls into three categories:

1. The old soccer training school: “All you have to do is play soccer!”
2. The conservative soccer training school (usually voiced by parents): “My child is already doing too much, he (or she) doesn’t need any more training!”
3. The informed soccer training school: “I realize the players are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before and if I want to compete at the highest levels, I need an edge!”

It shouldn’t take a genius to guess which position I take on this subject?

Yup! #3

The most misinformed comment I have received to date came from a “coach” who was critiquing an article I wrote on leg training. He maintained that because soccer players do not use movements, or the muscles to prompt such movements, on the pitch, there is no need for leg extensions and leg curls!

WRONG!

That’s like saying football players don’t need to bench press because there isn’t a bench on the fifty yard line or goalkeepers don’t need to be aerobically fit because they almost never leave the box! I could go on for days on this one but you get the message…I hope? It is old school and misinformed. Not only does it neglect to take into account synergy between muscle groups and their actions, it fails to take into account that muscle movement is complex and not only involves other muscles, other than the ones you are working, but it impacts the connective tissue as well.

And where do most profound and career ending soccer injuries occur?

The knees!

And what portion of the knees are most profoundly affected?

The connective tissue!

And how do we strengthen the connective tissue?

By engaging in strength training directed at strengthening the muscles and the connective tissue associated with those muscles and the adjacent, synergistic musculature!

OK! I went off on a bit of a rant. But the fact is, if you do not strengthen the overall musculature and the associated connective tissue, you are more susceptible to injury and, and this is the biggy for this article, the soccer players who are engaging in strength training are going to be what?

Yup!

Bigger!

Stronger!

Faster!

And, if not faster…certainly more powerful!

So, hit the gym but do it right. Find a knowledgeable strength and fitness coach, someone familiar with sport-specific, and, in particular, soccer-specific strength and fitness training and start hitting the weights and the machines (there are benefits to both).

Ultimately, it depends on how far you want to take it but competition is intense and to play at the highest levels, you need an edge. Just go to any soccer complex in almost any city or town across the US and certainly abroad on a Saturday morning and ask yourself these questions:

What makes me so special?

How am I going to stand out against all of this competition?

What do I have to do to gain an edge?

The answer is quite simple really and is two-fold: 1) Play often and at the highest level possible; 2) Find a competitive advantage and then work at it until it separates you from the pack! The combination of the two will pay dividends you can only hope for at present but from one who has coached soccer athletes at every level…you have to remember that one question: “What makes me special?” Answer that and you will be among the top 1% and will have an opportunity to play when everyone else is sitting on the bench or in the stands.

Coach Z

Do you believe you have what it takes to play division one college soccer? Are you willing to put forth the time and the effort to get there? If you have the desire, the belief, and the willingness to work, I may have a proposal for you!

The first of the year, January 1, 2010, The Ultimate Internet Marketing, Training and Services Company and The Ultimate Athletic Training Company will offer The Ultimate Package! The Ultimate Package is designed for the best of the best…or those who see themselves in that light and are willing to commit the time and effort to get there. We are going to select a very small and exclusive group of soccer athletes, male and female, work with them mentally and physically, and then walk our clients, the best of the best, through the entire recruitment process, from first contact to signing day.

The Ultimate Package is just that, the ultimate program for the ultimate soccer athlete, and only serious athletes and serious inquiries will be considered. The ultimate package includes a soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness program, a soccer-specific endurance program, a mental preparation program, including goal setting and time management, and a DI college and university soccer recruitment program.

The Ultimate Soccer Training and Recruitment Program, its actual name, will take you through the entire process and, if you follow our process to the letter, your chances of winning a soccer sholarship and playing DI college soccer will be enhanced many times over!

We feel we must focus on the younger soccer athletes because the reality is that by the junior year, and certainly by the senior year, most soccer athletes have already been identified and contacted. We hope to offset this by starting early and initiating contact with the goal schools.

We will go into greater detail once we establish an application pool and begin to interview prospective clients. I look forward to revealing more in the coming days and hope to see your application soon!

Happy Holidays!

Coach Z

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526 (home)
216-539-7412 (office and voicemail 24/7)
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (application email)

PS, I have been training top-tier amateur and professional athletes for 30 years. I will only consider totally committed athletes, as anything less than the ultimate commitment guarantees only one thing…failure! Get an application in and we will discuss what it will take to make it, and take it, to the next level!

Back Pain and Soccer-Athletes:
A Multi-Part Series on Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation

Significantly, it must be remembered that pain is a symptom and not the ultimate diagnosis. This is especially true when dealing with neck pain, back pain, and sciatica in athletes.

In most instances, the expression of pain, in any of its various manifestations (e.g., acute, dull, aching, chronic, etc.), is not an indication of a structural failure or abnormality. Most back pain and sciatica, particularly lower back pain (or low back pain), is a symptom of a chronic stress injury or of a self-limiting strain or sprain.

Generally, an athlete’s physical condition and high level of fitness level allows the spine of the soccer athlete to handle even the most demanding and extreme movements and tasks without incident or injury. However, back pain, and particularly low back pain, is one of the most common reasons why soccer athletes are lost for a practice, a single competitive event (i.e., game, match, tournament, etc.), or a season.

The type of sport and the competitive level of the athlete is one of the key determinants when it comes prevalence of the condition and whether or not an athlete will play through the pain, whether neck pain, back pain, sciatica or a combination of.

As stated, most athletes are affected by sprains or strains and low back pain is one of the primary reasons for lost training time, playing time, or both.

It was reported in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Clinical Sports Medicine, and The Physician and Sports Medicine that low back pain was responsible for complaints leading to lost playing time in 30% of college football players, 38% of professional tennis players, male and female, and that a striking 90% of professional golfers tour injuries were related to neck pain and back pain, again principally low back pain.

As indicated in the disparity between college football players and professional golfers, low back pain and sciatica, is more common among certain athletes and in certain sports.

Interestingly, wrestlers seem to have the highest overall level of acute low back or lower back pain, reportedly as high as 54%, reported in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. In the same journal, low back pain complaints were lower among soccer athletes and tennis players, at 37% and 32%, respectively. In the American Journal of Sports Medicine it has been reported that 59% of wrestlers experienced chronic low back pain.

Significantly, 23% of weightlifters, as in competitive powerlifters or Olympic weightlifters, expressed lower back pain in 23% of subjects surveyed. However, of competitive rowers, men and women, the numbers are 15% and 25%, respectively. Interestingly, as one might expect, gymnasts appear to be the most likely to report severe and ongoing neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, perhaps a consequence of both the nature of the sport and the average age of the participant.

Keep in mind when reviewing data from these studies that the sample sizes were relatively small.However, the data does seem suggestive and appears to be intuitively consistent with my own observations of competitive athletes, particularly athletes at the higher levels, either top-caliber amateurs or professionals.

For soccer players the numbers are somewhat ambiguous…somewhat!

This is primarily because there has been less research dedicated to understanding soccer-related back pain, at least in the US. The focus in the USA has been primarily focused on children, soccer, and back pain; and, the data seems to point to an issue concerning type and severity of the symptoms. With soccer athletes, particularly children, there seems to be a high degree of sprain and strain, as in most sports and among all age groups, but due to the age of the participants, adolescence, spondylolysis with spondylolisthesis is a common diagnosis causing low back pain, sciatica, and lost playing time, as it appears to be in gymnasts.

For this reason, low back pain complaints in adolescent soccer players should be taken very seriously and a sports medicine physician should be consulted immediately!

In the next article we will explore in greater detail the various conditions associated with neck pain, back pain, and sciatica in soccer athletes, with an emphasis on low back pain. We will attempt to understand etiology (cause), lost playing time and how to avoid it, and treatment, both prevention and rehabilitation…to avoid injury and to get the soccer athlete, in fact any athlete, back to playing shape as quickly as possible.

Coach Z

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

PS, Specific soccer-related questions on all aspects of training, coaching, scholarship availability and how to compete for them, and all other inquiries: Send your questions to my personal email account and I will respond ASAP excellencepaidforward@gmail.com Please, serious questions only!

The Lesson of Tom Blazina

Back in 1982 I was building one of my first businesses, a business dedicated to training top-caliber local athletes. I started the business with $50 and an idea, a story in and of itself, and before I knew it we were wall-to-wall athletes, budding young super stars wanting to make the team, not only to make the team but start, not only start but dominate, not only dominate but be noticed by the top universities in the country.

In other words, they wanted to make an impact on and in their sport…which is their community, the only one that matters to most of them.

You see, an athlete’s sport is the foundation of their identity, their performance defining who they are in every way that matters…to them.

Right or wrong, that is the perception of most top-caliber athletes…they are athletes first, everything else flows from that.

Enter Tom Blazina. Tommy to those who knew him…

Tommy was a young kid.

They all were really.

Tommy was from one of the less “known” high schools in the area. The town he was from considered a “cow town” or out in “the sticks” by most, a “hick town” by more than a few. It was certainly not a St. Ignatius or Cincinnati Moeller level program, even in 1982 two of the biggest high school programs in the state of Ohio; and, emerging as national powers…even back then.

The town Tom was from was barely a blip on the map compared to the bigger cities with their Division 1A programs, their top-tier athletes, fancy uniforms, ultra sophisticated training facilities…the whole shooting match!.

Let’s call Tommy’s hometown Homerville…it kind of fits with the stereotype back then.

Not now…but then!

So anyway, enter Tommy Blazina, a freckle-faced kid with red hair, no kidding, and a slight build. My manager and I took one look at Tom, scratched our heads, and wondered simultaneously where this kid had come from. Even back then, in the beginning, we were selective about the athletes we took on.

After all, we were building a “brand,” although we had no idea what a “brand” was back then…we just called it a reputation.

And we were selective about the kid of kids we took on so we would be able to point to the end product, a physical dynamo in their sport, and claim to have “done it all!”

We weren’t really that bad…but we were being careful and Tommy just didn’t fit the mold.

I made an excuse, went to the phone, and called the sales rep who had signed Tom up for our program. After he settled me down a bit, he explained that he had talked to his coach, his teammates, his parents, and to Tom…and Tom had “something.” None of them, including the rep, seemed to know what the “something” was…but they were certain he had it, it just took someone like us to bring it out of him.

“Someone like us?”

Heck, we were still figuring out just what “us” was!

And there were people out there assigning miracle worker status and abilities to “us” already?

Well, I agreed but with a stern warning to the rep to talk to me before he went out of a limb like that again with our reputation. And, I went on to say, if this comes back to bite us in the butt…it would be his head! I was a bit of a hard-charger back then. I guess I have mellowed some over the years but back then I was real quick with an opinion, particularly when I thought someone else’s opinion was in error and it would affect me and my business.

The ignorance of youth at its best!

My youth, not Tom’s!

Tom was a quiet, respectful young man who fit right in, never complained, and did exactly what I told him to do. In short order, Tommy did fit right in. He would come in, do his exercises, always give 110%, as my people were fond of saying, and left it all in the gym. When Tom Blazina finished a workout, there was nothing left for Tom to give until he recovered; and then, usually in corner of the gym for 20-30 minutes before being able to drive home.

48 hours later, Tommy would do the whole thing all over again.

Well, after a while Tom being Tom just kind of blended into the scenery. He neither stood out for being remarkable or for being a dud…he just merged into the program, did everything he was told to do to the best of his ability, and went home…to return 2 days later and merge again.

By the middle of August, it was time for the football players to go on to their respective programs, high school and college. We didn’t have any professionals that first summer, it was more or less our test season. The kids we trained were our test-cases, our guinea pigs, used to see if what we were advocating, our somewhat unorthodox training methods, worked.
One day, an off day when even the kids who were continuing until basketball and wrestling were off, I sat down with my team and we went over each athlete, their initial test scores on day one, their final evaluations, and our expectations for them for the upcoming season.

Interestingly, when we came to Tommy Blazina we all kind of shook our heads…we just didn’t know!

Tom had come and gone with barely a ripple, and yet he had done everything we told him to do and more. Tom was, quite literally, the kind of kid who would, if you demanded it of him, go out into the parking lot at high noon and bark at the moon…just because he was told to! Tom Blazina put himself completely in our hands, trusting us to do the right thing by and for him.

Why did Tom do it all with such blind faith and obedience? Well, part of it was just his nature. And the rest of it was the realization that he didn’t know what to do to get where he wanted to go, combined with, and here is what none of us got (his coach, friends, teammates, parents, and even Tom got it, but we missed it), Tom Blazina had a white hot desire to be “the” guy! Tom wanted to matter, he wanted to be the king of his world, but he didn’t know how to get there…and he felt we did!

So, Tom left us, we all worried and wondered how he would do…and we waited.

It didn’t take long!

The headlines started in week one:

“Senior Phenom Comes Off Bench and Leads Homerville to Victory”

“Blazina is the Real Thing!”

“Real deal” wasn’t used much back then…but would have been, if someone had thought of it.

By the midpoint of the season, they were talking about Tommy for All-State honors and there was a mention that some of the Big 10 schools were starting to notice this kid from “the sticks.”

By the end of the season, Tom Blazina was one of our poster-athletes, and we had quite a few….dozens!

Tom had quietly put himself in our hands, quietly went about the task of becoming who he envisioned himself to be all along, and then made his statement on the field. Tom Blazina remained a quiet and unassuming young man throughout the season and beyond. Tom was humble and a pleasure to be around. But Tom Balzina had also become the person he envisioned himself to be, quietly and with purpose! Tom had kept that to himself the whole time but he must have had that white hot desire burning in his chest…because he succeeded in a manner none of us, even those who worked with him every day, day in and day out, imagined.

The lesson? Well, there were many!

All the apparent ones:

• Desire…Burning Desire!
• Vision
• The power of envisioning a future outcome or event
• Goal setting
• A mastermind group

Those were all there and worked for him, helping him to achieve his goal.

But he also used us, in a good way, to get what he wanted. He put himself in the hands of a coach, a mentor, and a trainer…sometimes all in one, and did exactly what was asked of him…demanded of him…until he made it! He never argued, he never once said

“Yeah…but!”

He simply enrolled, turned himself over, trusted, and acted!

I think there are several lessons here, and it is my hope you will take from this what you will. Tom’s story is not unusual but it is unique. Think about that one for a while! I have coached a number of Tom Blazina’s over the years and most of them are successful even today, in business and in life. Some are business people, some are coaches themselves, and most are amazing men and women who know the value of a white hot desire combined with the right coach and/or mentor. That combination, along with the willingness to take action, will turn desire into reality every time! Tommy Blazina learned it. I learned it over and over again from the Tommy Blazinas who came across my path and elbowed their way into my life forever…and so can you.

It is never too late!

CoachZ

John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., PhD
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

I have built many sport-specific strength and fitness training programs for top-caliber athletes over the years…I hope this works for you.

Remember, you need to vary your workouts to match the intensity of your other training. Cross-training is difficult but vital to your success. The main issue with sport-specific strength and fitness training at any level, but particularly when first starting to train, is overtraining. Overtraining can derail the whole effort. You can run into problems with connective tissue, illness, excess weight loss, and malaise…all related back to overtraining, simply doing too much, too soon, and not in the right balance.

That being said, your goal must amazing, it must excite you…the hurdles are immense but not insurmountable, you simply must have a plan.

The first part of any sport-specific strength and fitness program is the evaluation. You must have an honest, heart-to-heart with yourself and with your team to access where you are now and where you want to end up, relative to fitness. You also need to establish incremental goals along the way, as well as the ultimate goal. In other words, you need to know where you are and where you are going…where you want to end up! That being said, you must do it the proper manner, progressing in just the right way, and timing it all just so…so you peak at just the right moment.

You are about to embark upon the journey of a lifetime and the program, the timing, and the overall coaching is crucial. One component ignored or mishandled will result in a less-that-desired effect. As in business and in life, planning and timing are everything. You are basically embarking upon a launch, a product launch, and you are the product…or will be!

So, here’s what you do:

1) Physical assessment. Know exactly where you stand on a variety of tests, all sport-specific. Test and measure everything, just as in business!

2) Have an honest discussion with your trainers after the testing to assess weakness and strengths.

3) Develop a plan of attack, and here is the most important aspect, trust your coaches with your development…completely! Even Michael Jordan has a coach. You must turn yourself over to your coach and if he says “S*#t bagels in the parking lot!” You say, “How many and how big!” He’ll tell you for how long…until he says stop!

4) Get started!

5) Assess often but not too often, as that may be counter-productive. Some gains will come fast and others will need constant attention and prodding for you to get ultimate results.

OK!

Now, how do you work out?

Based on the tests, the assessment, the discussion, and keeping the ultimate goal in mind, the training should be varied and should follow an adaptable and forward-thinking plan.

1) You need to vary eccentric and concentric (negative-based and positive-based) activities. The negative will allow you to get to muscle fibers and to a degree impossible with a concentric only or a concentric-based routine. But you must vary the attack, one day concentric, two days later eccentric. And so on! Too much of one or the other will lead to minimal gains, no gains or, worse possible scenario…you will go backwards and lose strength and muscle, finally getting sick.

Balance in sport-specific training is everything!

2) You must have a cross-training, anaerobic/aerobic fitness approach…always pushing the boundaries of what is anaerobic and what is aerobic. As your fitness level increases and improves you will find what was once anaerobic is not aerobic…then you push again!

Always push the boundaries!

3) The balance between circuit training and conventional weight training is crucial. You need to push the aerobic/anaerobic envelope by increasing the intensity of the circuit, while balancing weights and machines.

Once again, the proper balance is everything!

Penn State, many years ago (late 70s and early 80s) had an awesome football program, in large measure because of Papa Joe Paterno…but also because of their strength and fitness program. However, as with human beings everywhere, they were looking for ‘something better!” Enter Nautilus! Penn State changed over their entire system to accommodate this new fitness machine, all the rage at the time. They almost completely eliminated the free-weight, power aspect of their training in favor of Arthur Jones’s new claims that a 30 minute workout was all anyone needed…that…

“To do more was like tenderizing hamburger!”

Well, Penn State and Papa Joe bit and changed their program. In one year their program tanked! Joe Paterno is no dumby, and he certainly didn’t have to be hit over the head to know he’d been wrong, the next year the reintegrated the weights and two years late they were national champions!

Enough said!

The balance was everything, that and working out in a sport-specific manner.

You see, it is not just “muscle-heads” in the gym pumping up for a Friday night date, what I used to call the PPP or pre-party pump. You can’t train like a bodybuilder preparing for a bodybuilding contest or powerlifter preparing for a powerlifting competition.

The workouts I use for my clients, the ones Penn State uses, and used back them, are sport-specific…in this case football-specific in nature.

The right ratio of machine to free weight workout is essential. Significantly, it is also very important which machines are used and which free weight exercises are applied to your sport-specific strength and fitness program.

I tell my students, particularly the football athletes I train, because they all thought you just “had” to bench, just like you may believe a certain nutritional supplement is the best, that the first time they put a bench on the 50-yard line I would let them bench. Of course, I used the same analogy for every athlete, in every sport I trained.

The message is the same, sport-specific exercises, integrating the proper motions and/or movements is of greater significance than how much one can bench.

Interestingly, we have all been taught that you exercise in a certain way, and that certain exercises should be integrated into any workout program. That sort of thinking is, quite simply, wrong!

Additionally, machines in and of themselves are just as bad. Again, there must be a balance between machines and free weights in any exercise program.

Now, make sure that at least one day a week your exercise program, at least the sport-specific weight training portion is a negative or eccentric workout. The eccentric or negative workout should be a high intensity, heavy, free weight workout.

Additionally, one workout should be what I refer to as a “coning” workout, meaning that you work from the heavy to light and finally to complete failure.

A third workout, and each one of these workouts should be a same body part workout, should be a “pyramid” workout, and should go from light to heavy.

The same body part or combination of body parts are worked 3 times a week.

As in:

Monday morning: Upper body “coning to failure” (chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, calves, forearms)
Monday late afternoon: Upper body “coning to failure” (back and biceps, abs, calves, forearms)

Tuesday morning: Legs “coning to failure” (Quads, glutes, abductors and adductors, calves, abs, forearms)
Tuesday late afternoon: Legs “coning to failure” (Hamstrings*, calves, abs, forearms)

Wednesday morning: Monday morning body parts “pyramiding to failure”
Wednesday late afternoon: Monday late afternoon body parts “pyramiding to failure”

Thursday morning: Tuesday morning body parts “pyramiding to failure”
Thursday later afternoon: Tuesday late afternoon body parts “pyramiding to failure”

Friday morning: Monday morning body parts “negative”
Friday late afternoon: Monday late afternoon body parts “negative”

Saturday morning: Total leg blowout! “negative”

Sunday: The Day of Rest from all things!

*Hamstrings, leg biceps or biceps femoris, are the muscles at the back of the leg. Significantly, as you may already be aware, it is one of the most neglected muscles in the body. The proper strength ratio, quadraceps to hamstrings, can make a huge difference in your success as an athlete and also may play a big role in whether or not you have a hamstring injury at some point in your training. The hamstrings are also a key component in power and quickness…and well as in explosiveness (related to power) and speed!

Every workout, you need to do abdominal work, lower back exercises, obliques, calves, and forearms (alternating exercises and intensity)

Every morning your need to be doing very specific neck exercises, most being exercises your trainer can with you with a towel and their hands! Nothing is ever needed beyond that, at least in the early stages, as your neck just isn’t that strong…but needs to be!

As Woody Hayes once told me, “As the neck goes, so goes the body! Work the neck constantly!”

There are a number of exercises I use with my clients that would help but the key is to use the right balance! Additionally, dumbbells OVER barbells, and machines in concert with free weights is key. The free weights offer real world, synergistic benefits machines alone cannot. Dumbbells and single-side exercises are more effective than barbell exercises for sport-specific training…and for competitive results.

I have a lot more I can go into, if you would like me to. I am going to post this generically on one of my blogs, minus your name and all, but if you would like me to expand on this, let me know.

I wish you all the best! I too am a wrestler, a very spiritual family man, as you seem to be, and a husband, father, and grandfather. And I am TuffGuy’s buddy! They say dogs are good judges of character….

Go Figure!

I have trained athletes at every level, I know what I am doing, I hope you will incorporate my ideas, they will help you achieve your goals. If not, I still wish you every good thing, and a place on the team to boot!

Coach Z

PS, Need help making the team? Just getting back into shape?
Contact me via the numbers above or at excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (my personal email address)

The first article in this series on off-season, soccer-specific strength and fitness training dealt with nutrition and diet. The focus was on just how important these two factors are, nutrition and diet. The two are inextricably linked to each other as well as to the overall success of the program. The second article in the series dealt with warm up, stretching, and flexibility. The proper soccer-specific warm up, followed by a comprehensive, individualized stretching program, can make or break not only a single workout but the overall effectiveness of the program and competitive match play, as well. Once the above-mentioned components are in place and their importance understood, it is time to begin the actual soccer-specific workout regimen.

The actual first workout series should begin with a holistic aerobic/anaerobic focus, the soccer-athlete attempting to push himself, and I am using himself in a generic sense, this applies to both male and female soccer-athletes, to the edge of aerobic efficiency and beyond. The goal of such a program is to extend endurance, along with overall fitness and muscle development. The first few workouts should be largest to smallest muscle group based, high intensity circuit training in practice. The entire workout should last no longer than 75 minutes, and that includes warm up and stretching which we have already established as taking no more than 35 minutes. In fact, the actual duration of the workout will be much shorter, particularly if the workout is done as prescribed below. As stated above, the first session on day one will be high intensity circuit training with almost no rest in between exercises. The idea is to push the soccer–athlete beyond his or her current capacity, while at the same time taxing the various muscles involved and forcing them to recover and rebuild.

Before we move on, the concentric and eccentric contractions must be fully understood. The success or failure of your soccer-specific strength and fitness training program is dependent on understanding and implementing the program in the proper manner; and, that means understanding the motions involved in the individual exercises. Proper form is crucial for good results and to avoid injuries. Heavier is not always better! I have watched more muscle-heads train themselves right into stress and trauma-related injuries because of what I call the “bigger, heavier, better syndrome.” Proper form, meaning an emphasis on using the correct technique, often makes or breaks a strength and fitness regimen. In order to implement proper form, seat positioning and the actual motion used during the exercises themselves must be understood. Concentric and eccentric motions are crucial and must be used properly to fully engage the musculature, as well as the associated connective tissue, in just the right way.

The concentric contraction occurs when a muscle shortens in length, thus developing tension. The concentric or positive accomplished when the leg is raised in a leg extension exercise or a bar is brought from mid-thigh to the upper chest in a barbell curl. The eccentric motion and contraction involves tension while the muscle is being lengthened during the downward motion of the leg extension or the downward motion of the bar during the barbell curl. There has been a lot of research done on concentric and eccentric motions, the benefits of each and precisely what muscle fibers are recruited during each motion. Recent research seems to suggest that the eccentric motion actually activates more fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Plyometric exercises are particularly useful eccentric exercises, particularly ones involving a maximum high-force eccentric motion like step jump or box jump exercises. However, jumping exercises, and stair climbing, should not be added to a training program until the soccer-athlete is in the advanced stages, as knee injuries are a reality for inexperienced or unprepared athletes.

The concentric movement is generally the first portion of the exercise and the eccentric the second. The count is usually concentric or positive in two seconds and the eccentric or negative down in four. Or in the case of a lat pulldown, down in two seconds and back out in four. The thing to remember is that the eccentric or negative portion of the exercise is the most effective overall. While the data is somewhat ambiguous, it has been shown in recent research, and anecdotally in over 30 years of training athletes, that the negative or eccentric motion is where the majority of the work is done and where most of the benefit is derived. Eccentric or negative-only exercise routines are very effective but can be very risky. However, if the concentric and eccentric movements are incorporated into an overall program, integrated into a balanced strength and fitness program, the results can be impressive in a short period of time.

Now that the proper movement is understood and the importance of warm up and stretching has been reviewed and is understood, it is time to begin the actual workout. After completing the warm-up and stretching routine, the soccer-athlete proceeds immediately to the leg extension machine. Leg extensions are important because they work the quadriceps, solid quad development is crucial for optimal performance, and also because leg extensions warm up and work the knee and the supporting muscles, tendons, and ligaments associated with the knee joint.

Proper seat positioning in the leg extension exercise is crucial. The seat should be snug against the buttocks and the back of the knees also snug at the front of the seat. Once the seating is correct, lean back, relax your upper body, loosely grasp the handles, and lift your legs. The concentric or positive motion should be up in 2 seconds and the eccentric or negative down in 4 seconds. The eccentric is the negative motion, down, and the concentric is the positive, up. The negative motion is the most important motion overall, and it is the portion of the exercise most people neglect. The exercise should be done to failure, to the point where the legs cannot perform another repetition, between 8 and 12. If 12 repetitions can be completed in good form, it is time to increase the weight. Conversely, if 6-8 repetitions cannot be completed in good form, the weight should be lessened until such time as 6-8 repetitions can be completed efficiently and correctly.

Once the leg extensions are completed, the athlete moves immediately to the leg biceps or hamstring curl, machines will either allow standing or lying on the stomach. The soccer-athlete lies face down on the machine with the buttocks remaining down (do not lift them!), the stomach flattened against the machine pad. Note: the tendency is for the buttocks to lift up which stresses the lower back.

• The legs curl up in 2 seconds, the pad touching the buttocks on the way up
• The weight down in 4 seconds. As soon as the weight almost touches the stack, the weight is lifted back up to the buttocks
• Repeat up in 2 seconds
• Down in 4 seconds

Always, always keep the stomach flush against the machine…and the buttocks down. Continue the exercise until you cannot do another one…or until you reach 12 repetitions. If you get to 12 reps, move the weight up the next session. Always shoot for between 8 and 12 reps, constantly pushing to increase the weight and the repetitions.

Next, move immediately to the leg press machine. Leg presses are a key component to an overall program of soccer-specific strength and fitness. While leg presses are a common exercise, most athletes use the leg press improperly…as do most trainers. The angle of the knee should never exceed 90°! Additionally, the exercise should be performed in a 2 second concentric and 4 second eccentric manner, meaning pushing out or pressing the weight out in 2 seconds and bringing the weight back so that the knees are at 90° in 4 seconds. Once again, this should be done for 8 to 12 repetitions, always pushing for 12 reps and then moving the weight up accordingly. It is advisable, particularly when first starting, to have a workout partner or spotter to ensure safety.

The leg extensions, leg bicep curls, and leg presses are the three most common, and most important exercises for the legs. The exercises should be done in rapid succession, one set for each exercise, particularly when first starting a soccer-specific strength and fitness program, and until failure (the athlete cannot do another rep safely). After a few weeks, additional exercises, sets, and even repetitions can be added to the program for increased intensity and variety. The upper body should always be left relaxed, there should be little to no tension in the upper body while working the legs. Additionally, breathing should be deep and controlled, at no time should the athlete hold his or her breath! Breathing should be out, exhaling during the concentric or positive motion and in, inhaling during the eccentric or negative phase.

Many believe soccer is played with the legs and feet alone. We have already discussed just how wrong that line of thinking is. The leg workout is just as important as the upper body work, perhaps even more so, but not for the reasons many believe. The additional attention the legs receive has as much to do with injury prevention and the development of power, particularly for kicking and for defensive stance, as they do for overall strength and quickness. In the next article we will discuss two more leg exercises, ones that can be added to the above program in time, and two variations of exercises for the calves. The calves are often neglected and must be worked hard and often. I will get into the reasons why. Once again, all leg exercises should be done at peak intensity, and in rapid succession…but with proper form. Once we discuss the additional exercises for the legs and the calves, we will move on the upper body, to include the core muscles…and even the forearms.

CoachZ
Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

An adequate warm-up program is an important part of any stretching and flexibility regime. The right balance of warm-up and stretching an integral part of any soccer-specific strength and fitness training program. Injury prevention is a crucial consideration and and important reason for an individualized warm up, stretching, and flexibility program. Prior to initiating a workout program, a routine soccer practice or a match, the soccer athlete must be warmed up and have stretched for a period of between 15 and 30 minutes, not only to reduce the risk of injury, but to improve training results and match performance.

The proper warm-up routine has several important elements. The elements of a properly structured warm-up and stretching regimen must be integrated into a holistic strategy designed to properly engage all of the various muscles of the body in such a way as to be ready for peak performance prior to the workout, practice or competition. Every muscle and muscle group must be working together and fully warmed up in order to reduce the chance of injury, regardless of whether it is due to stress, strain or trauma.

Why is warming up so vital to the overall success of a training program?

Proper warm-up before training is important for a number of reasons and is responsible for a myriad of benefits. The properly designed warm-up routine prepares the athlete, physically and mentally, for peak performance and for strenuous, physical and mental exertion. While there are many reasons for this, the most important may be the fact that warm-up increases the body’s metabolism and core temperature. As a consequence of an overall increase in temperature, there is accordingly an increase in the temperature of the various muscles involved in training and competition. Increased muscle temperature, and the associated increase in blood flow, allows for muscles that are ready for strenuous activity, being oxygenated, fully fueled, and supple. Additionally, the warm-up will also have a positive, overall cardiovascular effect, increasing both heart and lung function and allowing for more complete delivery of oxygen and energy-providing nutrients to the musculature during periods of peak demand. Once again, this has a ripple effect and the connective tissue, so at risk during periods of strenuous activity, to be warmed up and prepared for activity prior to the workout or competition. The latter is vitally important, as many sports-related injuries are connective tissue based, as in ACL injuries!

How to Develop a Warm-up Program for a Soccer-Related Strength and Fitness Training Program

There are several factors and considerations that come into play when designing a soccer-related strength and fitness training program. Along with diet and nutrition, warm-up, stretching, and flexibility are crucial to the overall success of the program. For that reason, we will spend quite a bit of time on the proper warm-up design and integration in this article.
It goes without saying, or should anyway, that it is very important to begin with the simplest and gentlest movements and tasks first. The idea is to move from one motion and movement to the next, an overall build taking place, and once again a ripple effect leading to a fully engorged and oxygenated musculature prior to strenuous activity. The process of easy to difficult, slow to faster motions and activities, each building and compounding upon the other, fully engaging the athlete’s body and optimizing performance regardless of the task involved.

The body, if properly engaged and warmed up, will be at its mental and physical peak prior to strenuous activity and the demands of soccer-related performance, whether for strength and fitness training, practice or match play. With the body at peak readiness, optimally engaged mentally and physically, the likelihood of soccer-specific, sports-related injuries will have been minimized and the soccer athlete can continue into the training or the competitive area fully prepared. The next step, now that we understand why…is how!

The Four Components of an Effective Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training Warm-up

The first stage is a general, overall warm-up program. The second stage is static stretching and differs from the third stage, that of soccer-specific stretching and warm-up. The fourth stage is dynamic stretching, stretching used to engage and involve the entire musculature, synergistically. The four components are equally crucial to the overall success of the program, one building upon the other, all equally vital. The components come together, in very much the same way as muscles do, synergistically, all four working in unison to prepare the body, physically and mentally; and, also preparing the soccer-athlete for whatever is to come. Once again, this process is designed to ensure the soccer-athlete has minimal exposure and consequently risk of sports-related injuries.

Stage One: Overall and General Strength and Fitness Training Warm-up

The overall, general warm-up consists of mild, minimally demanding physical activity. I recommend jogging, no faster that a brisk walk, generally for 400 meters or one-quarter of a mile. We then jump on the stationary bike, increasing the intensity and duration from a low tension setting and a duration 2 minutes, to a high of medium range tension for up to 20 minutes; and, in winter we start off with the stationary bike. The level of difficulty and the length of time on the bike is usually determined during testing and is determined by the soccer-athlete’s overall level of fitness. A good indicator that the athlete is starting to warm-up is a moderate sweat and perhaps an elevated heart rate and respiration. The heart rate and respiration are usually tracked by chart at the onset of the program and then weekly; this will help in establishing overall training results, and also will aid in watching for signs of overtraining.

The primary goal of stage one is to increase the pulse and respiration, an indication that blood and oxygen are being moved at a faster rate through the body. As stated, increased heart rate and respiration will thus increase blood flow to the muscles and provide for oxygenation and energy supply to the muscles during strenuous physical training. The increased blood flow and nutrients to the muscles also helps elevate the overall body and muscle temperature; and, this in turn will provide for a better static stretching stage.

Stage Two: Stepping it Up and Static Stretching

Stage two is the static stretching phase and is really the basis for overall flexibility. Given the importance of the static stretch, and of flexibility in general, it is always interesting how few soccer-athletes engage in it…or any other stretching routine for that matter. Static stretching is slow, easy, and constant stretching of the various muscles groups and is usually quite safe; and, it is a very efficient and effective means of achieving overall flexibility. The biggest issue with stretching is in the form and the carry out, how the stretches are actually carried out. The proper way is in a long, ballistic-free motion, one of constant and applied pressure to a specific muscle or group of muscles. If done properly, the static stretch is very safe and quite beneficial. During the second stage of the warm-up and stretching program, the static stretch must include the various major muscle groups, working from largest to smallest muscles groups and then back again. The entire regimen will generally last from five to fifteen minutes, at first; and, taking somewhat less time as training progresses.

In order to properly stretch the muscles during the static phase of stretching, the athlete’s body must be in a position in which the muscle or muscle group is under constant, applied tension. To begin with, the muscle or muscle group to be statically stretched is relaxed. Additionally, the opposing muscles are also relaxed. The opposing muscles consist of those muscles “in front of” and “behind” the target muscle or muscle group. Then, carefully and with deliberation, the athlete slowly and carefully places the body under pressure, with emphasis on the area to be stretched, increasing overall tension to the muscle, or muscle group. At the point of greatest tension, the stretch is held in place, allowing the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to stretch and, when possible, to lengthen. This stage of the soccer-related, strength and fitness training program is extremely effective in advancing flexibility. Stage two assists in lengthening muscles and tendons, and in a synergistic fashion impacts ligaments too. The static stretching allows for a greater degree of movement and range of motion. This stage is crucial in sports-related injury prevention, as it, once again allows for a strengthening, as well as the aforementioned lengthening of muscles and tendons.

Stage one and stage two form the foundation for what will follow. The first through fourth stages form an overall and effective soccer-specific warm-up and stretching program. The overall warm-up and stretching program thus laying the basis for the training to follow. It is crucial that the first two stages be completed completely and in the proper fashion before increasing the intensity and moving into stages three and four. The correct implementation of stages one and two will provide for safe and effective exercise in stages three and four.

Stage Three: Soccer-Specific Stretch and Warm-up

Generally, if the focus of the warm-up and stretching was on practice and match play, we would now move to paired stretches and various warm-ups designed to be competition-specific. However, because this is primarily focused on strength and fitness training for soccer-athletes, we usually up the level of the stretching to include another round of static stretching, followed by a number of isotonic-related stretches. The primary focus in stage three must be inside out, largest to smallest and back in. That is, for the upper body a series of stretches including the back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, forearms, wrists, and hands. The neck is very important and great care must be taken when stretching the neck for obvious, and not so obvious reasons. The neck has a number of very small muscles and muscles groups but, as Woody Hayes once pointed out to me, “as the neck goes, so goes the body.” While Coach Hayes is obviously a legendary football coach, but his lesson was not lost on his student (your’s truly). The neck should always get special attention and, as a soccer player, the neck plays so many roles, its importance cannot be overstated. After the upper body and the neck, the lower body is next. Included in the lower body are stretches for the gluteus maximus and minimus, the hips, quadraceps, hamstrings, calves, ankles, and feet. Finally, the abdominals must be focused on, and they get special attention because, like the neck, they are a determining factor in the overall performance of the body.

Obviously, the stretching program can and often does take up an entire workout session, particularly at first and until the routine is set. There are myriad stretches available and any number of them will suffice. However, if you would like to have a personalized program, one effective and designed just for you, you must engage the services of an experienced, and knowledgeable (they are not always the same), strength and fitness coach, one experienced in dealing with soccer-athletes, in particular.

By the time the athlete has completed stage three, he or she should be perspiring and their heart rate and respiration should be significantly elevated. The idea is to integrate the warm-up and stretching into the overall conditioning program is such a way that it has a number of cascading affects and effects on the body of the athlete, all with one thing in mind, optimizing overall development and match performance gains. In other words, it is my desire to see them be able to put it on the pitch!

Stages Four: Soccer-Related Strength and Fitness Training, Warm-up and Dynamic Stretching

Ultimately, the proper warm-up must culminate in a series of exercises known as dynamic stretching exercises or simply as dynamic stretches. Significantly, dynamic stretches often result in injury. The main reason for the high incidence of injuries due to dynamic stretching has to do with athletes who are not trained properly by coaches who are experienced in working with soccer athletes, or athletes in general, or the athletes themselves simply do not adhere to training guidelines. For the reasons stated above, dynamic stretching should only be engaged in when training with a competent strength and fitness instructor; and, not just someone who likes to work out and thought it might be a great business to get into! Dynamic stretching has to do with what I refer to as neuro-muscular coordination and is about muscle conditioning, rather than simply flexibility, as the name would seem to imply. The dynamic stretch regimen is usually designed and best suited for top-level amateur and professional soccer-athletes, those individuals who are well-trained, and are highly-conditioned, competitive athletes. A dynamic stretch routine is usually implemented as a final, ultimate step in a flexibility program adhered to for quite some time and it is obvious to trainer and trainee that the “next-level” is appropriate.

Dynamic stretching usually involves controlled movement, a bouncing or pendulum motion, forcing the muscle beyond its normal range of motion. Gradually and over time the degree of bounce and the range of the swing is heightened and increased to achieve an exaggerated range of motion and enhanced flexibility. The best example of this done in an incorrect fashion may be when young athletes attempt to stretch their hamstrings, one foot crossed in front of the other, bouncing up and down to stretch the biceps femoris. Done in this fashion, the young athlete may cause a micro-tearing of the hamstring and risk serious injury. But they see others do it and they model the behavior. A recipe for disaster…or at the very least a blown hamstring! During stage four, it is crucial that the athlete integrate dynamic stretches that are soccer-specific. Stage four the culmination of the soccer-specific, warm-up, stretching and flexibility program and will result in the soccer-athlete achieving peak mental and physical preparation prior to training and/or match play. At this point in the training session, the trainee is prepared for the what will come next, the rigors of an intense soccer-specific, strength and fitness training program.

Finally, the most neglected aspect of any training regimen, the warm-up and stretching, must come first. Without adequate preparation, both physical and mental, the soccer-athlete cannot hope to achieve peak performance and optimal training gains. The four stage training program is a workout in and of itself and will generally take between twenty-five and forty-five minutes to work through. As the trainee becomes used to the routine, its system and its rigors, the amount of time it takes to get through it is lessened. Interestingly, as time lessens, intensity increases…but so does the fitness level of the athlete. So, when integrating and off-season, soccer-specific strength and fitness training program into your training routine, it is imperative you recognize the importance of diet and nutrition, combined with a proper warm-up and flexibility regimen. With the above two components in place, we are ready to move on to the next ingredient, the actual soccer-specific strength and fitness training program.

Should you desire more information or a consultation, please contact me via email, phone or Skype. Leave a detailed message and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

CoachZ
John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

This post is a bit long but this is probably one of the most important aspects of the entire soccer-specific strength and fitness training program. Like diet and nutrition, if you miss this, you will not perform at peak levels. And that is what this is all about, optimal performance on the soccer pitch next season.

We have reviewed the first ingredient required for an effective off-season, soccer specific strength and fitness training program…nutrition and diet. While they are two separate and distinct subjects, they are inextricably linked, you can’t have one without the other. It is important that, if you haven’t reviewed the introduction into diet and nutrition, and the first article, an overall introduction to this soccer-specific and sex-specific strength and training program, you do so before going any further. The next step in designing and implementing an effective training regimen, the next ingredient, equally important to diet and nutrition, is an understanding of just how crucial hydration is; and, not only hydration but optimal fluid intake and replacement. If you wish to have a real performance edge, peak performance in training and competition, you must be properly hydrated before, during, and after strength and fitness training. A proper hydration strategy is a vital component in any sport, in any region of the world, and in all climate conditions. In fact, proper hydration may be more important during conditions not thought of as being related to, or linked to, hydration. An example of such a condition is cold weather. During cold weather training and competition fluid intake may be neglected or even ignored, yet it is just as important to be well hydrated during such periods. Ultimately, hydration is crucial in any situation, during training and while competing.
Performance and hydration have been linked in study after study; and, there is a positive correlation between hydration and performance, a causal relationship. There can be little doubt as to the importance of hydration, neglecting it can lead to diminished performance and, in the severest of instances, death. We have all heard stories of athletes who have died crossing the finish line or after an incredibly brutal training session. I have personally witnessed the catastrophic effects of severe dehydration. I have watched as athletic trainers and EMS personnel attempted to save the life of a young soccer athlete who had taken salt pills, a terrible “old school” strategy, while failing to drink fluids, a recipe for disaster. The young man died, a boy actually, and all because of inadequate fluid intake combined with the loss of electrolytes. What we don’t hear about, because it is so difficult to track and quantify, in any athlete is diminished performance, the performance that “could have been,” if only the proper hydration strategy had been suggested and adhered to.

Hydration is the Key!

Hydration is not only important in the waning moments of an all-important soccer match, it is also important for peak performance during training and to regulate and even enhance the body’s overall capacity to work. The body is made up of approximately sixty percent water, it is very important that an athlete and his or her trainer and/or coach be aware of the need for proper fluid intake. The body requires water for a number of functions and processes, including the proper uptake of nutrients, as an aid in the breakdown of food (digestion and absorption of nutrients), making food available for energy and muscle building and rebuilding, as a transport mechanism for various materials throughout the various systems, eliminating harmful waste material and toxins, regulating the body’s temperature, and for energy, both production and output. In fact, there is not a single system in the body that doesn’t rely on water. Hydration is required for life!

How Much? For Whom and When?

Many authorities propose the average person consume a minimum of eight, eight ounce glasses of water per day. The amount varies from one individual to another, with size, activity level, weather, and athletic performance all affecting daily requirements. Ultimately, water intake should be based on size, activity, and atmosphere, with more being better, within reasonable limits, of course. Women also carry more water than men, thus requiring more per pound of body weight than men. However, for our purposes and during strength and fitness training, the average athlete, male or female, should increase fluid intake by at least 15% and more if training outdoors and at high temperatures. Wet bulb also should be considered; and, at high wet bulb readings, a high temperature and humidity combined to set the reading, care should be taken to replenish fluids often.

Water Intoxication and Hyper-Hydration

Because we here in the States have a culture of “if one is good, ten is fantastic,” I must at least touch on two conditions, inextricably linked, often mistaken for one another, that may have catastrophic results. I will speak to these conditions as they may relate to athletes, not to the general public. The first of these is known as “water intoxication,” or “hyper-hydration,” also known as “water poisoning.” Most individuals with water intoxication are completely asymptomatic, meaning they present with no symptoms whatsoever. However, hyper-hydration or water poisoning may be fatal, the result of an osmotic imbalance and a drop in electrolytes. The condition usually occurs when individuals consume water large amounts of water, while failing to take in inadequate amounts of electrolytes lost during extreme exertion. This is why, in certain circumstances, various electrolyte replenishing drinks can be a good thing.

Hyponatremia

Interestingly, a related condition also caused by taking in too much water, any fluid for that matter, may contribute to a condition known as hyponatremia. Hyponatremia is also attributed to an electrolyte imbalance, one that may result when sodium levels in blood plasma drops too low. Symptoms of hyponatremia may be mistaken for drunkenness, diabetic complications, and/or even being “on something.” The symptoms include: muscle cramps, particularly of the feet and legs but also of other large muscle groups, and even the hands and fingers; nausea and vomiting; confusion, disorientation, fainting, and in severe cases, blacking out; slurred and rambling speech; and, inappropriate actions and behavior out of the norm. As with water intoxication, its sister condition Hyponatremia is often more dangerous, more life-threatening than dehydration, it is vital to balance water and electrolyte intake. The balancing act between hydration and hyper-hydration is one every athlete needs to be aware of, taking into consideration the risks of both dehydration and hyper-hydration; and, achieving a personal water and sport drink intake balance in order to reach peak performance on and off the pitch.

To Drink or Not to Drink!

It must be noted, in preparing you for a soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and training program, particularly when dealing with hydration, you must also recognize what not to drink. While some of the sports drinks may have their time and place, and I do mean some, the newly emerging sports drinks with protein are definitely worth considering, particularly after training sessions. Significantly, many of the current quick energy drinks are nothing short of pollution to your system, contrary to your goal of peak performance. While I won’t mention any of them by name, you know certain drinks claiming to do everything from keeping the away the doldrums to allowing you to fly. Remember one thing, when you are flying and run out of fuel, you will most certainly crash, wings or no wings. The so-called energy drinks are loaded with chemicals and caffeine, combined with various herbs and unknown ingredients, almost every one counter to a good training program. Other drinks you should consider avoiding include carbonated beverages or all kinds, that’s right pop (soda if you are from back east) is out, coffee and tea as well. Juices are good but only in moderation, and any other sort of empty calorie, high-sucrose, is inappropriate; and, caffeinated beverages not covered above are out, too. Yes, you can treat yourself once in a while, we all need our little bonuses, but ask yourself this first, is the person competing for the same spot you are hoping to own next season “cheating” or are they totally committed to making it, with that serving as the ultimate reward.

Water and Sports Drinks

The fact is, every athlete, and your soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness training coach, if you are fortunate enough to have one, should monitor their own hydration program. There is a balance that must be achieved between too little and too much. The challenge is that what is too little for one athlete is nowhere near enough for the next. And, as stated above, sex, size, weight, atmosphere, and even musculature and previous training habits will all come to into play and should be considered. Water versus sports drinks is an issue and when training hard and/or under extreme conditions, sport drinks that replace key electrolytes and minerals may enhance performance. Various sugars, namely glucose, fructose and sucrose, along with various electrolyte minerals, particularly sodium, are necessary and even vital, in the true sense of the word. However, water is still the most important ingredient, and one every athlete should make sure they have plenty of. There is a debate raging right now as to just how much, when, and even if water, as opposed to other drinks, should be taken in. This debate while interesting is not really all that important to the overall program, which is to get you into shape, into peak performance through a soccer-specific sex specific strength and fitness training program.

Water: The Essential Nutrient

As stated above, water is and essential nutrient for the transportation of vital nutrients, ease of digestion, ridding the body of toxins and waste products, proper function of joints and connective tissue, and even thermo-regulation, the regulation of your body’s internal temperature. Soccer athletes should maintain proper hydration for normal body function, optimal physiology, and also for peak, competitive performance. Proper hydration during training also helps to regulate and control the volume of blood in the body, circulatory function and cardiac output, muscle hydrodynamics and blood flow, skin condition, tone, and blood flow, and core physiology. Significantly, proper hydration, and fluid intake generally, is crucial for anatomy, physiology, and performance. The duration of individual training sessions, how intense the training is, determine how much to drink, the proper amount and kinds of fluids.

Dehydration

Current research on peak performers indicates that decreasing blood volume due to intense exercise and sweating causes an athlete’s heart rate to accelerate. An accelerated heart rate, combined with sweating the the resultant loss of bodily fluids may result in fatigue, dizziness, and muscle cramps. Dehydration and its symptoms can be avoided by replacing body fluids lost during training. Dehydration is often caused by improper and/or inadequate fluid replacement; profuse and excessive fluid loss, sweating; neglecting to replenish fluids lost during and immediately after training; training in arid, high temperatures; and, drinking when thirsty rather than on a specified schedule before, during and after training sessions. The degree of fluid loss and dehydration is made worse by intensified heat stressors, length of training sessions and the amount of time between sessions, and training severity or intensity.

The Ultimate Hydration Program

Most soccer athletes should use this program, follow the guidelines above and below to replenish and replace fluids lost, and modify it to meet your individual requirements:

Hydration Prior to Training

* Take in 15 to 20 fluid ounces 2 to 3 hours prior to training sessions
* Take in 8 to 10 fluid ounces 10 to 15 minutes prior to training sessions

Training Hydration

* Take in 8 fluid ounces of your favorite sports drink, I prefer Gatorade for a number of reasons (try a 1 to 3 ratio Gatorade to water) 3 to 4 times per hour during training

Post Training Hydration

* Take in 20 fluid ounces of fluid, preferably water, but a mix of 1:3 Gatorade to water is OK, for every pound of body weight loss to sweat#

# Make sure you weigh yourself prior to and after training in order to track the number of pounds lost and fluid replaced

The Key to Success

Taking in adequate amounts water and sports drinks prior to, during, and after training sessions will reduce the risk of dehydration and may be the easiest and most direct strategy for maintaining and improving bodily functions, and increasing performance levels.

Good luck! Next? We begin stretching and flexibility training!

CoachZ
John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

The key to an effective soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness program is planning. A well constructed training regimen will yield greater results in a shorter period of time. Additionally, a well planned and well-thought out program will make it easier to track progress throughout the season. As noted in the previous article on this topic, soccer-specific strength and fitness training is quite a bit different from training programs for other sports and/or activities. It is widely known that the average soccer athlete may run several miles during the course of a match; and, goalkeepers being the exception, of course. Proper nutrition is vital for success, both in training and in competition. Dietary habits, combined with proper nutrition can make or break a program. This article, the second in a series will deal with diet and nutrition for an off-season, soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness training program.

3 Components to Success

The key to an effective soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness program is planning. A well constructed training regimen will yield greater results in a shorter period of time. Additionally, a well planned and well-thought out program will make it easier to track progress throughout the season. As noted in the previous article on this topic, soccer-specific strength and fitness training is quite a bit different from training programs for other sports and/or activities. It is widely known that the average soccer athlete may run several miles during the course of a match; and, goalkeepers being the exception, of course. Therefore, it is assumed that running and running alone is the secret to effective training. It is not unusual for other training methods and considerations, even diet and nutritional requirements particular to soccer athletes, male and female, to be totally ignored for this reason. In fact, one only has to watch top level amateur or professional soccer match to get a sense for just how physical, and physically demanding, “The Beautiful Game” can be.

On the Ball or Off?

For this reason, and for a myriad of others, a complete, soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness program must be followed. The proper training routine will be one that takes into account diet and nutrition, stretching and flexibility, and strength and overall fitness. It is true, much of soccer training, particularly in-season training, should be done “on the ball;” and, this is not at issue. Yet, even in-season a suitable strength and fitness program should be adhered to, not only to maintain strength levels, but for flexibility and tone, as well.

Diet and Nutrition

The initial focus and primary stages of any off-season program, as noted above, should cover three factors: nutrition and diet: stretching and flexibility: and, the third stage is aerobic conditioning. This article will cover the first of the three stages, diet and nutrition in some detail. Nutrition and diet play a central role in any fitness program, particularly during periods of peak, strenuous training; and, for that reason, we will address nutrition and diet first. Diet, dietary habits, and nutrition are inextricably linked. Dietary habits, particularly when the athlete is involved in a strenuous strength and fitness training program, will make or break your results, determining the success or failure of your overall program. For a number of reasons, including how your body is able to break down and metabolize nutrients, meals should be taken in every two and one half to three hours, give or take a few minutes. The old days of steak and eggs before football and basketball games, and huge amounts of pasta the night before soccer matches and endurance events have made way for balanced, well-thought-out meals, planned at regular intervals. While carbohydrate loading is still used and may still have valid applications, that strategy is not applicable for our purposes.
Carbohydrates are extremely important as they provide immediate and intermediate range fuel for the body. Carbohydrates are made up of simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are generally made up of sugars and starches; and, they break down into glucose molecules as they are metabolized by the body. If the body does not have a need for immediate energy, glucose is converted to glycogen and stored in the liver and muscles for future energy needs.

Carbohydrates: Go Fuel!

The average athlete who weighs between 155 and 165 pounds, which may be a little, needs approximately 2400 calories, carbohydrate calories, to fully supply his glycogen tanks. To take in 2400 to 2500 carbohydrate calories requires 600 grams of carbohydrates. It should be obvious to anyone reading this that the body cannot take in and metabolize that sort of volume in one, two or even three sittings. It generally takes a day and one-half to three days to consume that many carbohydrate calories (approximately 40 pieces of whole wheat bread!). For that reason, and for others, carbohydrate loading is not only ill-advised, it is impractical. When the body uses up most of its store of glycogen, it will begin to burn fat for fuel. While fat may be a good fuel source, it is not optimal for our purposes and should be avoided at all costs. Ultimately, if the body depletes both glycogen and fat stores it will begin converting and consuming amino acids from proteins into fuel. This can be particularly problematic if dietary protein is not readily available because the body will begin to cannibalize itself, using muscle for fuel. Additionally, if the body must use amino acids, taken from ingested protein, this may weaken your immune system and inhibit muscular development.

Carbohydrates, particularly complex carbohydrates, are the best source of fuel for your muscles, as well as for the brain which is a voracious carbohydrate consumer. Keeping in mind that a strenuous, soccer-specific strength and fitness training program will deplete glycogen stores, as well as fluids from the body, lost as sweat, it may take between one and two days for the body to fully recover. It may take longer if you’re not eating a high quality diet made up of complex carbohydrates, plenty of fluids, and easily digested, high-quality proteins. You should be able to see why, if you do not adhere to the proper dietary and nutritional guidelines, you may go into nutrient debt, and stay, there in a relatively short period of time.

Vegetarians Beware!

I am assuming, for the course of his program, that the reader is not a vegetarian. The vegetarian dietary requirements are very complex and may not be conducive to this sort of a training regimen. While I am not making a value judgment, a vegetarian diet and optimal soccer performance may not coincide, unless of course an incredible amount of forethought and planning, particularly as it relates to combining the necessary proteins in the proper ratios to make available all of the necessary amino acids for easy assimilation and metabolism.

Protein Intake

Protein intake, like carbohydrate intake, is central to a good overall program. The average male, at 5’ 10” and an ideal body weight of 165 to 175 pounds, depending on musculature, must take in between 50 and 60 grams of protein per day. Protein, in large quantities and in one sitting, is very difficult for the body to completely digest, meaning much of it may go to waste. However, if the protein is broken up into five, even six smaller meals, the body will have little or no trouble using most, if not all of the protein taken in. There are approximately 28 grams in an ounce, and since there is not a precise one to one ratio of ounces to protein, even in the leanest meat, it will usually take between two and 4 ounces of lean meat per day for the average person, twice that if you are involved in a strenuous training program. For a female, 5’6” tall, protein intake should be between 40 and 50 g per day, with the same sort of meal schedule.

Fats

Fats are also very important, not only for nutrition but for nervous system health; and, for other reasons beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say, and diet high in quality carbohydrates, a moderate level of high quality proteins, and low to moderate fat content will keep the body fueled and the athlete engaged in a strenuous, soccer-specific strength and fitness training program fueled and lean. The proper balance will ensure the development of the musculature and endurance for optimal performance by the time the season rolls around.

Hydration!

For all of the above reasons and many more, it is extremely important to eat smaller meals, at regular intervals, and as well balanced as possible. In addition to the above carbohydrate, protein, and fat considerations, hydration must play a central role. Carbohydrates are crucial for holding water in the body until needed. Water consumption also plays a vital role in dietary role when it comes to nutrient intake and digestion. While sports drinks have been shown to have some use, water is the training beverage of choice, period! Vitamins should also be considered, particularly if life events and/or work or school prohibit you from taking in all of the proper nutrients. Ultimately, a well thought out, daily and weekly plan for nutrient consumption, including what you are going to eat and when, is as important to the overall success of your program.

In Conclusion!

Nutrition is as important to the success of the program as any exercise or group of exercises you may do. If you do not provide your body with the necessary fuel, it will soon revolt, and you will go into a state known as overtraining, something we will cover in an upcoming article. Overtraining is a condition no athlete can long endure and still perform at peak levels. In the next article we will discuss stretching and flexibility, followed by an article on the aerobic foundation. Do you think you are flexible and aerobically fit? We will see soon enough! For now know this, a soccer-specific, sex-specific strength and fitness training program, properly design and fueled by the proper dietary habits and nutritional guidelines, will make you into a different athlete, a formidable presence on the pitch by the next season.

Junk Food is Out!

Oh yeah, one last thing! Cut out the junk food. That’s right, cut it out! How bad do you want it? Do you think your competition for the spot you envision yourself playing next season is pigging out on Big Macs and fries? Or buttered popcorn and nachos? Carbonated beverages and Kool-aid? If you are going to be a top-level athlete, start acting like one, training like one, and eating like one! If you want garbage? Give yourself a cheat day one day every couple of weeks, as a reward. You will find you enjoy the reward more and, after a while you will crave the junk less and less. But again, it’s up to you, you will get out of this what you put in. Garbage in, garbage out…just like a computer!

Coach Z, John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com