For every footballer out there, you might prioritize your technical abilities, which is true, but you shouldn’t neglect your stamina in order to last for a 90-minute game. Those two aspects work hand in hand to help you become a complete footballer. Without waiting any longer, let me explain the details, there are 3 methods that you could implement to your own session:
Progressive Overload
It means that in every drill or cardio workouts, whether High-Intensity Interval training (HIIT) or steady-state cardio, you want to gradually increase the difficulty of the session. You can do this by decreasing your rest time, increasing the rep or set, and increasing the intensity of the training.
So, let’s say you do 5 shuttle runs with 45 seconds rest period this week. The week after you can either decrease the rest period to 30 seconds or increase the repetition of the runs. You don’t want to do the same rep or set every week, there is no progression in there. It is unlikely to see the result if you train that way.
Train as a Footballer
You have to remind yourself that you are a football player. If you are a football player, then you have to train like one. You don’t want to train just the sake of being fit, it is completely different than being fit for football. In those 90 minutes during a match, you are not constantly running most of the time.
There are times you walk, jog, sprinting, jumping for a 50/50 and get stuck into tackles. So, you have to train to replicate the game scenario. You could incorporate HIIT training, speed and agility work then combine those with mid-distance running – 2 miles run for instance.
Incorporate Ball Work
Similar to the previous point, ideally you have to incorporate ball work even in fitness training sessions. Why? Because it is essential to test your technical aspect, especially in fatigue periods. Does your technique is as sharp when you are not tired?
In a game that lasts for 90 minutes or even more, you want to make sure your technical ability is sharp throughout the game. If you all those high calibre players that play at the highest level, most of their touches and everything is sharp from the beginning until the end. That is one of the things that separate amateurs from pros.
So, make sure you implement these key points when you guys are about to train your fitness. Don’t get me wrong, if you just go out for a run it is still beneficial but might not be that much beneficial during a game. I hope you guys stay safe and healthy at this moment, more importantly, stay sharp ballers!
