Seasons Change

Seasons change....well, unless you live in Central Texas like I do. And if you're an Austinite like I am, it seems like you only get 2 seasons, Hot Summer and Cooler Summer. Spring and Fall last about 1 month each, Winter is mild at best, and Summer seems to occupy the remaining 8 months of the year.

However, as an athlete, you typically have a few different types of seasons that you subjected to. First off, there's your athletic In-Season where you play and compete the most. Your training regimen is extremely organized and your competitions mean the most. Once you finish your competitive season, you hit Off-Season, which for most youth sports is the summer. There is no set routine, and you may even be discouraged by your coaches from playing or training a lot. Games are much less competitive and training is much less organized. Vacations dot the landscape and take time away from anything serious. When you train, it's usually "off the ball" and involves some other sport or some type of type of general fitness program. And finally, as it seems like heat couldn't get any worse, you start Pre-Season.

For those of you who weren't aware of it, we are right in the middle of Pre-Season, especially for soccer, volleyball, and football. If you've read this blog before, you obviously know that I mostly coach and train soccer players. So, this week's post is going to revolve around pre-season conditioning and returning to play.

When we speak of conditioning, it usually refers to some sort of cardiovascular fitness. There are 2 types of cardiovascular fitness that we will focus on today: aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic fitness can be defined as activities that take place in the presence of oxygen. This type of activity is something that is usually low intensity and can be maintained at the same pace for a longer time duration. Think about a slow, steady jog or bike ride. You can do these activities for upwards of 20-60 minutes with no change in speed, power, or efficiency. Anaerobic fitness can be defined as activities that take place without oxygen. With anaerobic fitness, the body uses some other component as fuel, usually some form of carbohydrates. This activity is higher in intensity, and usually cannot be maintained for a long period of time. Think about someone sprinting a 40 yard dash, or jumping up to slam a basketball. You typically cannot repeat these actions with the same intensity for a very long period of time.

Soccer is a sport that requires both of these two types of fitness. Players are required to sprint, jump, cut, shoot, dribble, pass for the better part of 70-90 minutes, depending on the age of the teams. So you can see that both of these energy systems are required to play the sport well.

For pre-season training, players should spend a good amount of time focusing on developing both of these systems. The following is a simple workout that your athletes can do that will help them get their bodies back into shape for the start of the new season. All you need is to be able to use a soccer field of some sort.

Start with a good dynamic warm-up of about 5 minutes. Remember, it's hot outside, so their body temperatures will rise very quickly and their muscles will be warm in a very small period of time. All of the following exercises can be done in a straight line with 2 cones, 10 yards apart.

Forward/Backward Jog x2
Side Shuffle x2
Carioca x2
High Knees x2
Butt Kicks x2

Part 1-Short Bursts-Using your 10 yards from the warm up, have your player sprint at 100% from the first cone to the second. Once they have reached the second cone, they will walk back to the first cone and repeat again. Have them complete 10 sprints. This will best mimic the constant stop/start sprints that are done in the game of soccer. Rest 3 minutes before moving on to the second part.

Part 2-Long Sprints-Starting at a corner of the field, have them sprint at 100% speed diagonally across the field to the opposite corner. Rest 30 seconds. Then they will sprint across the endline of the field to the adjacent corner. Rest 30 seconds. Sprint diagonally across the field to the opposite corner. Rest 30 seconds. Finish with a sprint across the endline to the adjacent corner where you started. Complete 2 cycles of this series. These runs best resemble the transition runs that players have to make when they are recovering on defense or counterattacking on offense. Rest 3 minutes before moving on to the final part.

Part 3-Endurance Runs-Starting at a corner of the field, run around the entire field for 4 minutes at 60-70% speed, trying to keep your pace consistent. Rest for 1 minute and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3. This will help you maintain your high intensity endurance that is necessary over a full game of soccer.

Finish with a nice cool down of dynamic stretches like knee hugs, high kicks, and light lunges. To accompany a 2xweek practice, this routine could be performed 1-2 times/week to accelerate the return to fitness.

I wish all of the players and parents the best of luck in pre-season and hope that the upcoming season is a safe, happy, and productive time for all of you!!