How to build a soccer conditioning base

Soccer is a game in which conditioning is of great importance in maximizing performance.

At the beginning of the preseason, most of today’s coaches put a lot of focus on building an aerobic base that prepares players for the season.

Building an aerobic foundation

The term “aerobic base” has been used frequently for the past 10 to 20 years, and the reason for building this base is due to evidence that a player runs 8 to 12 km during a soccer game over a period of time. 90 minutes.

So far so good. But when it comes to the distance traveled during a soccer game, shouldn’t we really focus on how we got to that distance, rather than just focusing on the distance itself?

Is the actual distance the most important aspect?

Sure, a professional soccer player can run 11-12km during a game, but that distance is not achieved by running long distances at the same pace throughout the game, quite the opposite.

What separates a world-class player from an average player is not necessarily the distance covered, but rather the number of high intensity runs and sprints that are performed.

Long distance runs will make your players slower and weaker.

If you still believe that running long distance is the way to go for soccer conditioning, then this should change your mind.

Running long distances will stimulate your slow-twitch muscle fiber, which means your body is adjusting to the slow pace that you perform during long-distance running, and over time your fast-twitch muscle fibers will “choke”, resulting in It will make it slower and weaker.

Soccer is a “power sport”, where speed, maximum strength and jumping ability are of the utmost importance. Running long distances will do the opposite for your players and make them weak and slow.

Is an aerobic base necessary?

Not in the traditional way through long-distance running. My philosophy on soccer conditioning is that everything should be done on the soccer field, and most of the conditioning should be sport-specific, which means that most of it should be done on the ball.

However, during the start of the preseason, I build an aerobic base through tempo running.

The tempo race is where players run about 75-80% of what they would run running that distance. The distance I use to run tempo is 100 meters (the length of a soccer field) and 200 meters (round trip).

A general rule of thumb for distance and time is:

– 100 meters: 18-22 seconds

– 200 meters: 38-44 seconds

So if they do 100-meter tempo runs, they should run at a pace where it would take them 18-22 seconds to run 100 meters.

I use tempo runs for 3-4 weeks, 2-3 sessions / week, increasing the distance by 200-300 meters per workout. I coach a Boys 18 team, so if you train younger players, be a little more careful with volume.

The first session could be 8 x 100 meters, and then the next 10 x 100 meters, and then I would alternate 100-meter races with 200-meter races in the same session.

I often let the players rest in the middle for 2 minutes, and then let them run the rest of the distance after that.

Race tempo It will help you build that aerobic foundation needed for soccer and ensure your players remain strong and explosive.