I am thinking of playing in summer league soccer at work and was wondering what advice you could give me as far as getting ready for it. What would you recommend I do at the gym to prepare?
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If it helps, I'm hoping to build endurance and agility. I think most importantly I'm hoping to avoid injuries from all the sudden stop/start/side-to-side movements that are involved in soccer.
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The reason you don't have big arms is because you're weaker than a baby's fart, not because you don't do enough arm curls. -- Tony Gentilcore, via thefitcast.com
[Your] biceps [comprise] just 3 percent of the amount of muscle mass in your entire body. Remember that number: It's a good way to keep a perspective on how much you train your biceps compared with your other muscle groups. -- from menshealth.com
It depends more on what you have been doing and what your strengths and weakness are than anything. Build endurance by doing sprint repeats of 100 to 400 meters. Plyometrics may help with agility and the adaptations required to build injury prevention.
Here are some of the plyometric exercises that I am currently doing for quickness and agility. Check my log for the programming and frequency. Last week I started getting into the single leg variations along with more lateral drills. The plyometric training and the footwork pratice are having a noticable positive impact.
Thanks for the reply. I've been doing weights since the beginning of the year, although I hit a rough patch starting around the beginning of April and haven't been very consistent. As far as strengths/weaknesses, I don't feel like I have any strengths. Physically, I feel I suck pretty much all around.
(Post #100 -- whoo hoo! I'm now a senior member!)
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The reason you don't have big arms is because you're weaker than a baby's fart, not because you don't do enough arm curls. -- Tony Gentilcore, via thefitcast.com
[Your] biceps [comprise] just 3 percent of the amount of muscle mass in your entire body. Remember that number: It's a good way to keep a perspective on how much you train your biceps compared with your other muscle groups. -- from menshealth.com
Alot of soccer players and coaches I see that think soccer is an edurance sport and have players running endless laps is amazing. If you've ever seen a real game you be aware that players sprint to the ball and then once in control pass.
Make sure you train sprints. Doing enough to be able to last the distance but you need to be able to outpace the other side.
i personaly use a combination of olympic lifts and squating in the weight room, followed with some endurance runs ( 30-40minutes) and lots of sprints (100-800m)
Thanks for your responses, everyone. Great stuff. I never would have thought of doing sprints, even though it seems so obvious when I stop and think about it.
Any thoughts on stretching, before OR after? I am EXTREMELY tight pretty much everywhere, especially my hammies.
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The reason you don't have big arms is because you're weaker than a baby's fart, not because you don't do enough arm curls. -- Tony Gentilcore, via thefitcast.com
[Your] biceps [comprise] just 3 percent of the amount of muscle mass in your entire body. Remember that number: It's a good way to keep a perspective on how much you train your biceps compared with your other muscle groups. -- from menshealth.com
Foam rolling has done wonders for me. I also use a baseball or tennis ball to work the hamstrings and glutes deeper. I know that Danny and Eric and others (I think Tony G. too) use 6" PVC piping to get a better result. I'm going to be checking that out personally, but I highly suggest foam rolling.
I do a dynamic warm up before each practice or training session. I learned the movements during a speed camp I attended over the summer. I know that Eric's Magnificent Mobility has gotten great reviews, Brian Grasso highly suggested it in his last e-newsletter. Check that out or just search for dynamic warmups. I'm not a big fan of static stretching but after a practice or training session or even after rolling I might stretch out something if it feels a bit tight. Sometimes the stretch just feels good.
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Thanks, Kevin. After I posted I remembered the dynamic warm-up from New Rules, which I think would be pretty effective. Since my hammies are so tight, I might put some extra effort in there as well.
__________________
The reason you don't have big arms is because you're weaker than a baby's fart, not because you don't do enough arm curls. -- Tony Gentilcore, via thefitcast.com
[Your] biceps [comprise] just 3 percent of the amount of muscle mass in your entire body. Remember that number: It's a good way to keep a perspective on how much you train your biceps compared with your other muscle groups. -- from menshealth.com
Training for soccer
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