- During a match, soccer players can cover as much as eight miles of field, running back and forth. The movement includes running backward, sprinting, jogging and walking. Well-trained soccer players operate at nearly 90 percent of their heart rate capacity for the 30 to 90 minutes they spend in play. The most beneficial exercise for soccer players to develop endurance is running. While players should push themselves to their limit while jogging, they should not overload their systems and risk injury. Running all out at high intensity for 20 to 40 minutes three to five times a week is the best plan for endurance training for soccer players.
- One of the main goals of aerobic training for soccer players is to avoid fatigue. Players need as much, and often more, speed and power at the end of a 90-minute match as they do in the beginning. By using the body properly, fatigue can be reduced. While running, keep the arms loose at the sides and lean slightly forward. Keep the body moving straight ahead and take long strides. To add diversity to an aerobic training regimen, soccer players can train in the water by swimming laps. In addition to building heart and lung capacity, swimming can help to strengthen the upper body.
- In addition to increasing endurance and agility, soccer players need speed to win. Long, slow periods of running to train for a soccer game may set the body up for failure when the power is turned on. The body adapts to its regular training schedule. Plyometric drills provide players with drills that incorporate fast moves while building muscles. Running up steps, alternating between short and long strides is a plyometirc drill that builds speed and leg strength.
- More emphasis on strength training is being incorporated into soccer training programs, as soccer trainers understand the benefits to the players' overall game proficiency. Strength training for soccer players is not intended to build muscle mass that will interfere with the player's agility. Instead strength is built in the legs and upper body to support the surges of aerobic activity required during the game. Explosive power is best achieved through circuit training in four- to six-week intervals concentrating on the core and legs.
- Aerobic training must be tempered with agility training that helps the soccer player focus and remain upright while performing a number of moves in fast motion. Drills that concentrate on agility increase coordination, foot movement and balance. Jumping jacks, agility ladders and ball-passing drills work on agility while players learn to control their breathing. Weaving sprints done in repetitions of ten, in sets of three provide good warm-up for agility training. Players should maintain a threshold just below their aerobic limit as they perform back and forth, sideways and short random stopping and starting sprints and drills.
