8-weeks soccer pre-season plan - Part 3

Physical preparation sub-components

For each physical sub-component it could be written a whole book, thus I will try to keep it short and direct the readers toward more info with links. I also suggest checking my Physical Preparation for Soccer manual since it covers some of this in greater detail.  Physical preparation sub-components are listed in the table below (this is the table from the part two of this series)

Sub-component	Goal	Exercise/Methods Used
Speed work	Improvement in the acceleration, speed and agility	GPE, SPE
Explosive strength	Improvement in the explosive strength and reactive-strength	GPE, SPE
Strength	Improvement in the relative strength and functional hypertrophy	GPE (upper body & core), SPE (lower body)
Aerobic capacity/power	Improvement in vLT and vVO2max	GPE, SPE, SDE
Glycolytic capacity/power	Improvement in RSA (repeat sprint ability) and special endurance	GPE, SPE, SDE

Speed work

In the Physical Preparation for Soccer I’ve spent a lot of pages writing about speed development, especially the difference between speed and agility. Thus you can refer to that one for more examples. My final paper “Training and testing agility in sports” written in 2007 was dealing with agility and speed too and the transfer between them. In Planning and programming of training in sport games you can find more info about three types of movement patterns (off-the ball movements).

I guess that the discussion regarding agility and usage of closed drills goes into the form~substance dichotomy. Sometimes we need to isolate a certain “substance”, but we need to have the bigger picture in mind. From ecological standpoint (constraints-led approach to motor learning) one cannot split perception~movement, thus the best practice for agility is the soccer itself and other forms of small sided games and specific live drills (simplification, rather than part practice). Anyway, we sometimes need to isolate the “substance”  (simplification) to create overload and improve learning. This might be called organic or holistic approach. It is both. This is why the site is called Complementary Training. Anyway, for this reason I have made two type of speed (agility) work – technique and power.

Component	Specificity		Examples
Speed Power Work	GPE	Linear	Sprints from various positions (0-30m acceleration, 30-60m max speed); Hills; Sled work; Ins & Outs…
		Lateral	Cross-overs with sled; cross-overs; mirror drills; sprints from jumping…
	SPE		Tag games; live soccer drills; merging technique with speed (conjugated exercises)
Speed Technical Work	GPE	Linear	Wall drills; Butt-kicks; A-Skip; B-Skip; Skips; Build-ups; Small hurdles, sled pushes (‘specific strength’)…
		Lateral	Coordination ladder drills; shuffling; cross-over; deceleration techniques; lateral skips; COD polygons; quick-feet (repositioning); sled pushes (‘specific strength’)…

For more info regarding speed work I suggest checking all Charlie Francis materials, especially GPP Essentials. Kelly Baggett’s No Bull Speed Development Manual is also worth checking.

Explosive strength

Similar to speed, a lot of explosive strength is covered in Physical Preparation for Soccer. In the table below is the classification I use:

Component	Specificity		Examples
Low intensity (‘aerobic’) plyometrics	GPE	Linear	MB against wall (upper body & core); jumping rope; line drills; coordination ladder; low box drills; zig-zag hops, jumps and bounds; pogos…
		Lateral
Deceleration	SPE	Linear	Jump and stick variations both double leg and single leg
		Lateral	Bound and stick; lateral jump and stick; side lunge and stick
Explosive strength	SPE	Linear	MB throws; vertical jump; broad jump; triple jump; step-up jump; squat jump; lunge jump; scissors;
		Lateral	Side-to-side jump; zig-zag bounds; side-lunges; lateral step-up jumps
Reactive strength	SPE	Linear	Depth jumps; hurdle jumps; bounding; power skipping; LL-RR bounds; Rim jumps; pre-run jumps..
		Lateral	Side-to-side hurdle jumps, cone jumps

For more info I suggest checking Kelly Baggett’s Vertical Jump Bible along with 7 Modern Day Myths About Plyometrics. Actually, read everything he wrote.

Strength Work

I highly suggest checking my Planning The Strength Training articles along with Lyle McDonald’s Categories of Weight Training  for more info regarding this very subject. Another article worth looking at is also Lyle’s Beginning Weight Training since most of the soccer players are beginners in this area.  Kelly’s The Myth of Non-Functional Hypertrophy and The Myth of Relative Strength are also great reads.

The exercises could be classified to the following groups:

Category	Exercises
Upper body push horizontal	Bench press; Push-ups; DB bench press; dips
Upper body pull horizontal	Cable row; T-bar row; DB row; supine row; YTWL
Upper body push vertical	Press; Push Press; DB Press; DB Flys
Upper body pull vertical	Chin-ups; pulls-ups; lat-pull down; pull-over
Knee dominant	Squat; Front Squat; Split squat; lunge; lateral lunge; step-up
Hip dominant	Deadlift; RDL; Hip thrust; R. Hyper; Hyper; GHR; Nordic curl
Ankle	Standing and seated calf
Core	Roll-out; leg lifts; curls; side bridge; full-contact twist; pallof press; chops; MB throws; high-rep curls

High repetition exercises could be considered GPE and low repetition exercises for lower body could be considered SPE. Prehab work (activations, thera band, etc) is GPE.

Programming of strength training involves a lot of “it depends” answers. Check the mentioned links along with How To Implement and Manage Set and Rep Schemes and please note that a lot of info out there is written with the strength athlete in mind.

Keep this simple. There is a huge trend in last decade that gives strength training too much of an emphasis. Yes, it is important, but the physical preparation is not only strength training.

Aerobic Capacity/Power

If you haven’t already, you should go and read Lyle’s Methods of Endurance Training . Make sure to check out my blog rant on endurance for team sports and for more soccer-specific stuff I suggest reading KNVB Conditioning aspect in developing a style of play along with Little’s Optimizing the Use of Soccer Drills for Physiological Development.

I am reposting the Energy System Continuum picture for the sake of reference:

Also take into the consideration tables from  Lyle’s Methods of Endurance Training 

Goal	Intensity	Work Interval	Rest Interval
Neuromuscular Power	Maximum	6-15 seconds	Complete (2-5 minutes)
Anaerobic Power	Just Below Maximum	30-45 seconds	2-5 minutes
Anaerobic Capacity	High	60-90 seconds	60-90 seconds
Aerobic Power	Above maximum steady state	2-5 minutes	2-5 minutes
Aerobic Capacity	At/near maximum steady state	8-20 minutes	4-10 minutes

.

Method Name	Volume Per Workout	Frequency	Intensity	Lactate
Miles Build Champions (Extensive Endurance)	How Long Do You Have	6-7 days/week+	130-150	1.5-2 mmol
Tempo Training (Intensive Endurance)	1-3 hours	3-4 days/week	150-160	2-4 mmol
Sweet Spot Training	1-3 hours	3-4 days/week	155-165	2-4 mmol
Threshold Training	1-3X10-20 minutes/5-10′ rest	2-3 days/week	170-180	4-8 mmol
Aerobic Capacity (VO2 max Intervals)	3-6X3′/3′ rest	1-2 days/week	VO2 max	High
Anaerobic Power	8-12X30-45 seconds/3-5′ rest	1-2 days/week	Max	Owww
Anaerobic Capacity	8-12X60-90 seconds/60-90 rest	1-2 days/week	Max	Owww
Neuromuscular Training	6-10X6-15″/Full rest	Variable as hell	N/A	N/A

Please note that the volumes for the endurance training listed above are for endurance athletes. Again, we come to the problem of fitting the info from individual sports for team sports like soccer (or as Lyle call them – mixed sports) since they demand both endurance and speed and power. In the summary of Lyle’s Methods of Endurance Training there is a discussion how to fit this info for certain situations. Excellent read.

As for extensive tempo I suggest checking mentioned GPP Essentials by late Charlie Francis. Extensive tempo should improve capilarization of FT fibers, their aerobic capacity and improve recovery between bursts, along with providing some speed technique work (relaxation) and improving efficiency of running. In endurance circles this is usually called strides and it can be combined with continuous work (pre-post).

Thomas Little provided excellent guide table for organizing small sided games for SDE Aerobic power/capacity development in  Optimizing the Use of Soccer Drills for Physiological Development which I use an excellent starting point.

In the following table there is the classification of methods used

Goal	Specificity	Examples
Aerobic Capacity	GPE	All non-running activities (bike, cross, rower) including aerobic plyometrics and circuit weights or complexes
	SPE	Sweet spot running  for 20-40min at 80-85% HRmax; 2min runs at vLT (or 80% of vVO2max) with 1 min easy jog; extensive tempo; polygons and technique work
	SDE	8v8-5v5 80-90% HRmax, 6-30min, <1min rest, 1-8 reps
Aerobic Power	GPE	All non-running activities (bike, cross, rower) including aerobic plyometrics and circuit weights or complexes
	SPE	Billar intervals at vVO2max, like 15-15, 30-30, 60-60, even 2-5min with 1:1 rest organized in shuttles or straight line; polygons and technique work
	SDE	4v4-3v3 90-100% HRmax, 3-6min, 1:1 to 1:2 work-to-rest, 4-8 reps

Glycolytic capacity/power

As I have already mentioned soccer is alactic-aerobic sport, yet some of the glycolytic conditioning is important. I will not go into too many details here since it is easy to find a lot of ways to torture athlete with this method, from suicides, shuttles to RSA.

Goal	Specificity	Examples
Glycolitic Capacity Power	GPE	All non-running activities (bike, cross, rower)
	SPE	Suicides, shuttles, RSA, tabatas, polygons and technique work
	SDE	2v2-3v3 (possession)   >85% HRmax, 20sec-3min, , 2-4 sets of 4-8 reps, 1-4 rest-to-work ratio

In the Interview with Aaron Schwenzfeier by Bret Contreras, Aaron made some great info on „mental thoughness“ training, and I am reposting it here:

...Many coaches are adamantly against the idea of developing “mental toughness” through working athletes to the bone, and most times fall in to this camp… but there are times when I feel there is opportunity in really ‘driving’ athletes to their breaking points. I think it needs to be skillfully and artistically managed through types of bodyweight drills that present extreme discomfort but are relatively safe. It’s at this point of doing team drills in states of extreme discomfort though, that I think the situation needs to be handled with care; the message of why we are doing what we are doing is continually ‘hammered’ and the vision of the team needs to be emphasized. It’s not a matter of the coach screaming negative words into the athletes’ ears of who are nearly drowning in their own sweat, but it’s the coach reinforcing a message of such clarity that the athletes gain an absolutely black and white view of the situation and what’s expected and their role within the team. Because I know we get many athletes who are very talented but really have just floated along in life and never really had direction and been pushed to levels they were not aware they had. Our job as coaches is to help athletes reveal to themselves what they really might be capable of. So in essence I am sometimes a fan of just doing things that suck, just because they suck… but only when necessary. This type of stuff only goes for certain sports though, particularly team sports. Trust me, I am not cussing and degrading athletes, but talking in a very direct tone without raising my voice too high. No meat-head one-liners or chest beating, but matter-of-factly presenting the information needed....

Thus one of the purposes of glycolitic capacity/power training is to build „mental thoughness“ so to speak. I find it usefull in purposefully fatiguing athletes before playing small-sided game or even full-sided game with the aim of developing ability to push in the last minutes and develop position specific pacing strategies when fatigues. You ain’t going to do this all the time, but you should be doing it from time to time. Will come back to this later.

Body recomposition and Nutrition

Bodyrecomposition can become a goal since carrying excessive fat or not having a certain amount of muscle mass can be detrimental on performance, along with having poor dietary habits. Since this is way out of topic, I will direct you to the work of Lyle McDonald at BodyRecomposition.com. For fat loss you should read Fat Loss for Athletes article series, and make sure to get Applied Nutrition for Mixed Sports book. I made the review here.  

In the next part I will cover how to put all this information into 8-weeks pre-season plan.