I was wondering if you could give some advice. I was looking at the ‘‘Thoughts on Charlie Francis and soccer’’ thread which is alot for me to take in but I can see guys in here are knowledgable in different areas.
I was speaking to someone who helped me recovery from a injury and they said (they didn’t suggest this as training prog btw) that footballers (or soccer players if your from the US/Canada ;)) should be doing interval training for example 50meters with 12 secs recovery I think he said because footballers don’t spend all game running up and down the pitch (okay maybe in English midfielders are different) and too much aerobic training is damaging players he made reference to why physios are always giving players soft tissue massages etc
So that I’m not lasy I’ve just started a little something to get into good habits , reap what I sow so if I sow FA then I’ll be being a idiot again.
[i]20 minute warm up jogging around the pitch 4 times.
15-20 yards x 5
Fast arms/back kicks
Fast arms/High knees
Skip with the legs
Active stretching
Then 50m X 10 with walk back recovery (I know this isn’t 12 seconds but I wrote down what he said and forgot I would of been sleeping still now if I did that).
warm down finish.[/i]
This stops me from being lazy. What I’m really trying to do is be fit ready for pre season training and not make the same mistakes I’ve done before e.g thinking I can walk into a team not doing any prior technical and fitness training (I was injured for a couple of years also) performing badly and messing up my confidence even though I know I can do well.
It’s amateur/Non-League level football I’m talking about here but I want to do some good training.
Also I want to be able to get though the fitness then play match football afterwards. Previously I’ve been able to get through the fitness with no prior training then feel f**ked when playing the match.
Main objectives:
*Improve fitness
*Improve Speed I want to be rapid! I have been before I don’t have an elite 100m time but I know I can hold my own against the best in the 30-40m.
*Be ready for late June/early July (things will probably kick off around early July tbh)
I appeciate any help, programmes etc people can offer me. I will use the information given to me. I’m looking to go far as possible in football that even means pro at the highest level and I’ve made changes to not make the same mistakes.
Take a look through the soccer thread and you’ll see suggested sessions, including what hwe refer to as tempo, which is low intensity 100 and 200m repeats- but in a higher vol than you have here and very short speed work to improve “speed reserve”- that means the difference between the speed you have and the speed you normally need in game play. Improving speed reserve makes everything you do in the game easier- therefor increasing your ability to keep going late in the game.
I play a competitive field sport as well and haven’t gotten any faster with the same training protocol year after year. I’m trying your GPP program and hope it will take me to a new level. I’m in week 4 of the hill sprints and I “feel” stronger going up the hill. I plan to retest my 100 M and 400 M times to see if the have improved in mid July.
I have heard this speed reserve idea before and was wondering if anyone else on this forum has actually had it happen to them? Anybody do the GPP program for sport, get faster, and notice increased endurance(because you now don’t have to run as fast to do the same things anymore) for their sport?
I ask because there is “strength reserve” that is always discussed in strongman/CrossFit. If your deadlift/backsquat/press is stronger, than doing the WODs with weight should be easier and faster because you are using less of your Max every rep. In practice, I don’t actually see this happen though…
My athletes have increased speed leading to a reserve, leaving them more fit at the end of matches.
I wouldn’t test 100m and 400m times if you play a field sport. I wouldn’t test more than 30-40m. Since the majority of sprints are 20m or less, working out to 30, maybe 40m is all you would need to do.
My athletes follow a modified GPP program for several weeks, depending on how long their off-season is. This summer, my college athletes, who report to practice in early august, will do 6 weeks GPP + 6 weeks of un resisted sprints.
This speed work, along with a nice dose of tempo will lead to fit and fast athletes.
Thanks for your response. In your experience, do you think that running-specific Tempo is necessary for the speed gains? Or could any form of conditioning on those days be enough?
I was going to test the 40 M but I felt like the variability in hand timing would make it difficult to judge if I made gains or not.
I have found in most cases, the volume of tempo for soccer players at higher levels may actually impede speed development, mainly due to their current fitness level. As fitness improves, speed would improve with a high dose of tempo.
I have found this with a football player, who was improving steadily in sprint times, until an increased amount of running was added to handle their team workouts in the fall. Once this was added, times slowed down and we have had to since change his workouts accordingly.
100m involves speed endurance which isn’t specific to any sport except track. I have had soccer players who could get out for 30-50m but fade quick to those more trained in track specific events. The testing wouldn’t indicate much. The hand timed error shouldn’t matter as long as the timing method is consistent (same person etc) from pre test to post test.
Also, when you improve, you will know. My athletes have learned to feel things quite well, that when they don’t feel good during a run, they tell me immediately after. I look for technique and mechanics, then how the athletes feel and then stop watch, being the final decider on the rest of their workout.