some questions about in season training

i’m trying to set up a temporaryn in season soccer routine, but i’m having trouble trying to incorporate speed and strength training into the week… for the next month i’ll be having 2 practices/week and during these practices we obviously sprint while palying scrimmage games and doing on ball drills.

So my first question is… would this be considered a “high-intensity day” or high-intenstiy enough such that i should not persue hgih intesity work the day before or the day after a practice?

I was thinking of doing my sprints (300 yrads total volume on my practice days (ie right before and then practicing)… but do you guys think this would be overkill and possibly predispose me to injury?

would it be ok to do a heavy (ME) upper body strength training session in between high intesity days since only my upper body would be getting trained and not my lower on consecutive days?

finally would it be bad if i did my sprints the day before one of my practices…

thnak you for any advice

really noone can help??

well i’ve come up with a few different possible setups… which do you think would be the best one?

mon-sprints (total volume 300 yards) then some skill work

tues-practice

Wed- extensive tempo with an emphasis on conditioning: 2 sets of 8x200m with 45 s/reps and 1min/set

thurs-ME upper, then 3-4 hours later soccer practice
Fri- off
Sat-ME lower/ then interval cardio
Sun- off

  1. Everything same as above except swap mondays workout with saturdays workout

Tues- sprints (300yrds total) then practice
Wed-tempo (as above)
thurs- ME/upper and practice
Fri- off
Sat-ME lower/interval cardio
Sun- tempo
Mon-off

tues- practice
wed-ME lower
thurs- practice
Friday-off
Sat-ME upper/sprints (300 yard total volume)
Sun- tempo
Mon- off

tues-ME upper/practice
wed-tempo
thurs-practice
fri- ME Lower/cardio
sat-off
sun- sprints (300 –500 yrd total volume) then weights (RE full body)
mon-off

We have our soccer players train 2x a week in season as a team. (According to NCAA rules, they can’t do anything more than 20 hours a week, including contests and training, AND they’ve got to have one day a week “off”…

That being said, we almost always play on Sat’s. We’ll do a total body lift 2x a week, at least 48 hours before the next contest. We don’t have the luxury of the extra training day during the week, so the athletes are always lifting on the same day as practice, usually 1-2 hours before on field training.

I’m all for the ME/DE splits, etc, but I don’t feel our soccer athletes are that far along in their physical development to warrant them. Most have done nothing besides arm curls and bench presses before coming to college!

Good luck!

All of those options have at least 2 HI sessions back-to-back, sometimes more. ME work is worthless if you do not have the physical preperation and i don’t see much point in it for a soccer player anyway, especially since it would impede on speed progression, which you need first and foremost. Practice is Tuesdays and Thursdays, so here is another option. Lift after practice on those days and have a good sprint workout + weights on saturday with Wed, Fri, Sun being tempo sessions. Your “hard” tempo session is NOT extensive tempo unless you are running 40 second 200’s. I would increase the rest between reps to at least 90 seconds, rest a bit longer between sets, and STILL make sure the pace is slower. Best bet is to do it on grass or turf with a turn around (100+100) for your 200m reps.

thanks for the input!

i do run them in around 37-40 secs… on grass aswell… do you think this is still too much? because Duxx said that for soccer players that kind of tempo session was ok?

In regards to the ME training… why would it impede on speed?? i mean i see moany athletic coaches advocating this type of training for overall athletic develpment. Also kelly bagget suggests that increasing strength is pivotal if one wants to increase speed… is this correct?

What kind of weight training should i do then?
Like i mean my ME days aren’t “true ME days” for example of the ME exersises i’d do 1set of 3 at 90% of my 3RM, then 1 set of 3 at an attempted PR and then one set of 3 at 90% of 3rm again… so its not like i’m doing heavy singles or anything…

also in regards tom your sprint and lift day… say i want to do a lower or full body weights day ont he sprint day… in your experience is it better to go and do weights right after sprints or to go and do it like 4-6 hours after?

Sprints before practice is all right because you’re fresh. If your practices fall into the low intensity category then I’d do tempo on those days. Sprints on the off days. You can also lift before you do tempo running if you have trouble fitting lifting into your routine.

Well said. I would definitely move the sprint session to Saturdays. I don’t know how much volume you have in your practices but you could end up with a ridiculously high sprint volume on the Tuesday’s that would surely increase your risk of injury. Its better to do a little often.

could anyone explain why ME training has negatvie effects on speed development??? most articels i;ve read advocte ME/conjugate systems for athletes… i also searched this site and many threads came up that also advocate ME oriented strength training regimes…

That isn’t really what is being said. I doubt you have the preparedness to begin ME work and I doubt the somatype you need (based on what you’ve said) is in place. This is also why I don’t think your tempo is intensive–you stated not long ago that you could not easily complete 10x100m, but not you’re doing 2x8x200m with such short rests? It just seems like a bit much a bit fast. Check out the GPP DVD for some more information that will be better for you.

in regards to lower body lfting after spritns… do you find it better to lift right after sprints or like 4-6 hours after?

Right after. You may lift more 4-6 hours after, but you have to spend more energy warming up and you then have less recovery overall. On average I will lift more with a break inbetween, but my absolute best sessions and PR sessions have been directly after (which is what I prefer).

what you said doesn’t make much sense… you said that you lift more with a break but you have PR sessions right after… do you mean you can lift for more volume with a break in between but your strength levels are better right after??

No, read again. What I am saying is that normally i will lift more with a break (not significantly more, maybe 5-10lbs on a lift for example), but my absolute best/PR sessions came immediately after. This is probably from the immediate stimulation before. It varies more for right after because you could have had a great session that drains you, or you could have had a very short session that just warmed you up and provided a great stimulus for the lifting.

few more questions davan:

Can you actually get stronger overall when in a fatigued state ie after sprints/practice?

Say it takes me 45 minutes to get from my practice/track to the gym… at this point i would have already cooled down and whatever stimulus i got from spritns would have likely worn off… should i still lift at that point or would i be better just lifting 4-6 hours later??

Do you it would be benficial at all if a i did a low volume sprint session right after one of my pratices (ie 150-300 yards total depending on the intensity of the practice)?

Thanks again

Is this a joke? Of course! CFTS would not work otherwise.

Say it takes me 45 minutes to get from my practice/track to the gym… at this point i would have already cooled down and whatever stimulus i got from spritns would have likely worn off… should i still lift at that point or would i be better just lifting 4-6 hours later??

You’re overthinking it. I still personally believe right after would be best. Even w/o the warm-up (it would still take you less time because of your internal heat), you will still allow yourself more recovery between HI sessions.

Do you it would be benficial at all if a i did a low volume sprint session right after one of my pratices (ie 150-300 yards total depending on the intensity of the practice)?

If you’re going to do it on a day of practice, make sure you’re warmed up and do it before in low volume (like 150 yards). You MAY be able to get away with some hill stuff ala the GPP dvd which is more conditioning based.

seeing as how my practices are in the med-high intensity category and how i can’t really do sprints on those days i was thinking if it would be a good i dea to add a brief vO2 max/lactate type session immediately after my practice ie a tabata session or 300-400m sprints.

This won’t interfere with speed since i cant’t do speed on those days anyway… but instead will give me a means to work on higher conditioning.

so my typical week would be like this:

mon-off

tues-practice then weights ME upper with some RE lower

wed-tempo

thurs-practice then conditioning (tabata or 4-5 400 sprints with 90 secs rest)

fri-off

sat-sprints/weights Me upper lower

sun-tempo

do you think this would be a good idea to add the extra conditioning session:?