What should I do?

The Forums Ask Us.
1

Ok this is the deal. I have done 8 weeks max strength and tried to ease into sprints and plyos the last 3 weeks.

I have competition not next week but the week after for 1 week. After that i am free to train towards next season.

Now my PHYSICAL goal or aim for next season is to be fast. {for football/soccer}. Fast as in excellent first step quickness, changing direction, top end speed etc. Obviously i want to be very fit as well to last the whole game comfortably but my biggest aim is to have highly improved speed as i can get fit pretty quickly, and preseason games will help this too.

Bear in mind becoming faster is my physical goal. I will be working on my technique all the time as well. I haven’t been able to train this week as i went to see a different physio about my niggling injuries. He identified a weak hip flexor [left leg] and a weak abductor in the right leg. [I think he said abductor]. I have been plagued with niggles particuarly badly the last 6 months so i haven’t been able to train consistently for a period of time. Anyway the physio says i can begin light training next week and has given me exercises to strengthen these weak points. I am not expected to play much in the matches in 2 weeks. I am only going to be coming on for around 10 mins.

To avoid these niggles i am going to ease into my training after that week of competition. I will spend some time on different techniques that cause me niggles and DOMS such as kicking the ball, each day slowly increasing the amount of time each week. I will also ease into working on my speed, starting with 2 light sessions a week and slowly increasing the intensity on those as well. With certain technique drills i will treat it kind of like a fitness drill, thus it will make me generally fitter as well, as i am quite unfit at the moment.

So i have october, november, december until i even have to think about playing a game. I think i have trials in january so i will want to be pretty fit by then.

I have my conditioning history recorded, in a microsoft excel template so if someone would be willing to help me, i could email them my conditioning history, so they could see what i have done and advise me on how to work towards my goals. I don’t really want to spend any time on upper body strength except to maintain the strength i have built up over the eight weeks and the past three weeks too[i have done some upper body weights over the last 3 weeks too]. I was thinking one set of pushups to failure and one set of pullups to failure every second day would be enough to maintain my upper body strength gains? Or something along those lines that is non stressfull and doesn’t take to long as i need to be fresh for my skill work.

And for my speedwork sessions, i was thinking i would include sprints [of course] lower body weights such as split squats, deadlifts, squats etc, and some plyos as well. [keeping vol low for plyos, eg starting out with 2 exercises and doing 20 ground contacts per exercise.]

Does that sound ok? If someone would be willing to help me, could they please provide their email address to look over what i have done to then see what i should do to acheive my goals.

Im really sorry for writing such a long message. Thats all i can think of for now! I would be eternally grateful if someone would be willing to help me… I hope i explained everything clearly.

Thanks.

2

Please can someone help me? I really want to get this right to avoid injuries, and to peak with my speed and fitness for next year…

3

You might get a better response if you propose what you want to do (by day) and ask for suggestions on how to improve it. If you are having trouble getting started, search the archives and the training journals for some ideas.

4

You received numerous responses on other boards with what you can do and I think you can find plenty on here. More specific questions could generate some discussion as well.

5

OK i will try to be more specific.

If i am pretty ‘unfit’ [aerobic and anaerobic you could say] due to many niggling injuries, and i want to ‘get fast’ would it be beneficial to bring my fitness up to a certain level first and then conduct speedwork?

I will give you an example of what i had in mind: Spend 3 weeks working on aerobic and anaerobic fitness. One session on aerobic and one session on anaerobic.

I was thinking monday around a half an hour session consisting of shuttle sprints at 75% effort, plyos, jumping rope, pushups and that sort of thing with minimal recover in between. And then friday, a steady pace ‘slowish’ kind of run for say 40 minutes.

I was thinking to do that for 3 weeks just to bring my general fitness up a bit [also so i can train on my football skills for longer and with more effectiveness], and after 3 weeks go into pure speed work for the rest of the year [9 weeks]. My reasoning is that i would also get more benefit out of my speedwork if i was a bit fitter generally too.

So 3 weeks general fitness and 9 weeks speedwork [whatever speedwork might involve, although i feel i need to work on sprints to actually get faster as i have done an 8 week max strength phase and no real actual speedwork…

My 20m time went from 3.50 to 3.35 and my 50m time went from 7.55 to 7.35 after 8 weeks of just lifting weights so my goal is to break into the 6’s for the 50 and the 2’s for the 20. Even if its 6.99 and 2.99!

So i hope i explained my situation and my general plan that i hope to begin next week! Please reply if i am off track here any replies are sooo appreciated!

6

You can do both as in the GPP DVD. It alternates high intensity days (speed/weights) with low intensity days (tempo running, callisthenics, etc.) with some mixing depending on the time (sometimes speed/weights on opposite days, etc.). That can explain a lot. Just the high/low set-up in general will do a LOT for your training for both speed and conditioning.

I was thinking monday around a half an hour session consisting of shuttle sprints at 75% effort, plyos, jumping rope, pushups and that sort of thing with minimal recover in between. And then friday, a steady pace ‘slowish’ kind of run for say 40 minutes.

No reason to run 40 minutes continuously slow unless you’re training to be some sort of endurance athlete.

I was thinking to do that for 3 weeks just to bring my general fitness up a bit [also so i can train on my football skills for longer and with more effectiveness], and after 3 weeks go into pure speed work for the rest of the year [9 weeks]. My reasoning is that i would also get more benefit out of my speedwork if i was a bit fitter generally too.

So 3 weeks general fitness and 9 weeks speedwork [whatever speedwork might involve, although i feel i need to work on sprints to actually get faster as i have done an 8 week max strength phase and no real actual speedwork…

You can do them both (with slightly different focuses for each cycle, maybe more volume in conditioning than speed or increase the intensity of the speed/weights while maintaining conditioning level).

You really aren’t asking a specific question, just giving a lot of details. That’s okay, but it’s not going to get anything solved that you couldn’t have from just reading.

7

Ok thanks for maintaining patience with me.

Ill ask a direct question: Would it be beneficial to spend 3 weeks all fitness no speed and THEN conduct speedwork.

I personally feel this would benefit me greatly. Why? Because im unfit at the moment and i feel increasing general fitness will have a positive effect upon not only speed work, but more so my football training i will be conducting. I want to build up to two sessions a day, and i feel if i am fitter i will be able to work on my football technique more effectively whilst also decreasing fatigue, niggles, doms etc.

The reason i want to concentrate on one aspect of conditioning seperately is because my skills are always prority and if i try to concentrate on two aspects of conditioning at the same time ie fitness and speed, i will be fatigued.

Ok so the 40 min runs are a no no. What do you think of my idea of a ‘recovery’ based session?

Hope i explained my question directly. Any reply is appreciated as i want to get this right…

8

If you must, then yes, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do 1-2 days of speedwork during this time on hills or something similar to help develop general strength as well as speed.

Shuttle sprints are not recovery. Neither are plyos, especially the type you have discussed on this and other boards.

The information has been laid out to you before, but are you going to actually do it and apply it? Following a slightly imperfect plan with 100% effort and intensity for a few months is better than following an absolutely perfect plan with only 95% effort for 2 or 3 weeks.

If you look at my journal, you can see some conditioning ideas that can get you into shape while developing strength and other qualities. Try out the 600-900 medicineball throws for a day and see how quickly you get some basic conditioning. Obviously, the program that was designed for me was specific to my situation (nursing a foot injury), but you can take ideas from my journal and the journals of many others along with the posts to make something.

9

The reason i don’t want to spend an extra few days doing speedwork, is because like i mentioned before the technical side of things is always priority.

I have read from many sources that shuttle sprints are recovery work [anaerobic]. If you use plyos with a short rest in between therefore working not on speed or quality but lactic threshold, wouldn’t that be recovery work?

Im sorry if i am slow, and its not a matter of me not wanting to do it, its a matter of me wanting to get it right.

I will take your advice and follow a plan next week even if its ‘imperfect’. My focus will be to develop a general fitness base which can be used to develop speed afterwards, whilst still hopefully increasing speed slightly as well. I will check out your journal and take some ideas from it. I will post my program that i will derive from this information soon.

Thanks alot.

10

If you are generating significant latic, it is not a very recovery based workout. If for recovery alone, ditch the lactic acid work. You can do skill work before speed on your speed days.

11

Sorry i think i am confusing something here. By ‘recovery’ i meant recovery after a sprint, say in a game you sprint down the line and its your ability to recover for the next sprint. I didn’t mean a recovery session [as in light].

12

Here is my training program i made for next week. Bear in mind the sessions might seem very ‘easy’ to you guys but i am unfit at the moment probably only around 12 on the beep test, due to niggling injuries which seem to
finally be going away.

My aim is to one day have the speed and footwork of this player here:

http://s8.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2DDMKLOPOQH5U2XP1NUQ09J1KW

If thats possible :frowning:
Thats why i have included ladder work anyway.

I aim to carry out this program for between 3-5 weeks depending on how well i respond to it and when i want to start working more on pure speed work. I will lift the intensity of the sessions after the first week as i don’t want to rush into it to much. The aim of these sessions is to bring up general fitness whilst hopefully improving speed too, although i am more building a base to develop speed after 3-5 weeks.
I will make the tempo runs longer as time goes on as well as making the rest of the exercises harder as well, possibly dropping some exercises for different ones or adding some new ones in on top of what i have there.

MONDAY - Heavy.

Warm up - 5 min continous light jog, 5 mins various warm up exercises like kicking butt, carioca continous lunges etc, slowly increasing speed.

Shortstep through step ladder followed by 20 metre sprint. walk back and repeat x 5.

1 minute rest

Icky shuffle 1 min recovery between sets x 5

1 min rest

30 pushups with 1 min rest between sets x 3

2 min rest

10 chinups with 1 min rest between sets x 3

2 min rest

1 min skipping 1 min rest x 3

1 min rest

Groin / core exercise with swiss ball 30 x 5 with 1 min rest between sets.

1000m of tempo
70% effort - Run 50m walk 50m run 50m walk 50m run 50m 30 seconds rest x 4

WEDNESDAY - light.

Warm up - 5 min continous light jog, 5 mins various warm up exercises like kicking butt, carioca continous lunges etc, slowly increasing speed.

Jog 10 m sprint 20m slow down, walk back and repeat x 5.

1 min rest.

Icky shuffle 1 min recovery between sets x 3

2 mins rest

Split squat 8x3 - 2 mins rest between sets.

2 mins rest.

Backward medicine ball throws 5x5 with 30 seconds rest between sets.

1000m of tempo
60% effort - Run 50m walk 50m run 50m walk 50m run 50m x 4. 30 seconds rest between sets.

FRIDAY - medium

Warm up - 5 min continous light jog, 5 mins various warm up exercises like kicking butt, carioca continous lunges etc, slowly increasing speed.

Shortstep through step ladder followed by 20 metre sprint. walk back and repeat x 5.

1 min rest

Icky shuffle 1 min recovery between sets x 5

1 min rest

Military press 8x3 2 mins rest between sets

2 min rest

Chin ups 10 x 3 2 min rest between sets

2 min rest

Continous long jumps 5x5 30 seconds rest between sets.

1 min rest

Stomach crunches 15x3 1 min rest between sets.

1 min rest

1000m of tempo
60% effort - Run 50m walk 50m run 50m walk 50m run 50m x 4. 30 seconds rest between sets.

Bear in mind i will be conducting 90 minutes of skill work minimun, every day.

I made this based on information from these boards and other boards, i hope i did ok… :frowning:

It seems to suit my needs and current status, so i hope there are no major flaws with it.

If anyone bothers to read through it, and comment then thank you! :wink:

13

First i would ditch the ladder, it is useless.

Second, move your tempo work to the off days i.e. every other day.

Third, do real high intensity work on your “Heavy” days

In the end it the basic template looks like this:
Mon:Speed/High intensity
Tue:Tempo
Wed:Speed/High Intensity
THu:Tempo
Fri: Speed/high intensity
Sat: tempo
Sun:off

These are all pretty basic CFTS concepts. I would do some more research, as most of these problems have already been repeated discussed at length. Reading Charlie’s books would give you some understanding as well.

14

Yeh i agree with your last comment. For my needs [not a track athlete] what book or DvD do you reccomend i buy from the website? I was thinking the GPP but not sure if that is suitable for my needs.

About the ladder - im guessing you didn’t download the clip i provided [which is fair enough] but it shows why i want to use it. It’s not just sprinting speed i want but foot speed, ie fast footwork. Not ignoring what you said but just explaining my reasoning for incorparating the ladder.

Thanks for your advice. I did my first session yesterday, but i got sick after only 10 minutes. Based on what you told me this is my plan for the next two weeks…

2000m of tempo
60% effort - Run 50m walk 50m run 50m walk 50m run 50m 30 seconds rest x 8

Shortstep through step ladder followed by 20 metre sprint. walk back and repeat x 5.

1 minute rest

Icky shuffle 1 min recovery between sets x 5

I will alternate these ie i did the sprint/high intensity yesterday so i will do the tempo today.

Im not ignoring you about the ladder its just i already did it yesterday, and it has helped me in the past with my footwork.

I will carry out something similar to this until i get my hands on a book/dvd to get a proper understanding on conditioning for my needs. My knowledge is so limited at this point that trying to seek help over the net seems silly on my part until i grasp the basics.

Thanks for your help. And can you please advise me on what book/DvD to get?

15

CFTS and GPP dvd are essential for any event, football/soccer included.
CFTS for the background theory, if you want and GPP dvd for lots of practical ideas!

Look for tc0710’s reviews on these products and all others offered by the site!

16

Ok thanks alot.

17

I dont want to be an asshole, but If you are interested in soccere training maybe you could look at my point of view…

http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?t=10809

… I hope it will help!

18

I just watched the video… very good quickness of legs during that ball action… Not agility, quickness… And why ladder?
Ladder will not make you more quick with the ball… only the ball will! BTW look where are theese players looking during the action… In ball? Oh, no… in their oponent, and to develop this you need years of training (starting as very young)
On my opinion this is more skill than any other ability, on the other hand there is more involment of quickness and coordination that agility nor speed… so forget ladder work (for this goal)
You are going into paralysis by analysis… This is skill man, and for this it takes decades and heredity… (wich doesnt mean you wont improve)

19

Hey thanks for dloading and replying man, i appreciate it…

Ok i will ditch the ladder for now. I agree its mostly skill, but i am already pretty good at executing the move smoothly, i just cant get my legs to do it any faster…

http://s19.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0SVDA3WS3GUJD0OR310FRWNEX0

This is a small file showing what i mean… Crazy skill yes, and i don’t have the coodination to execute it smoothly true, but see when he shakes his leg in the air? I cannot shake my leg in the air that fast just standing there [without the ball].

Here is the normal stepover again which i CAN do smoothly, but i cannot get the ‘quickness of legs’ displayed here http://s17.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2SFU7YU2RK2MG0WL3SD5T7WCYO

Again a very small file.

I will purchase the gpp dvd as soon as possible. In the meantime i will read that thread you provided me with.

So if i just keep practising this skill will i eventually be able to do it as fast as him? I mean if your saying its just a skill with enough practise i should be able to do it as fast as him… Isn’t it both as you can see he has great speed over 10 metres [acceleration [displayed in the first video at the 48 second mark]

So what i am saying is, if i become more explosive, ie faster over 10 metres, standing long jump etc, wouldn’t i, in turn have greater potential to perform these stepovers faster? I need to get this speed over 10 metres anyway… [look at my name]

Thanks for your help man, and do you think i should just keep practising them, and work also on becoming faster [through sprints, plyos weights etc] which i will be able to do successfully through the gpp dvd. I will keep alternating basic 20m sprints [with minimal recovery] and tempo, until i get the dvd and have a better understanding of the correct conditioning concepts.

Thanks for your help and patience.

20

Why with minimal recovery?