Strength Conditioning & Speed Development for Football
Football is a multi task sport comprising of the following components
Endurance
Strength
Agility
Power
Acceleration
Skill
Decision Making
Tactics
Speed
Balance
Flexibility
Technique
Plus many more!
It is too simplistic for conditioners within professional football to say ‘I’ve got the players fit therefore I’ve done my job’
A game of football is not an athletic event although it contains numerous components of athleticism as listed above. As conditioners, we have to recognise the huge skill element that makes up the game and ensure that the sessions we do have the multiple outcomes necessary to improve performance.
The beauty of football is that everybody has an opinion but very few have all the answers. At Think Fitness, the conditioning sessions we provide must have a performance related benefit. Considering the limited available time during the season to conditioning, every training session must be maximised from a conditioning and performance angle to ensure the most effective use of time.
Below are some aspects of the physical demands of football and how we would condition players for them.
Endurance
Football is an endurance sport. At Premiership level, Prozone analysis tells us that players will cover a distance between 9km – 14km in a single match. Consider that often teams are playing 3 matches in a week and the miles soon start clocking up.
At our performance gym, we measure the endurance capability of professional footballers using an oxygen analyser. This measures how much oxygen a player is able to use to provide energy (VO2 Max). The figures we find, range from 55ml/kg/min to 65ml/kg/min. The higher the figure, the better equipped players are for endurance and the intermittent nature of football.
The level of fitness recommended for players is individual specific and not necessarily position specific. For example, some centre midfielders that go from box to box will have a higher VO2 Max than that of the holding midfield player. The skill of a good conditioner is understanding the needs of the individual player and their role within the team.
The type of running that occurs during a match is multi-directional and is generally in relation to the position of the ball on the field and also the team shape. Players continually alternate between the various movements and training should reflect this.
The most effective way of combining the intermittent endurance component of football with skill development is in the form of small sided matches. These can be in the form of keep ball sessions or 4 v 4 matches. The intensity and duration of the session will be dictated by the pitch size, the number of players, the number of balls available and the motivation of the players.
Heart rate (HR) analysis has shown that 4 v 4 matches, played on a 45m x 35m size pitch will elicit a HR of around 90-95% of the maximum HR, ideal for aerobic conditioning. The duration of these matches should be between 4-6 minutes depending upon the quality of the football.
The beauty of this type of football is that players will get numerous ball contacts which are essential for improving ball skills and technique.
Strength Development (Football specific)
Football strength is very different from gym strength.
The ability to use your body when in control of a football requires a different set of skills than the traditional gym strength approach. Some players who have never lifted a weight before posses a fantastic ability to balance around a ball or have a low centre of gravity that make them extremely difficult to push off the ball.
To train this type of football strength requires a little imagination and also the help and support of the technical coaches to ensure the correct footballing techniques are employed.
Little drills like a 1 v 1 session in a tight area (8m x 8m) will mean that players can get a lot of bodily contact and get used to protecting the ball from their opponent. This type of work is very intense and will fatigue the players quickly. The duration should be no longer than 60s and even less if working with young players.
Strength Development (Explosive)
At Think Fitness we also believe in the need for dedicated gym sessions. The most effective way of improving the power and explosiveness of players is through the use of a strength and power program applied in the gym
Although footballers have the physique of endurance athletes, they also need to be explosive in their movements. To achieve this, we use power exercises such as the snatch and power clean coupled with exercises such as the front squat.