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Ace Your Pre-Season Training with Football Fitness Drills from Spond

22/07/2024

While our free football team app already gives you an edge, preparing for a football season demands a strategic approach to fitness. Pre-season training is crucial for ensuring players are at their peak performance when the season kicks off. This article outlines a comprehensive four-week football fitness drills programme to help coaches ensure optimal performance and readiness.

Week 1: Building an Aerobic Base

In the first week, the focus is on building an aerobic base, essential for recovery and endurance. This involves steady-state cardio and mixed sports activities to enhance overall fitness and mobility without repetitive stress.

Session 1: 45-Minute Run Start with a steady-state cardio session, aiming to get the heart rate up to 75% of its maximum. This helps establish an aerobic base, crucial for recovery and endurance.

Sessions 2 and 3: Mixed Sports Engage in sports activities like swimming, tennis, or using the exercise bike. These sessions promote mobility without repetitive stress, essential in football fitness drills.

Week 2: Lactate Supercompensation

The second week focuses on improving the ability to manage lactic acid through high-intensity interval training. This week’s football fitness drills are designed to boost endurance and VO2 max.

Session 1: 3-2-1 Pattern Interval Sprints On an athletics track, sprint for three minutes, rest for one. Sprint for two minutes, rest for two. Sprint for one minute, rest for three. Repeat this cycle three times to enhance lactic acid management.

Session 2: VO2 Max Runs Run the length of a football pitch 4.5 times in two minutes, then rest for two minutes. Repeat six times. This drill boosts VO2 max, critical for maintaining high-intensity effort.

Week 3: High-Intensity Intervals

Week three ramps up the intensity with football fitness drills that push anaerobic capacity and lactate threshold, crucial for sustaining high performance during matches.

Session 1: 1:1 Interval Sprints Sprint for one minute and jog for one minute. Complete ten sets. This increases lactate threshold, allowing your players to sustain high intensity during matches.

Session 2: 1:3 Interval Sprints Increase intensity by sprinting for 45 seconds and jogging for 2 minutes 15 seconds. Complete eight sets. This further enhances anaerobic capacity.

Session 3: Five-A-Side Football Engage in a five-a-side match. This combines sprints, multidirectional movement, and football skills, simulating match conditions and sharpening your players’ game.

Week 4: Game-Specific Conditioning

The final week focuses on game-specific conditioning, using football fitness drills that mimic match movements and improve agility, speed, and overall game readiness.

Session 1: Shuttle Runs Perform sprints from the goal line to various points on the pitch (six-yard box, penalty box, halfway line), walking back each time. Repeat six to eight times. This drill mimics game-specific movements and enhances agility.

Session 2: Centre Circle Clock Drill Mark a clock face with cones on the centre circle. Sprint to each cone in a sequence, resting five times the duration of the sprint between sets. This improves agility, direction change, and speed.

Session 3: Five-A-Side Football Engage in another five-a-side match to finalise your team’s pre-season training, ensuring your players are match-fit and ready for the season.

Additional Tips for Football Fitness Drills

  1. Consistency is Key: Stick to the schedule and don’t skip sessions.
  2. Listen to Your Body: Ensure you’re not overtraining. Rest and recovery are just as important.
  3. Nutrition and Hydration: Maintain a balanced diet and stay hydrated to fuel your workouts.
  4. Skill Drills: Incorporate football-specific skills drills alongside fitness training to ensure comprehensive preparation.

By following this structured program, you will not only enhance your team’s  football fitness but also improve their overall performance on the pitch. Football fitness drills are designed to challenge their endurance, speed, and agility, ensuring they’re in peak condition for the season ahead.

For more detailed guidance and personalised training plans, consider consulting with a professional coach or fitness trainer. They can tailor drills to your team’s specific needs and help them achieve their football fitness goals efficiently.

Remember, the effort your players put in during pre-season will pay off when the season starts. help them to stay dedicated, train smart, and enjoy the process of becoming a fitter, stronger set of players.

 

 

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