[Closed] Footballers Training how/what/when?

Roasting is energetic work, you know 😉

A fair few did say they watched videos of their opponents in action, I wasn't sure how to take that 😕

have you seen footage of any other athletes do their fitness work?

they do a lot of sprint drills, endurance work, plyometrics, core training and so on.

at a guess they're probably fitter than you

midfielders cover about 8km a game, usually in accelerations and sprints

From the recent matches I've seen, it seems that some squads can work hard for 90 minutes and still play full on into extra time. Whilst some seemed to struggle with the standard 90 minutes.

And on a serious note about my video comment, it did remind me of Ulrichs approach to the mountains in the Tour i.e I've seen the video that's that sorted!

Some have better doctors than others 😉

This kind of comment really grinds my gears 🙂

Are you trying to suggest that with the millions of pounds of rewards available to premiership football they dont actually train properly? The clubs invest millions of pounds into training facilities but dont use them? The coaches are trained in the best training methods and dietry advice but dont bother. People like ronaldo and becks get them bodies naturally and are naturally skinny?

Footballers are trained proffessionals who are trained specific to football. No they probably cant keep up with you on your bike (Although i bet some could) but then you probably couldnt do 8km of shuttle runs at high pace for 1hr 30mins whilst throwing yourself about and trying to throw some actual skill into the equation.

Why do cyclists think they are so ultra committed and others just play at it. Football is just another sport, and its no more worthy of your rantings than slagging off a long jumper etc for their training techniques.

They do train pretty hard, but in very specific ways. Where I was at university, our sports centre doubled as the training ground for a premiership side.

One player (now a TV pundit) had a serious knee injury. I watched his fitness test two days before a big match. He didn't stop running (hard) for two hours.

I'm no fan of the bad attitude of professional footballers or their apologist supporters, but they are exceedingly fit.

EDIT: beaten to it by the littlesthobo.

Many years ago, when I was much younger and fitter, I was struggling to continue playing rugby following a series of head injuries (I kept waking up in hospital or at the side of the pitch) so I decided a gentler form of recreation was in order. At one time I was quite useful in goal so I popped along to the local footie club (in one of the lower leagues - I have no idea what it would be called now). I approached the coach, explained that I wanted to keep fit etc, told him about my injuries and asked whether I could join in their training sessions. He said I could join in straight away but they were moving into a phase of training that had been adopted from the (then) first division clubs and it might be a bit tough. I could join in but no one would worry if I couldn't keep up.

The "boys" were kicking balls about in a random sort of fashion so I went to get changed and ran out onto the pitch just in time to start. We ran around the pitch a few times, did a few sprints, stretches, press ups etc (not necessarily in that order) and 20 minutes later it was over. We then moved on to a quick game which was obviously a skills session and that was it. I wasn't even warmed up. I thought it may have been a gentle session to prepare for a much tougher regime but it wasn't.

I simply went back to training with the rugby club in the end.

While that may have little reflection on what they do today in the premiership etc, I guess a fair amount of gym time is involved. Maybe playing a lot of games makes you fit enough after all, don't people say the best way to prepare for (bike) races is to race?

I seem to recall reading an interview with one of the British track team coaches where he mentioned that he'd had someone from one of the big English Premiership clubs come and see what they were doing/how they were getting the results after the success in China. Having seen what they were doing he commented that he'd love to be able to do something similar but that the players would never agree to it...

Of course football players are pretty fit but I'll bet there's plenty of room for improvement too.

Having seen close hand what they do I can confirm that they work their pretty hard for around 2hrs a day. Think that most of them are level 18, Beckham completed it apparently, or above in the 25m bleep test and was once told that referees had to be level 14 or above. Wonder how that compares to most on here.

Still doesn't answer my question does it.

Yes I know proffesional footballers are proffesional and train specifically for football, I know they throw ££££££s into the sport, but what I don't know is what is typical of a pro footballers day in respect of training and time. It seems to be something that is never shared.

Even the years I played for a amateur local club the fitness training was non existant. And when I did my FA coaching courses there was little emphasis on fitness just skills.

most clubs will train their players for 3 hours a day, then other sessions on top of that, weights etc.

at a guess they're probably fitter than you

Maybe not all of them...

[img] [/img]

Do you think you're fitter than Rooney finbar ?

What is the point intraining a footballer to do more than 2hrs high impact fitness?

If the guy above is comparing football and rugby training well i can report the reverse. Its horses for courses but i have a brother in law who plays rugby and he doesnt do a fraction of the fitness work i used to do for football and even in my low level sunday league football am doing now. Even amatuer football clubs get fitness instructors in for pre season to get a base level of fitness into their players. I have run sand dunes before in pre seasons in efforts to get a bse fitness level. Atm i am sick of riunning up and down steps and grass banks to get my legs stronger. This isnt pre season, this is me being out of shape and paying a fitness instructor to get a bit of fitness into me. Evene this isnt a patch on when i used to play properly and trained twice a week, played twice a week and also ran on the days off.

Its arrogance to comment on another sports training techniques when they are targetted at that sport. I bet paula ratcliffe could wipe the floor with most 400m runners over a 5miles race even now she is 7mths pregnant. Is she fitter than them though?

Do you think you're fitter than Rooney finbar ?

He doesn't look very fit in those pictures.

I think you're confusing physique and fitness finbar...

Some people never get a 'ripped' physique unless they're malnourished which isn't really good for athletic performance..

That's true. I'm under no illusion i could outsprint him.

I wish I could remember the name of the guy that sometimes rides around here, used to play for West ham even talking to him post ride he wont let on about this subject.

OK lets ask another question. Could a footballer be trained to be a better athlete on the pitch, I'm not talking skills improvement here just pure fitness. Because I assume the fitter they are the better judgement they'll have 70 minutes into a match, and the fitter they are the longer into a game they could maintain a level of skill. Or is it assumed that we have reached the pinnacle here?

but what I don't know is what is typical of a pro footballers day in respect of training and time.

Not all clubs train behind closed doors. Find out where the nearest training facility is for a big team, and head down one morning.

In the UK, they still seem to work on the "on the pitch" training in the morning (2-3 hours) and then individual-specific training in the afternoon.

I've ridden a couple of times with the the now-chief exec of Everton. He's fit and strong on the bike and, when chatting to him about the fitness of players, it was interesting to hear his take: the years of constant training and playing mean that they maintain such a high level of base fitness that there is no need to brutalise themselves every day of the week. Essentially, evertyhing they do is a top up.

I recall the youth players at Newcastle United (team I referred to above) would be sent on an hour's cross country run to start their day before they got into two hours of skills. All the skills sessions I saw, save for the goalkeepers, who seemed to be kept apart (with good reason - they're like the drummers in rock bands 😉 ), were always run at a high tempo - certainly no loitering.

I used to play hockey to a reasonable level. We trained twice a week and had one or two games at the weekend. All our training involved 2 hours of high intensity work, whether it was the vomit-inducing fitness work, or the skills sessions. I used to go home a wreck.

That's true. I'm under no illusion i could outsprint him.

me too .

However, a lot of even 2nd cat roadies train and race more than 15hours a week and have 5% body fat. I bet they have a higher V02 max and lower resting heart rates than a lot of premiership strikers.
Lots of non-competitive MTBers are pretty damn unfit though!

The skills training is more important anyway - better control, passing, vision and movement off the ball means you don't have to be so fit or more precisely wasting so much energy chasing the game.
You put in a couple of hours CV work a day along with some tailored speed work you're going to be pretty fit in a few months - these people have been doing it since they were 12.

Lots of non-competitive MTBers are pretty damn unfit though!

Compared to who? cat 2 roadies, probably. Pro footballers, probably. Olympic athletes, probably.

But how do we 'uncompetitive' MTB'ers rank against say the population at large? Pretty fit I'd suggest, even if it's just fit for the type of sport we undertake (as opposed to other strenth or flexibility based sports)

However, a lot of even 2nd cat roadies train and race more than 15hours a week and have 5% body fat. I bet they have a higher V02 max and lower resting heart rates than a lot of premiership strikers.

Maybe true. But can they outsprint them on foot? Do they have enough musculature 'up top' to fend off a challenge, whilst retaining control of the ball? Can accurately place a ball exactly where it needs to be over short and long distance? Can they time a tackle at full pace and full stretch to avoid giving away a penalty to another player who is actively seeking one?

I am aware of several footballers who appear to meet none of the above criteria btw 🙂

Different sports, different skills. The effort v. reward graph just is how it is, life is seldom fair.

However, a lot of even 2nd cat roadies train and race more than 15hours a week and have 5% body fat. I bet they have a higher V02 max and lower resting heart rates than a lot of premiership strikers.

Yeah but would they be any good at professional football ? Probably not.

Admittedly Rooney has a fair bit of puppy fat but so do some of the best footballers ever ie Maradonna

Its difficult to make out what makes a good football player though. It coyuld be the genetic disposition to put on puppy fat means the player just happens to be more skillful ?

But I have a feeling that the extra weight can actually help at times, I mean your 2nd cat roady may even have no problem out sprinting rooney in running race, but on a football pitch rooney would just lean into him and he'd fall over.

these people have been doing it since they were 12

Younger even. I've had players go to Arsenal, Luton and West Brom while still at primary school and I wasn't allowed to play them after that.

football training and rugby training is very similar to Military PT sessions.

Shuttle sprints, hill sprints, burpees, press-ups, sit-ups interval training, all sorts of things combined.

http://www.britmilfit.com/

when I was doing BMF I was in the advanced group, four years ago at 36 years old I could beat some of the PT instructors ten years younger than me... when I did a bleep test I gave up on Level 13 - admittedly I was knackered from a w/ends cycling and had a bit of a hangover at the time. I reckon even with practice I'd struggle to beat 14.

David Beckham is one of the few who has beaten the bleep test which goes up to Level 23. - quite an atstonishing level of fitness.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/in_the_gym/workouts/newsid_2100000/2100261.stm

http://www.topendsports.com/testing/results/beep-test.htm

Try a few sessions with BMF sometime, see how you get on.

Kev

Different sports, different skills.

Definitely. I think equivalent level footballers are less traditionally fit than cyclists, but the skills proportion of what makes them as a player is much greater so the fitness aspect is of slightly less importance.

Are you aware the fitness is different for different sports?

Footballers and cyclists = apples + oranges.

but on a football pitch rooney would just lean into him and he'd fall over.

But Beckham is one of those players I would say could easily go beyond the call of duty that is the 90 minutes. This is what I'm saying, if you are fitter then surely the better you are able to use your skills and judgement?

A colleague is a mid level referee with the SFA - part time and unpaid. He has to train 4-5 days a week, submit HR monitor recordings etc. I'd expect the players at premier level train pretty hard.

theotherjonv - Member

Lots of non-competitive MTBers are pretty damn unfit though!

Compared to who? cat 2 roadies, probably. Pro footballers, probably. Olympic athletes, probably.

Most mtbers I know would last about 1 mile in a cat 4 race, in fact I'd bet 99% of non competitive mtbers would.

Most mtbers I know would last about 1 mile in a cat 4 race

Thats a bit optimisitic for me, I'd be out the back before I started 🙂

but against the majority of the population who don't do any exercise at all.......?

Most mtbers I know would last about 1 mile in a cat 4 race,

And the fit ones about two 😆

It's shocking how much faster the casual roadie is than the casual mtber my local time trials are an eye opener to say the least some of the gents there are well past 60 and would easilly wipe the floor with the majority of mountain bikers.

Iain

Bizarre - an STW thread full of pious, opinionated tits!

Always a case of "if they don't do/like my sport it is wrong/they are shit!"

Get off your high horses (bet you are Olympic standard riders) and stop being ****ing girls!

But is that not almost the same as saying that runners are differently fit to cyclists.

Road biking is essentially about how fast you can go for how far. It's all about VO2 max, and heart rates, and power to weight ratio etc. Everything is about getting fitter because fitter means faster.

A large proportion of mtb'ers (ie: not proper racers) on here are reasonably fit by virtue of having to spend at least some time pedalling up hills, but the real point is riding technical singletrack, etc.

So is it any surprise that the group who ride road are fitter?

I reckon I'd manage reasonably well in a Cat 4 race. Quite tempted to try 🙂

Road racing is all about timing and tactics as far as I know. MTB racing is all about enduring as much pain as you possibly can. It's a time trial with worse hills and some singletrack thrown in.

Tell you what though, I bet the FA could learn a lot about preparation from the British Cycling lot.