Just when I think things are starting to get better something like the video below pops in to my social media stream. Here you have the training for one of the best and richest clubs in the world. Despite these advantages they seem to be doing much of what has plagued soccer ‘fitness’ training – a misguided attempt to make the physical preparation for the sport resemble the technical and tactical movements seen in the sport. The result is busy movements with low-to-no load, ‘fancy’ footwork with no real athletic force application, excessive incorporation of the ball in manners that far outweigh how players do interact with the ball in a game, total oversight of the actions that players make when they’re not on the ball (which makes up the overwhelming majority of the game), and partial ranges of motion for practically everything. One of these issues would be a problem. When all of them are combined you have a nightmare. It’s impossible to incorporate any intensity in to the physical preparation session when you’re doing the ‘soccer specific’ work above. In what I can only assume is a well-intended attempt to obey the training Laws of Specificity, you get a training session completely lacking in intensity which accomplishes practically nothing on the physical front. As physical preparation coaches we often have limited time with our clubs to be impactful and we can’t waste what time we do have with methods that don’t provide an adequate stimulus for performance enhancement and injury reduction. What you see below is a training that is so lacking in any form of physical overload that no true training stimulus is provided. And when the training stimulus is inadequate any subsequent physical adaptation will be limited.

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Mike Young

Director of Performance at Athletic Lab

Mike is the Head Fitness Coach for the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC. He is also the owner and Director of Performance at Athletic Lab sports performance training center. He previously served as the fitness coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps and Carolina Railhawks. He has a PhD in Biomechanics, an MS in Coaching Science, and a BSS in Exercise Physiology and has coached Olympic and professional athletes in Skeleton, Track & Field, MLS and NASL Soccer, PGA Golf, NFL Football, MLB Baseball and Olympic Weightlifting. He has lectured around the world and authored 2 books and dozens of research and coaching articles.

Latest posts by Mike Young (see all)

• Brilliant Hamstring Injury Observations from Dave Joyce - September 26, 2018
• Sprint exposure for speed enhancement AND injury reduction - April 4, 2018
• Variance in the Soccer Warmup - April 3, 2018