Except for the goalkeepers, soccer players are on the move or running almost the entire game. Soccer players need both sprinting speed to get up and down the field on offense and defense, as well as stamina to maintain that level of effort from the beginning of the game to the final whistle.
Soccer Tempo Running
Because soccer is a game marked by sprints, followed by periods of walking or jogging, your conditioning should mirror that kind of running action. Long-distance running at a speed slower than what you would use in the game could actually slow down your muscles, which will try to adjust to the tempo at which they are usually worked.
Sprints and Hills
Running a series of six to eight sprints of 220 yards, halfway around a track, is a good way to simulate the kind of sprinting speed you need on the soccer pitch. Include some light jogging before and after for an effective warm-up and cool-down and do the workout two days a week to keep your legs in "soccer shape." Once or twice a week, run some hills or steps. Find a hill or series of steps that takes 45 seconds to run up, then run up and down them six to eight times to add strength and speed to your legs.
Stamina Training
To help ensure that soccer players can keep running at full speed or close to it at the end of the game, conditioning drills that boost the players' aerobic capacity and stamina are recommended. A commonly used drill is called fartlek training, from the Swedish word "fartlek," meaning "speed play." Fartleks can be done in many ways, but the basic model is a repeated pattern of jogging and sprinting, such as running hard for three minutes and jogging for one minute and then repeating that pattern six to eight times.
Adding up the Miles
Depending on your position on the team, you could run as many as 6 to 8 miles per game as a soccer player, using five or so different speeds and changing directions frequently. Midfielders cover the most ground. All that running, jogging, walking and running again can deplete glycogen from your muscles, so consuming a glucose-containing sport drink during the game can help keep leg muscles fresh for the last few miles of running on the pitch.
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