Soccer workouts at the elite level aim to create players that, even after 90 minutes or more in overtime, can sprint the length of the field and prevail over a fatigued opponent. This paid off the U.S. Women's team. Christie Rampone, Ali Krieger, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach linked up for the length of the field for a goal versus Brazil. You can craft a workout based on their programs and other examples to better your own performance.
U.S. Women's National Team
Women's team players work out in the weight room, following individualized plans created by fitness coach Dawn Scott. Forward Wambach performs squats with a loaded barbell, hang cleans and box jumps for leg and upper-body strength and to improve explosiveness. Goalkeeper Hope Solo performs single-arm dumbbell snatches and box jump-offs. Workouts stress female-specific training to avoid ACL tears. These include careful landings from the box jumps with feet shoulder-width apart and knees not turned in, Scott said in an interview with the online training site Stack. Scott has players do four sets of five repetitions for many of the strength-room exercises, an approach designed to build exceptional strength.
U.S. Men's National Team
Scott's counterpart on the men's side, strength and conditioning coach Pierre Barrieu, also tries to create players with superior fitness based on individualized plans. In an interview with Expert Football.com, he described how he prescribes squat jumps; plyometrics such as box jumps for explosiveness; and free weights, with a focus on the hip flexors to provide stability. After skills practice, he divides the team into five groups, each with a varied assignment for improved cardiovascular performance. Examples include six-minute sprints at maximum effort and 25-minute runs at 85 percent capacity, ESPN Soccernet notes.
Columbus Crew
Major League Soccer teams also provide strength plans to individual players. For example, the Columbus Crew's strength and conditioning coach, Steve Tashjian, hands each player a six-week off-season plan for self-directed work and also handles warm-ups before in-season skills training. Players warm up with passing games involving three players and progress to agility work, hopping over cones forward and sideways, then run against resistance as a teammate presses their shoulders. Players continue to intense four-minute games pitting eight versus eight, followed by games of 11 versus 11 and individual time to work on whatever they want.
University of North Carolina
The men's and women's soccer teams at the University of North Carolina complete a rich plate of workouts, including weights designed to increase total-body strength and conditioning for aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Players do ice skaters, hopping from one leg to the other bent at the torso, and other hopping drills to develop explosiveness. Agility runs occur in the gym, quickstepping over small sticks that resemble a hopscotch pattern. Director of strength and conditioning Greg Gatz focuses on back-strengthening tasks such as machine rows, based on his belief that the back is typically undeveloped.
References
- USA Today; Reliving Finest Hour; David Leon Moore; July 2011
- Stack: Abby Wambach World Cup Workout, Abby Wambach Squat/Box Jump Combo
- Stack: Hope Solo World Cup Workout, Hope Solo Single-Arm Dumbbell Snatch/Depth Jump With Ball Superset
- Stack: Abby Wambach World Cup Workout, Abby Wambach Hang Clean
- Expert Football.com; Pierre Barrieu: "There's Nothing Worse Than a 'Generic' Program"; December 2005
- ESPN Soccernet; Fitness Coach Prepares Team for Anything; Wayne Drehs; May 2010
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