52 Week Soccer Training Program

Soccer is a true total sport. It requires of its players the ability to show intense bursts of speed and power while simultaneously commanding the ability to conserve energy and endure for the complete span of the game. It requires athleticism, strength, and agility. Players must be conditioned at a top level to be competitive. That is why training for 3-5 days a week is essential in every season for players. To avoid injury, pre-season and off-season training is also vital (Heidt, Sweeterman, Carlonas et al., 2000). The sheer physicality of the sport requires its athletes to stay in shape throughout the year.

Every soccer training program should be tailored to the meet the needs of the individual (Manzi, Castagna, Padua et al., 2009). This program is designed for a 185 lb, 15 year old male high school soccer midfielder. It is developed for off-season, pre-season and in-season programs so that the player is in optimal physical condition at every period of the year. The end goal of this program is to have the player ready to perform at a top level. To that end, this program utilizes the principles of periodization so that the best possible performance from the athlete is achieved at the most competitive period of the year.

It is also important to remember, however, that over-training can threaten the safety and health of the athlete (Kellmann, 2010). For that reason, this program may be considered moderate in that it strives to seek the right balance in training exercises, so as to allow time for muscle rebuilding as well as to avoid mental and physical exhaustion. Safety should always be a priority in every training program (Finch, Gabbe, Lloyd et al., 2011).
Off-Season Schedule

Phases
Month 1
Months 2-3
Months 4-6

Focus
Getting into shape
Strength/Conditioning, plyometrics
Increasing fitness, speed, agility and endurance

The off-season schedule is for a 6 month period. It consists of three phases. The first phase lasts the duration of one month. The second phase lasts for months 2 and 3. The third phase lasts for months 4 through 6. The phases focus on specific regimen in order to complement one another and enable the athlete to build upon physical gains.

The first month is designed to get the player into physical shape and focus on increasing speed and agility. The first month consists of a 3-day a week program. The first day will center on building the player’s strength. The second day will center on developing agility and speed. The third day focuses on developing the player’s endurance.
The program for the first day consists of the following exercises, which may all be completed in a gym or basic workout room:
· Back Squats: 3 sets of 15-20
· Pull-Ups: 3 sets of as many pull-ups as the player can do
· Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 15-20
· Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets of 15-20
These exercises will help get the player into shape. They act as the foundation of muscle building and conditioning. Without this basic foundation, the athlete will not be able to advance to the more complex exercises that will be required for max conditioning by the end of the off-season.
The program for the second day consists of exercises that may be completed outdoors or in an exercise facility where there is room to run:
· Standing Long Jump: 1 set of 5
· Counter-Movement Jump: 1 set of 5
· Sprint to Lateral Shuffle: 3 sets of 30 yards (switching sides every 5 yards)
· Sprint to Backpedal: 3 sets of 30 yards
These exercises promote coordination, speed and agility. They empower the athlete to develop prowess and the ability shift from short bursts of speed and power to sudden stops and shifts of direction.
The program for the third day consists of exercises that should be completed with a medicine ball. Each exercise should be conducted for 3 sets of 30 seconds each:
· Twist and Throw
· Chest Pass
· Overhead Throw
· Clean and Press
· Med Ball Leg Raises
· Med Ball Squat
· Med Ball Lunges
· Med Ball Crunches
· Half-field Game: 20 minutes
These exercises help to increase the core strength of the player which is necessary for developing a player’s ability to demonstrate endurance over a complete game.

The second phase of the off-season program encompasses months 2 and 3. The exercise program for this phase expands to 5 days a week. Three of the days are centered on developing strength and conditioning. Two of the days center on developing plyometrics, agility and speed.
The first day will be the same as the first day of Phase 2 with the addition of Sprints: 10x30 with walking for 20 seconds between sprints.
The second day will be the same as in Phase 1.
The third day will be the same as in Phase 1.
The fourth day will be a repeat of day 2.
The fifth day will consist of squats, lunges, toe and heel walks, wheelbarrows, bear crawls, push-ups, pull-ups and dips. The purpose of these exercises, each one performed for 30 seconds with a 30-second sprint after every exercise, is to build stamina in the body. These exercises are not too hard on the body and thus should not contribute to over-exercise.

The final three months of the off-season program will consist of a five-day plan, but the exercises are more complex than in the previous 2 phases. The goal of these exercises is to increase the athlete’s overall fitness level.
The first day of exercises will consist of the following:
· Front Squats: 3 sets of 10
· Back Raises: 3 sets of 20
· Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets of 10
· Seated Military Press: 3 sets of 10
· Sprints: 2x10x20 yards, 20-second walks between sprints
The second day will focus on increasing speed and agility with the same exercises used on the second day of the previous two phases.
The third day will consist of the following exercises:
· Dips: 3 sets as far as possible
· Pull-Ups: 3 sets as many as possible
· Sprints:
· 1x20 yards, 10 second rest
· 1x40 yards, 20 second rest
· 1x60 yards, 40 second rest
· 1x80 yards, 60 second rest
· 2x100 yards, 60 second rest
· Reverse order
The fourth day is the same as the second day.
The fifth day focuses on the legs with lunges, good mornings, back raises, calf raises and a 30 minute half-field game.
Pre-Season Schedule

Early Pre-Season
Late Pre-Season

Continuous Training
High
Low

Endurance Training
Low
High

Strength Training
High
Moderate

Power Training
High
Moderate

Speed Training
Low
High

Flexibility Training
High
High
The pre-season schedule is for a 2 month period. The first month will be early-pre-season, and the second month will be late-pre-season. Thus, there are 2 phases to this program. It will consist of endurance training, strength training, speed training, flexibility training, and skills and tactical training. The same running exercises should be completed over the course of a 5-day training program, with days 2 and days 4 dedicated to this training. Strength training will focus on plyometrics so as to promote off-the-mark speed and will be the same as day 3 of the prior phase. Speed training will focus on the same conditioning exercises and will be the same as day 2 exercises. Flexibility will focus on the same exercises as day 1 in phase 3 of the off-season. Adjust for highs and lows of the pre-season phases accordingly.
In-Season Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Endurance training
Team training with plyometrics and sprints
Weights sessions with flexibility training
Team training with endurance exercises
Rest
Match
Recovery runs and flexibility exercises
The in-season schedule is for a 4 month period. Every day of the week will consist of an activity aside from Friday, the day of rest. Every sixth week, the body should be given a light week so that over-exercise does not become a detrimental issue. The same endurance, flexibility and lifting exercises described in the previous phases will be used to complete these exercises during the week. Team drills will consist of various steps, reps and exercises as assigned by the coach. The goal of in-season training is to stay at peak conditioning throughout the season.

Using the principles of periodization, this program has been designed to enable the soccer player to reach maximum potential when in-season. Out-of-season exercises are designed to get the player ready and in shape. Pre-season training is designed to prepare the player mentally and physically for the levels of endurance that will be needed. In-season exercises are designed to enable the player to be able to compete at top levels at the height of the athlete’s power. As Lidor, Tenenbaum, Ziv and Issurin (2016) show, the principles of periodization are designed to increase the player’s output at just the right time of the year so that the maximum amount of energy, focus, skill, speed, determination and coordination can be achieved when most needed. This program has been developed to ensure that burnout does not occur prior to the end of the season. The athlete should, of course, at all times monitor his performance in case over-exercise signs to appear. In such cases, rest for a week is suggested.

References
Finch, C. F., Gabbe, B. J., Lloyd, D. G., Cook, J., Young, W., Nicholson, M., ... & Doyle,
T. L. (2011). Towards a national sports safety strategy: addressing facilitators and barriers towards safety guideline uptake. Injury Prevention, ip-2010.
Heidt, R. S., Sweeterman, L. M., Carlonas, R. L., Traub, J. A., & Tekulve, F. X. (2000).
Avoidance of soccer injuries with preseason conditioning. The American journal of sports medicine, 28(5), 659-662.
Kellmann, M. (2010). Preventing overtraining in athletes in high?intensity sports and
stress/recovery monitoring. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20(s2), 95-102.
Lidor, R., Tenenbaum, G., Ziv, G., & Issurin, V. (2016). Achieving expertise in sport:
deliberate practice, adaptation, and periodization of training. Kinesiology Review, 5(2), 129-141.
Manzi, V., Castagna, C., Padua, E., Lombardo, M., D'Ottavio, S., Massaro, M., ... &
Iellamo, F. (2009). Dose-response relationship of autonomic nervous system responses to individualized training impulse in marathon runners. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 296(6), H1733-H1740.