High Speed Running in Soccer Training
In many posts in the past that I posted on my blog I dealt with the importance of Ηigh Speed Running in Soccer training .Before start to present my “first” post in this site ,I would like to make a quick review about the Short Intensive Runs .From a very early age I understood the necessity of High-Intensity Interval Runs, in the Pre-Season Period in 2017 I started to introduce Short Interval HIIT from the 1st week of the Pre-Season , when most teams in Greece and Europe mainly used Long Interval HIIT lasting 4-8′ minutes, there was definitely the fear of the risk of muscle injury or the early formation ,that in the end none of the 2 happens. Since then I started to use both in the Pre-Season period and in the In-Season period the Short Interval HIIT and the gains in the improvement of the Physical Conditioning great, with minimal muscle injuries because we later found that it is a safe way to prevent muscle injuries and finally it was better applicable in practice by the players.Ιn all these years we understood that performing SI compared to LI format ,can allow athletes to work at a higher rate ,consequently eliciting greater long term endurance adaptations .Ending this short review I like to tell you that in my teams in recent years I rarely use LI HIIT I prefer more the SI HIIT for all these reasons that we explained .
I propose you these interesting trainings from Aston Villa’s lead sports scientist Jack Sharkley 1.Premier League Runs 2.The Horseshoes 3.40-30-20 Runs and 4.Gaffer Runs .All 4 workouts can be used with the goal of improving aerobic capacity and simultaneously achieving high speed runs. These workouts have the form SI HIIT and you can intergrate in Pre-Season and In-Season periods plans .
Aston Villa’s lead sports scientist Jack Sharkey has shared some of his favorite drills to help his athletes improve their aerobic capacity that you can try at home .The ‘Premier League Runs‘, originally devised at Bolton Wanderers in the 1990’s have stood the test of time and are regularly used as a fitness drill to test footballers across the leagues. Also known as 320’s, 120’s they can be performed using a 60 meter track. Although for convenience there is also an adaptation that uses the width of a football pitch. The aim is to run 320 meters in a shuttle fashion with 5 turns in under 70 seconds. After 70 seconds rest you must repeat the run again six times in total. The aim is to keep your times consistent. Following a 3 minute break the second set is to run 120 meters with one turn in under 21 seconds. Commonly used as a return to play fitness test following injury, if a player can complete these runs in the set times, they are considered fit enough to return to group training. The sequence is as follows: SET 1 – Run 320m in under 70, rest 70s – Repeat 6 times Rest for 2 minutes SET 2 – Run 120m in under 21s, rest 40s – Repeat 6 times
A personal favourite of Jack’s, the ‘Horseshoe’ run helps continue to build that baseline fitness, and by the third session you’ll notice significant aerobic gains.With a total of 10 runs you will end up covering 3.75km (2.33 miles).The sequence is as follows:– RUN 150m in 30s, rest 30s – RUN 300m in 60s, rest 60s – RUN 450m in 90s, rest 90s– RUN 600m in 120s, rest 120s– Work back down to 150m and then back up to 600m
The ‘40-30-20 Run‘ is the fifth and final drill of this series that showcases how Aston Villa’s Lead Sport Scientist, Jack Sharkey, improves the fitness and aerobic capacity of his Premier League players. This drills requires no setup or equipment at all, just you and a football pitch, and will help develop the engine required to keep performing throughout the 90 minutes. The sequence is as follows: RUN 1 Run from the halfway line to the goal line, back to the opposite goal line and finish at the halfway line. Run this in under 40s, then rest for 40s. RUN 2 Run from the halfway line to the 18 yard box, then run to the opposite 18 yard box and back to the halfway line. Run this in under 30s, then rest for 30s. RUN 3 Run from the halfway line to the goal line and back. Run this in under 20s, then rest 20s. After the 3 runs, rest for 90s and repeat another 3 times until you’ve completed 12 total runs.
The ‘Gaffer Runs’ have been part of professional training programmes for years. Professional footballers are expected to perform each of the Gaffer Runs in 15 seconds, but the best can complete in 13 seconds. Typically performed at the end of a training session, this 4 minute blow out will help develop your aerobic capacity as well as your repeated sprint ability. Follow in the footsteps of some of the top teams in the country and see if you have what it takes to match the demands of the Premier League. The sequence is as follows: -Start on the edge of the 18 yard box -Sprint to the edge of the other 18 yard box -Turn and sprint to the halfway line to finish. -Rest 30 seconds -Repeat 6 times
Very useful trainings for Pre-Season period or as an extra part in the In-Season trainings ,first to keep and to improve both Aerobic and Anaerobic Capacity and at second to achieved High Speed Runs (19,8-25,2km/h) and in some cases and Sprint Distance 25,2km/h+ who are very important usually in MD-4/MD-3 or as a part in compensation running .As you can see all these trainings they have the tracking from on of the best company in GPS Tracker ,Catapult one .I had the luck and happiness to work with this company on my last team (Μaccabi Tel Aviv fc ) and the experience that I had was excellent.
This Post written by SCC paulgotsis