Soccer is a game where conditioning is of great importance when it comes to maximizing performance.

At the beginning of the preseason, most coaches today put a lot of focus on building an aerobic foundation that prepares players for the season.

Building an aerobic base

The term “aerobic base” has been used frequently for the last 10 to 20 years, and the reason for building this base is the evidence that a player runs 8 to 12 km during a football match during a period of 90 minutes .

So far so good. But when it comes to the distance covered during a soccer match, shouldn’t we really be focusing on how we reached that distance, rather than solely focusing on the distance itself?

Is the actual distance the most important aspect?

Sure, a professional soccer player can run 11-12 km during a game, but that distance is not achieved by running long distances at the same pace throughout the game, quite the opposite.

What separates a world-class player from an average player is not necessarily the distance covered, but the number of high-intensity runs and sprints that are put in.

Running long distances will make your players slower and weaker

If you still think long-distance running is the way to go for soccer conditioning, then this should change your mind.

Running long distances will stimulate your slow-twitch muscle fibers, which means your body is adapting to the slow pace of long-distance running, and over time your fast-twitch muscle fibers will “drown,” which which will make it slower and weaker.

Soccer is a “power sport”, where speed, maximum strength and jumping ability are of extreme importance. Running long distances will do the opposite for your players and make them weak and slow.

Is there a need for an aerobic base?

Not in the traditional way through long-distance racing. My philosophy on soccer conditioning is that everything should be done on the soccer field, and most conditioning should be sport-specific, meaning most of it should be done on the ball.

However, during the beginning of the preseason, I build an aerobic base through race pace.

Pace running is where players run around 75-80% of what they would run running that distance. The distance I use for tempo running is 100 meters (the length of a football field) and 200 meters (there and back).

A general rule of thumb for distance and time is:

– 100 meters: 18-22 seconds

– 200 meters: 38-44 seconds

So if they’re doing 100-meter tempo runs, they should run at a pace that takes them 18 to 22 seconds to run 100 meters.

I use tempo runs for 3-4 weeks, 2-3 sessions per week, increasing the distance with 200-300 meters per workout. I coach a Boys 18 team so if you coach younger players be a little more careful with the volume.

The first session could be 8 x 100 meters, and then the next 10 x 100 meters, and then I would alternate 100-meter runs with 200-meter runs in the same session.

I often let players rest in the middle for 2 minutes and then let them run the rest of the distance after that.

running time It will help you develop that aerobic foundation necessary for soccer and ensure your players stay strong and explosive.