2 months to get into shape & info on college tryouts

[Ictar]

I'm in shape enough to do 45 but not 90 minutes. I do run some but mostly pick up games. But it's time to crack down and get in shape for college try outs.

Here was my plan, besides the eating right and drinking less cokes (which will be hard since I get free cokes at work).
Mondays/Wednesdays: Nothing if I work (work at 5, class until 3 on those days). If not I would run at night.
Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays: Run 6 miles in the mornings, and do speed burst exercises.
Fridays/Sundays: Light jogging.

I'll hit the weights 3x a week, and of course I mess around with a ball so much everday anyways I don't need to worry about that.

How much will this help if I keep it up for 2 months? What's a better training regime?
I've got a bit of a beer gut I don't want the coach to see. ;)

Also, I was wondering what college tryouts typically consist of? A normal practice type situation? Scrimmages?

[boydreilly]

Forget about weight training. You've got to lose pounds now.

6 miles a day, every day. And then when you finish the run do shuttle runs for a half hour. You've got to push yourself to the point where you're dragging that sorry butt of yours of the field. I would even add a couple really long runs in between. To tame hat beer gut, I would add 500 situps when you can.

When you've lost about 15 pounds, then you can go back to doing soccer.

[boydreilly]

Originally posted by Ictar
Also, I was wondering what college tryouts typically consist of? A normal practice type situation? Scrimmages?

The typical college tryout is to gt rid of the light weights in the beginning. They abuse you to see if you really want to be there. After that, they want to see if you have something to offer.

[goyoureddevils]

Running six miles a day is a great way to get in shape for a mini marathon, and it will absolutely increase your capacity to stay on the field a full 90 minutes while decreasing your gut, but truth is you need to do sprints as a major component or else you will not be in "soccer" shape. Endurance is great, but do you play soccer at a jog? Don't get me wrong, running distance is going to help you, but for the last couple of weeks, you need to lay off and do only sprint and plyometrics work. That will develop your fast twitch muscle fibres so that you can sprint faster, stop shorter, jump higher, and change direction quicker. Also this will help you prevent injury by providing solid joint strength. Running primarily distance, on the other hand, develops the long muscle fibres and actually works against you in a game.

Look into plyometrics as soon as you can, they are easy to do in a limited space...... and sorry boydreilly, I disagree from vast experience about the weight room...... get in there and hit em. Be conservative though, don't do so much lifting that you are too sore to run. Be smart and lift just lower body one day, and then split upper body into your two remaining days. If you try to work them all on the same day you will only spread your body's strengthening and repair resources so thin that you will feel like crap after a couple of weeks and feel like quitting....... that's not the point is it?

Oh yeah, and lay ALL the way off of the Cokes! If you need a caffein substitute try one of the new Snapple elements that has ginseng in it or any of the other fruity drinks like that. Ginseng is a natural stimulant very much like caffein except it doesn't take even half as much water for your cells to metabolize it. Thats basically the hidden problem with caffein, it uses so much of your body's stored water that it dehydrates you really bad at the cellular level where you need it most in a game.

Good luck

[halfnelson31]

also while ur training try to motivate yourself by saying things to urself. when i was trianing for soccer season i used these sayings that my wrestling coach told me:

Winners train losers complain

Pain is weakness leaving the body

No pain no gain

Athletes have no holidays

[goyoureddevils]

Originally posted by halfnelson31


Pain is weakness leaving the body



Never heard it, but I'm gonna yell it at my High School players every chance I get!

Thanks

[microbrew]

Switch to Diet Coke.

[goyoureddevils]

Originally posted by microbrew
Switch to Diet Coke.

That new Michelobe Ultra Light Beer isn't too bad either, it's really low in carbs.

[Ictar]

Nah, I just gave up Coke. I've been drinking water.

I haven't ran or worked out, though, because Friday after I posted this I got bronchitis and had a 101 degree temperature. Didn't go to classes all week.

Tomorrow I'm starting it. Going to do some of the plyometrics stuff, run 3 miles, do suicides. I'll damn near kill myself if I have to.

[boydreilly]

Originally posted by Ictar
Nah, I just gave up Coke. I've been drinking water.

I haven't ran or worked out, though, because Friday after I posted this I got bronchitis and had a 101 degree temperature. Didn't go to classes all week.

Tomorrow I'm starting it. Going to do some of the plyometrics stuff, run 3 miles, do suicides. I'll damn near kill myself if I have to.

Reverse the order - do suicides and then run 3 miles. That is what you need. It's one thing to be able to do the tough stuff and walk off the field. It is something different that let's you do the tough work and then do more. It makes your mind stronger when your body is dying.

A lot of good players can do good stuff with a ball. The ones who are in good shape can do stuff after the initial rush has run out of them.

[goyoureddevils]

I agree whole heartadly with boydreilly on the order. Do your plyometrics first, run sprints, and then run your 3 miles..... then do 1000 touches with the ball to finish, either juggling or 10 - 15 minutes of Coerver drills. This really forces you to concentrate on the ball when tired, just like you need in a game.

[Froggy316]

How do you do suicides?

[boydreilly]

Originally posted by Froggy316
How do you do suicides?

You can make the distances and the number cones different, but basically, you put a straight lines of cones maybe 6) three yards apart. Then from the first cone you run to the second cone, touch the ground, back to first cone, touch ground, then go to the third cone, etc. Run it as hard as possible, take a 60 second break, do it all over again. Do this about ten times.

Whew! I'm exhausated just from explaining it.

[kevbrunton]

Something else to work into your regimine is some sort of jumping.

For example, set up 10 cones in a row next to your 6 that you use for suicides. These 10 would be 1 yard apart.

Jump over each cone on the way down and then come right back. Keep your feet together -- two footed jumping. On each jump, pull your knees as high up to your chest as you can.

The same explosive muscles that you work when jumping are also the muscles that you work when you're explode in a sprint. Doing some sort of jump / hop workout is the best way to maximize your speed & quickness potential.

Alternate between suicides and these jumps -- do one suicide and then one set of jumps. As for how much time between, rather than a set time, you want to do it based upon your pulse. When your pulse comes down to 120, go again. If you're not in great shape, it might be 60 seconds. But as you get into really good shape, you'll find it dropping into the 30 to 40 second range.

[Ictar]

3 yards apart? Damn, I've been doing the entire football field. 10 yards apart each. Ah well, the more the better.

[Halfunderthetable]

goyoureddevils,
another good one is, "The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care."
oh yeah, and , "Enjoy your pain, you've earned it."

[boydreilly]

Originally posted by Ictar
3 yards apart? Damn, I've been doing the entire football field. 10 yards apart each. Ah well, the more the better.

Nothing wrong with that. My way is more geared to working on quickness. Neither one is a lot of fun.

[Anarchist]

According to my soccer coach, most of college tryouts consist of running. Apparently, coaches are looking for speed and endurance in their players. Two exercises that I know of are the Long mile and the Polish mile.

Long mile: Find a regulation sized soccer field. Start at one corner. Sprint to the half (around the outside, of course). Stop. Do 50 (crunches, leglifts, pushups, etc... be creative to fit what you need to strengthen most). Get up, keep sprinting to the other corner. Do 50 other things. Do a different exercise each time you reach a corner or the half. Approximately 5 laps around a soccer field is one mile... about 5-6 long miles a day will really get ya in shape.

Polish mile: these are fun. Set up a bunch of markers (cones, flags, etc.). Start at one cone. Sprint to the first cone, jog the rest of the way around to the starting point. Sprint to the second cone, jog around to starting point. sprint to the third, etc.

These two exercises are what I did the most to get in shape for Varsity (HS) tryouts. Every day.