I'm a 25 year old male, my main position is fullback, but I can play center back or defensive mid in a pinch. I'm looking to get back in shape for tryouts for a semi pro team in about a month and a half. I started running, Sunday league, and playing pick up games, but I need some strength training to go along with this (as well as some skill work on the ball). One of my friends who is not a soccer player swears by his cross fit gym that has certified trainers with degrees in nutrition and kinesiology, and that the workouts are tough and will get you in shape, along with a positive and motivating environment. I'm thinking of perhaps doing cross fit two or three days a week. However I have read conflicting reviews on cross fit for soccer players and athletes. Anyone who knows if it sounds like a good idea?
Crossfit has a lot of merit for an average person trying to get into shape. I wouldn't do it as a soccer player though. Those types of workouts take a long time to recover from, leaving you too sore and incapable of training technique and endurance and mobility while you are recovering. You should do a strength program that's more soccer specific.
I like Crossfitfootball.com (American football) with additional endurance workouts for soccer players. Usually do endurance work on Wednesdays and Sunday's which are the programmed rest days and, therefore, dont feel bad if I miss a day or 3. Crossfitendurance was a pretty good fit for soccer players, but that has devolved into a spinoff site that is pay only. As mentioned above, these programs aren't beneficial for the truly elite, but the vast majority of soccer players would likely benefit from increased strength work. It is just a delicate balance to make sure that strength work doesn't detract from endurance. IMO, as a 25yo male if you aren't squatting 315 and DL 405, crossfit football strength work would make you a better player. That being said, there's a million different variables that go into fitness programming that is nearly impossible to dial down via the Internet. I'm honestly surprised CrossFit hasn't capitalized on the soccer market #businessidea
I am thinking about it as well, though I am nearly 50, but still play soccer regularly as well as cycle and do some racing. I coached a few seasons ago with a young guy a little older than you. He was big into crossfit. He was a former DI player at a pretty big program. At the time he was a grad assistant at another DI program and often found himself playing in practices and even playing in NCAA spring friendlies when the team was down numbers. Looking at him, he looked like he was fit to play soccer, but as someone else indicated, I might avoid those workouts when they would conflict with soccer practice because there is a level of recovery that you would need. Seeing how I don't practice during the week, not sure it will have much effect on me. Can't feel any worse than I do on a given Monday morning after a 90 minute match the day before.
Like I said my plan would only be to go two or maybe three days a week. My prospective schedule until the semi-pro tryouts would look something like this: Monday: Running/Ball work Tuesday: Crossfit/Strength Training Wednesday: Pick up game Thursday: Crossfit/Strength Training Friday: Either Rest day with light ball work/or Crossfit Saturday: Rest day Sunday: Sunday league game So Hopefully that wouldn't burn me out and I would be getting a good balance of soccer specific training and game like situations along with a couple of intense cardio and strength session and a rest day or two. I'm just kind of generally out of shape at the moment, not fat, but not in the shape I was during college soccer, or previous semi-pro seasons. So, I kinda wanted to try it since it just gets you a good general fitness base. Then after a little while of that, they do offer some personal training, or a personal workout plan (for a little extra money of course) that could be more sport specific; as it says on their website that they can make more sport specific training plans. Plus I've trained on my own a lot throughout the years, and while I do enjoy the solitude, sometimes it gets really tough and lonely by yourself. So I thought being in an encouraging environment with other people could be good mentally.
Crossfit gets a lot of flak on the web, and kipping pullups are kind of ridiculous, but it is good for the average bear trying to stay active or mix it up a little. It's a ton of cardio, some lightweight oly lifts, and a small bit of heavy lifting (at the box I used to sneak into, thanks to a friend who was a trainer). Occasionally, you do test your strength within reason, but I wouldn't call it strength training. It's more scattered exercises than programming of your typical weightlifting split. The community part of crossfit is a bit underrated and something you were getting at. Training alone can suck, so that would be a refreshing change of pace.
Hey guys this is a very interesting topic. I think Crossfit in and of itself is great when done properly and can definitely develop conditioning and some athleticism, but as a method of training soccer athletes it falls short for several reasons. Some of these reasons depend on genetics and training history. Here are a few reasons why I don't think Crossfit is the answer: -almost only sagittal or up and down plane of motion loading while soccer requires a lot of lateral and rotational movements - ex. box jumps versus lateral bounding variations -most strength movements in crossfit are bilateral and soccer players benefit tremendously from more single leg work to prevent knee injuries, hernias, groin strains, etc. -a lot of the running and box jumps can compete with the muscles and tendon reserves that soccer already needs and drains. If you do 50-100 box jumps your achilles/calf will be compromised for practice or the games -upper body mass can hypertrophy or get too big and will be a detriment to changing directions well in soccer. This is in rare cases when someone has the propensity to gain mass easily it will hinder soccer agility and the abiltiy to repeat agility for 90 minutes - it is random workouts that don't take into consideration soccer energy systems or the season at large so it is not specific -quad dominant movements- tons of squats both air and weighted and very little hamstring or sprint type of movements. Soccer is already a quad dominant sport, especially for midfielders and the cross training must take that into consideration. Not saying not to squat, as getting strong in the squat is on of the best ways to get more explosive in short sprints, but tons of air squats with little horizontal hip work (sled sprints, glute ham raise, rdls both double and single leg, reverse hypers, back extensions, and top end speed work) is not favorable to the development of the complete soccer athlete. Weight training for the soccer player is crucial and has changed the game for the better. However, the cookie-cutter routines of Crossfit are not the optimal choice.
So basically I should either see if I can get a sport specific training plan at the cross fit gym, or do something else?
You could even try it and just see how it goes. If someone is lacking strength and fitness it probably will help more than it will hurt, if you dont get hurt. One point of clarity regarding the upper body mass-upper body strength paired with strong legs will help you move explosively, but the added bodyweight over 90 minutes can be hard on the joints and make repeated cutting harder.
I was thinking of just trying it and seeing how it goes like you said and taking time to build up strength as to not hurt myself. But yes the upper body mass and weight is something I'll keep in mind. Maybe if I notice my upper body getting too big and heavy I'll just not go very hard on the upper body exercises haha. I definitely would prefer agility over size.
Good post. Any recommendations on what an optimal weightlifting routine for a soccer player would be?
Cristiano has been pretty open about his weightlifting routine. He does very heavy squats, by most people's standards. I'd venture a guess he doesn't do much bench pressing though. Probably just sticks to lots of pushups. You really just need to jump in and see how far your noobie gains will go. Crossfit is exercise, not a program, but it will probably be enough for you to see some progress. The recommendation for beginners is to go total body workout twice or thrice a week until they hit a plateau. Crossfit will do that. Specificity of training comes once you've made it to at least an intermediate level. If you're worried about getting too huge, do squats, pushups, and pullups. Nothing to argue with your post on, just a personal anecdote. TL;DR inbound: As far as agility and endurance, all lbs (or kilos) muscle or fat, are created equal. The lighter you are, the better, but joint fatigue is a different story in my experience. In my late teens/early 20s during college, I was playing 11v11 games twice a week and working on technique every day along with your standard conditioning for stamina. I had noticeable limp in my walk between soccer related activities because my knees ached. I'm 29 now and about 20 lbs heavier (on creatine), the soccer routine is pretty much the same, but I do a ton of weightlifting, especially squats, and my knee pain is nada. I've asked the other handful of players (a minority, for sure) who train weights as well, they've also said the knee aches have nearly disappeared since they took up lifting. Now, if I was still playing competitively in two or three games a week, I would obviously scale back on in-season lifting and alter my diet from the bodybuilding type diet ratio of 2:2:1 (protein, carbs, fat) to the endurance diet of 1:3:1 and sacrifice some of my strength for the lighter luggage. So far, I've been getting away with balancing my two interests by using my soccer training as the cardio most weightlifters spend on the treadmill or elliptical, and I haven't been getting dead legs after games or had any issues with plateaus while lifting.
Nice post Wolfbeatseagle. I'm beginning to see what you and matherold are saying about crossfit not being ideal for soccer and that it is exercise not a program. While some of it is beneficial it doesn't work on things specifically for soccer. But seeing as I've been pretty lazy this past summer I think it'll help give me a good start to gaining some strength. I've now figured out which days they focus on legs more the last couple weeks so I will start going those days (they usually throw in some pull ups or pushups to make it a full body workout). After a couple more months I'll probably stop going to crossfit, find another gym and start on a soccer specific weight training program. I actually have matherolds xfactor2011 and have used it in the past but felt like trying something new. However I will say that my experience so far has been positive, and the trainers have really helped me use better technique for lifting, as well as giving me better stretches for mobility for my ankles and hips which have always been pretty tight for me. So if I take away anything from this experiment, that will probably be it.
Alright, I've been doing it for near a month now. This is definitely something you don't want to do during the season if you are also on-field practicing. For me, its good stuff during the week, combined with my short bike rides (hard, but limited due to daylight and road conditions-I trail ride at night with lights, but not the road), I have felt fine come my Sunday morning soccer games. But again, I don't do any other soccer training during the week (except for coaching). I will watch myself over the winter to make sure I don't lose upper arm flexibility/range of motion. I sometimes play goalkeeper and train youth keepers once a week. It does seem like an excellent source for offseason training for a player is you don't have access to a private source, such as a school or team trainer.
Getting back to your original post, it also doesn't seem like something you should do a few weeks before a season/tryout 'to get in shape' either. I see it as a long term 'growth' type activity. I may be wrong, but this is how I'm treating it. I don't expect to make huge strides. Based on my age and overall condition, I am not pushing it to move heavy weights. I'll be satisfied mastering the moves and doing weights at an 'artificial max' and progress slowly.
I definitely plan on backing down on it before any tryouts that take place, and will be doing soccer specific training during the season. My season got pushed back from March to May, so I have a while to build up to it. (I still play Sunday league like you though). The trainers at the gym seem to agree with you as far as it being 'long term growth'. They stress to focus on technique and adding weight slowly. Interestingly enough I talked to the head trainer/owner last night about preparing specifically for a semi-pro soccer season next summer. He recommended to start going consistently 3 times a week at least (I've only been going 2), while still playing soccer in my spare time, then when it gets closer to the season to talk to him if I want a soccer specific training plan.
If you're an elite crossfitter, yeah, not going to be helpful trying to train in the afternoon after a 4 part AM workout. Not to mention the fact that you're likely to be a 5'5" 195 lb beast. However, somebody that is hoping to play at the semi-pro level, like the poster, should be able to do 3-4 workouts a week with his team training sessions and games thrown in with no trouble. I played in the NPSL as an old guy (30+), crossfitting 3-4 mornings a week and training 2-3 a week with the team and playing in 1-2 games a week while also working 60+ hours/week. It all depends on so many factors such as desire to completely dedicated to the training, extremely tight nutritional discipline, and getting proper sleep.
Well to give an update I quit doing crossfit at the end of December and went back to Mat Herold's xfactor 2011 workout plan half way through January. I liked crossfit, but the workouts were too unpredictable so it was hard to know which days to go and plan the rest of my training schedule around that and work. It was also hard to build up leg strength because sometimes I'd only get to work on legs one day or zero days a week and other times it'd be two. Again I come back to the conclusion that it is great for off-season cross training, especially if you are able to go (and can afford) 3-4 days a week. After a month and a half of consistent lifting 2-3 days a week and soccer training/games I feel more fit for soccer than before. Although the holiday season definitely didn't help, so I don't necessarily blame that on crossfit.
The more advanced you get the less general programs will help you and the more you need a program tailored to your situation. Mat's program is soccer specific.
I've done some of his program before and it helped. Now I'm more disciplined and have been following it more closely and it seems to help a bit more.
I have found Crossfit fantastic for me. I would qualify that I started the workouts just as my season was ending in October and I won't play again until late April, so I don't know what effect it will have on me. As I only play one league game per week (in an over-40 league, where I already am fitter than most players, not better, just fitter) and play pickup once or twice, I can't help but think this will help me greatly with overall fitness. My U-16 son started doing it as well about 2 months ago just as a way to get two strength workouts a week to supplement his two soccer practices and one game per week. Can't say there has been a noticeable difference in him yet, not that we were expecting anything huge to come of it instantly.
I think it would be great especially that you are a defensive player but would try work on legs as a full back you need pace to keep up with your man
There is no fit-for-all strength training program, unfortunately. Crossfit may be a good option as a part of the tailored program, for sure. But crossfit alone - I do not think so, because it just disregards certain pillars of physical training for soccer players (e.g. less agility training). I would recommend checking out our in-depth guide on strength training for soccer players. I hope, you find it valuable for your needs. Cheers.