Hey guys, So I've finally decided to cut the crappy split weight training routine and stick purely with the Strong Lifts one. However, they advise you to do at least 3 leg exercises a week. It's either a Squat or a Deadlift. I'm starting this next week and I'm worried that doing 5 sets of squats is going to tire me out not only for pre-season training, but also for pre-season games. The full routine would look something like this for me: Monday Squat - 5x5 Military Press - 5x5 Barbell Row - 5x5 Pull-up ??? Wednesday Deadlift - 5x5 Bench Press - 5x5 Barbell Row - 5x5 Pull-up ??? Friday Squat - 5x5 Military Press - 5x5 Barbell Row - 5x5 Pull-up ??? I would be training (as in ball work + runs) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday then rest at the weekends. But we also have some games coming up on the Sundays. What should I do? Jon
I'll tell you what I would do. Lift weights to aid your sport. Don't play the sport to aid your weightlifting. It's easy to get carried away with hypertrophy and maximum strength training. If weightlifting is affecting your football, cut down the volume or train fewer times a week. If you can handle three times a week, do three times a week. If you can't, do once or twice a week. Keep an eye on your match performance and you should be all right.
Yeah i kinda had the same dilemma with Starting Strength. I was doing too much and i did not have time to recover. Well i ended up pulling a Hamstring which prevented me from playing for a month. Go twice maybe even once a week with the heavy weights i say.
When someone is promising exactly what you want to hear and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Someone saying "Everyone will gain 25 lbs. of muscle mass in the first year" or "will be able to easily run 3 miles anytime you want without actually training for it" makes me want to run-- away screaming.
I am old school when it comes to weights. I had a great player he had just came back from Italy. He played in their second division. This was a long time ago. He was recovering from and injury. Then he decides he was going to Florida with a friend and live in a singles complex and enjoy life for a while. There was a gym there. He had no clue how to use free weights to help enhance his performance. When he got back I didn't recognize him. He never had a great body for soccer. But he had a will to be a great player. Plus his father was a soccer coach and he was self motivated. Any when he got back he looked like a furniture mover and not a soccer player. He never was the same player after that, he was still a scorer. But after the 60 minute he was done. He became a pretty good club player after that, but nothing more. I know people swear by using weights. I do to but only under a great trainer or don't do. On explosive speed that depends on your muscle type I think you either have it or you don't. But if you do have it you can make it better. But if you don 't you don't. I was just watching the news. They are offering a test for children young children to find it what sport they are best suited for. it costs 200 dollars you take a swab and get a sample of their saliva and they test it then you know.
While a general strength training program has definite benefits, there has to be a carryover to the soccer field. You cant lift in isolation, and besides there are so many components of being a soccer player. That is why I have always been a fan of an integrated training program. One has to address the various athletic needs of the soccer player, ie power, flexibility, injury prevention, agility, not just strength.
I've done a two day a week strength program that only uses 3 sets instead of 5 called GSLP. It's set up to do squats twice and deadlift once but I cut out one of the squat days as a modification to the program. Any 5x5 program is going to be brutal for someone trying to play soccer as well. You can definitely strength train and play soccer just not with super high volumes.
The first thing that comes to mind with this program is that there isnt enough unilateral knee bend, aka split squat, lunge, single leg squat. Besides, a 5x5 type routine needs to have progressions and periodization that lead to it. You cant wake up one morning and decide you are going to start doing a 5x5 routine. For soccer players, while it helps to be strong, speed strength should be the number one focus. If you can add strength without taking away from your agility, acceleration, etc, more power to you.