How to increase your soccer stamina?

Intro Soccer

Stamina is important if you want to stay fit and avoid injuries.
As a soccer player you need strength to be able to accelerate, spring and move quickly during a soccer game. Your stamina level will therefore be crucial if you want to perform well on soccer field.

How to determine your soccer stamina?
An easy way to determine your level of stamina is to use interval training. This type of training contains periods of high intensity running combined with rest or jogging. Let’s say that you want to try multiple 100 m sprints that are separated by 20-30 seconds rest or jogging. By doing this you will not only be able to run longer distances, you will also build up your tolerance of lactic acid.

Eat well and sleep good
Try to eat a lot but avoid garbage food like hamburgers and chips. Always chew many times before swallowing the food. This will help you maximize the nutrients you get out of the food. You should try to eat at least 3 big meals per day combined with 3 small. Avoid commercial energy drinks and power bars. Nothing is better than real food, believe me. Try to sleep at least 8 hours because you need to be fit and have lot of energy if you want to increase your level of stamina.

Don’t practice too much!
Keep in mind that it will take you some time to reach a good stamina level especially if you are new to soccer. Don’t rush and practice every day, instead, take a day off and rest. By taking it easy your muscles will get a chance to recover and you will be able to perform better. I can agree that stamina training is not fun but it is something that needs to be done. This is the most important part of your pre-season training and you really need to take it seriously.

How to increase your stamina?
Here are 3 examples on how you can increase your overall stamina:

• Hill Running

• Jogging

• Shuttle runs

I would recommend you to start first by jogging a mile, perform 10 hill runs and finish with shuttle runs. This is a mini stamina program that you can perform every day without risking to get injured or become over trained.