Preseason Soccer Training – How to benefit maximum from it?

Have you ever wondered why preseason soccer training is so important? Well, believe me I have asked myself this question thousands of times while running around in cold and snowing weather. However, after reading a book about soccer fitness I realized that without a good preseason phase your performance on the field will be pretty poor. You will also be more injured.

Now, when you know why pre season training is so important let’s continue to look at how often you should participate in it per week. The answer on this will depend on which level you are playing on. If you are reading this I suppose that you are new to soccer or have played for a while. However, I don’t think that you are professional (yet) and I will therefore adapt my advice after this assumption.

My advice is to practice at least twice but not more than 4 times per week. The reason for this is that you muscles need rest between your practices to recover properly. Keep in mind that when you are training you are not actually building up your muscles, you are breaking down them. It is during your rest period that your muscles are growing.

Proper nutrition during your pre-season is crucial. Without eating right foot you will not help your muscles recover. And soon or later you will cause yourself a serious injury which may sabotage your whole pre-season.

If you are serious with your soccer (which you surely are, otherwise you would read this) you should try to eat at least 3 big meals per day. Also, try to eat a fruit (bananas, apples, peaches and so on) between your meals.

Try to perform maximum during the exercises even if they are pretty boring. If you want to benefit maximum from your pre-season training you will need to focus maximum on the exercises. The more you put in, the more you will get from it. I know by experience that many soccer players love to cheat during the pre-season training. However, if you want to achieve bigger goals you need to take every soccer session, whether it is boring or fun and focus on it 100 %.

Don’t participate in your pre-season training if you are sick. You may cause yourself an serious injury (like hear inflammation) which could hold you off the field for several months. Instead, rest 2-3 days because you will not lose anything on that. Keep in mind: To perform maximum you need to be both physically and mentally 100 % fit.