How often do footballers train? Footballers training

How often do footballers train? It has become a common myth that professional soccer players train an average of five hours per day. How Often Do Soccer Players Have Training? There is no proof to corroborate that claim since top-tier professionals are not obliged to disclose how often they work on their game.

Let’s keep reading to know more about the football training plan!

How often do professional soccer players train?

How often do footballers train? During the pre-season and regular season, players train up to 30 hours per week. Training schedules can vary significantly depending on the time of year.

The off-season can be only 2-3 weeks per year and this is a recovery period with light training. The calendar year is split into 3 seasons for a pro soccer player:

• Pre-Season
• Regular Season
• Off-Season

However, it is safe to assume that most professional footballers and soccer stars are trained in practice sessions from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, at least twice per day, with an hour-long break for lunch at 12:00 PM. Although the exact number of training time differs from player to player and team to team, it is fair to say that athletes spend on average about 15 hours per week training.

The average time spent in training sessions for a professional football club is between 1,500 and 2,000 hours. The Dutch Eredivisie league outperforms everyone else with an average of about 1,850 hours per league team, while the English Premier League soccer clubs train about 1,500 to 2,000 hours per season.

Type of training for football

Physical Football Training

Physical training focuses on building the engine that powers you through matches. It gives you the ability to run, jump and shoot as fast and powerfully as you can. To achieve the best results from physical training, you’ll need to combine cardio training and resistance training. Cardio will involve running, cycling, HIIT, and the work you put in on the training ground. Resistance training involves weightlifting (compound and isolation movements) and bodyweight exercises. Beyond the training itself, you’ll need to focus on recovery, flexibility, and mobility.

You can supplement your training sessions with nutrition designed for your precise needs as a footballer. The Soccer Supplement Starter Pack is a great place to start. A combination of energy gels and hydration for just £9.95.

Technical Football Training

Technical training is about developing your technical skills on the pitch. It generally includes dribbling, passing, shooting, heading, and tackling. But it can also be position-specific, particularly for goalkeepers who need to develop diving, catching, and throwing skills. You can develop some skills on your own, like footwork and agility, but some skills — such as crossing and tackling — need training as a team.

Tactical Football Training

Tactical training is what makes a team stand out from the crowd. It’s the theoretical side of the game that focuses on set pieces, formations, and the tactics needed for different attacking and defensive scenarios. Tactical training is usually worked on as a team and will either occur on the training ground or in a classroom environment. At lower levels, tactical training will focus on your own team’s improvement and teamwork. But at the high levels, emphasis is placed on video analysis of your own squad and the opposition to find weaknesses and the best way to play against them.

What Football Training Equipment Do You Need?

Just having a good pair of boots and a ball isn’t going to cut it if you’re looking to up your game. The equipment you need will vary depending on whether you’re buying it for a team training session or individual training. If you’re buying for a team session, you’ll have a long shopping list, but some kitbag essentials always come in handy for football training drills and practice matches, such as:

• Football Cones
• Bibs
• Agility ladders
• Hurdles
• Slalom poles
• Ball rebounders
• An ample supply of footballs and a pump — one or two balls won’t be enough, especially if you’ve got enthusiastic strikers regularly lodging balls in the local wildlife.

Beyond team training equipment, every player will also need adequate clothing and personal equipment, such as:

• Shorts
• Shirt
• Socks
• Shin pads
• Football boots
• Goalkeeper gloves.

If you’re looking to train outside of team sessions, you’ll also need to get some equipment. The easiest way to gain access to the best gear is to join a local gym. The gym will have cardio machines like treadmills, bikes and rowing machines, and strength training equipment that you need to work out properly. If you’re unable to join the gym or want to train at home, you’ll need to invest in some dumbbells, kettlebells, or sandbags. You may also want to consider an indoor bike, treadmill, or rowing machine.

How Long Should Football Training Last?

Much like how often you should train, there’s no one answer for how long a training session should last. The shortest answer is: it depends. Most of the time, training shouldn’t last too long, especially if you are training most days. Spending too long training can be damaging to your health, so it’s wise not to overdo it. But, each type of training takes a different amount of time. Usually, a traditional team training session that you, your coach, or a teammate has organized will last about 90 minutes to two hours. Typically, this will involve a warm-up, tactical and technical training, a practice match, and a cool-down to the finish. But if you’re training alone, you can complete strength training or a cardio session in less than an hour. Some sessions, like HIIT sessions, on a treadmill or exercise bike, only take about 20 minutes. The length of time you train doesn’t directly affect the session’s effectiveness; think quality, not quantity.

How to Train for Football: Example Training Session

Every team will have its own way to train, but many squads follow a classic training format and then develop it to suit their needs.

How often do footballers train for each part? Let’s find out!

Warm-up (10 Minutes)

Every single training session should start with a warm-up. Ignoring the warm-up is a surefire way to get an injury. A warm-up will prepare your body and mind for the activities to follow. A team will warm up together most of the time, but players might need to work independently for specific activities like foam rolling a tight muscle. During the main warm-up, most clubs will follow the RAMP (Raise, Activate, Mobilise and Potentiate). This involves first raising your heart rate, blood flow, and core temperature with light movements like running or skipping. Next, you activate and mobilize key lower body muscles with squats, lunges, and other stretching exercises. The final part of warming up is to potentiate or prime your nervous system for speed. You do this by building up the pace of the session by practicing sprinting, jumping, and fast feet.

Main Training Session (30 Minutes)

After a successful warm-up, you and your team will be ready to take on the main training session. Regardless of the level, you play at, the session should have a clear goal, an aspect of the game that your team needs to develop and improve. One of the biggest mistakes that smaller teams make in training sessions is to tackle too much in one session. Rather than addressing lots at once, focus on a single issue like:

• Passing
• Crossing
• Ball control
• Shooting
• Set piece

Game Situation (30 Minutes)

Once you and the team have taken the time to focus on an area of improvement, it’s time to put your skills to the test. This will be a short session to practice and continue developing the skills from the main session. This session is normally a small-sided game, a full-team practice match, or a series of 1v1s.

Cool Down (5 Minutes)

This is probably the most overlooked part of a training session by many players, but it’s a vital aspect of training and saves you from cramps and potential dizziness. Cooling down allows you to lower your heart rate and breathing and relax your body. A cool-down doesn’t need to be extensive and can be as simple as a lap or two around the pitch at a light pace. After that, finish with some static stretching, and foam rolling, and then hit the showers.

Football Training Drills

Football training drills are an essential part of any successful training session. They are used by teams around the world, from kids’ leagues to the Champions League. Football training drills focus on improving certain physical, technical, and tactical aspects of your game.

Training drills can focus on building speed or specific ball skills like dribbling, passing, and shooting. New drills are developed almost every day on training grounds worldwide, but there are some tried and tested football training drill favorites many clubs use.

Shooting Drill

Finishing opportunities is a vital part of football. Without it, all the team’s hard work will be in vain. This training drill helps you hone your shooting so that you can fire it home the next time you’re in front of the goal. The number of players: 4 – 6 instructions:

1. Attacking players line up just outside of the penalty box with a ball each.
2. One of the attacking players is chosen as the “wall passer”.
3. Attackers pass to the “wall passer”, receive the ball back, and shoot.
4. Players take turns as the “wall passer”.
5. New rules can be added as the drill develops, i.e. using their weak foot to shoot.

Nutrition for Football Training

Nailing your nutrition is as essential as training for football. A good nutritious diet should include:

• Fresh fruit
• Vegetables
• Lean protein (e.g. chicken, tofu, greek yogurt)
• Healthy fats (e.g. avocado, eggs, seeds, nuts)
• Complex carbohydrates ( e.g. peas, beans, whole grains).

Once you’ve got a balanced diet on point (as near as you can), you can make great use of supplements to enhance your focus, boost your endurance, and speed up recovery. In the hour before a training session, you can use an energy gel, like Fuel90®. The gel contains electrolytes, which will keep you going throughout the training session. Energy gels are used by top teams and players worldwide because they deliver a boost of energy and hydration and help you squeeze the most out of a training session.

Recovery is crucial if you want to be ready to go again the next day. Regardless of whether you’ve spent a few hours training with the squad or working out alone, you must focus on recovery. Protein shakes, like Whey90® or Vegan Protein, with some fresh berries, after training gives your muscles the tools they need to start repairing.

Beyond nutrition and supplements, hydration is absolutely essential. You’ll need to drink about two liters of water every day, which is around eight glasses. You’ll need to add an extra half-liter for every hour of activity to avoid dehydration. It’s also worth considering adding electrolytes, like Hydrate90®, to boost your hydration and prevent your muscles from cramping.

Conclusion

How often do footballers train? If you want to improve your game, there’s no option but to train. Training keeps you on top of your game, it keeps you physically fit enough to stay on the pitch for 90 minutes, but it also helps maintain the right mentality. Training enables you to improve any areas of weakness and top up areas of strength so that you’re ready for your next fixture.

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