Football Fitness and Conditioning

Book excerpt: This book is intended for those who want to work on improving the fitness and conditioning of football players. The contents are written, above all, for the needs of the fitness coaches (strength and conditioning / performance coaches) in football/ soccer, but the needs of the head and assistant coaches have also been covered. This book is a particularly useful tool for coaches working with young categories of football players. The principles for fitness (and conditioning / performance) training are similar for different categories of players, professional (adults) / young players. The following contents, through examples and programmes, explain the principles of the processes of training and transformation of Human Motor Abilities (HMA), which are predominantly recognisable in the football game, and which affect the improvement of the general and specific fitness of football players. For us, as authors of this book, our goal is, through these contents, to enable the coaches to independently understand and set up transformation of Human Motor Abilities in the form of fitness and conditioning trainings. The trainings described are examples of good practice (based on science). After reading the contents of this book, the coach should be able to develop one’s own plan and programme for each kind of training. The future fitness and conditioning training plan should be a flexible plan and should follow the changes that occur in the players; it should be dynamic and adaptable according to the respective conditions. Topics covered: PRE-SEASON PLAN | TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN MOTOR ABILITIES | TRAINING LOAD + DOSAGE MANAGEMENT | FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH/POWER TRAINING | PERFORMANCE MONITORING | OFF-SEASON- TRAININGS | REHABILITATION (INJURY PREVENTION)