Fitness for Football
Prepared by the Medical and Exercise Science
Department,
The Football Association
What Factors
Contribute to Your
Football Performance?
DEFENSIVE
SPECIAL
OFFENSIVE
PASSION
COMPLEX
ENERGIZED
STRATEGIES CLOSED
SELF
CONTROL
EMOTION SKILL
OPEN
INTEGRITY
PERFORMANCE COMMITMENT
CHARACTER PSYCHOLOGY
RESPECT
CONFIDENCE
CARING
ENVIRONMENTPHYSIOLOGY FOCUS
COLD
NUTRITION
HEAT
ALTITUDE FITNESS HEALTH
Football Facts
During the Euro 2005 match
against Sweden, Katie Chapman covered over 13km.
Katie has great aerobic endurance.
What Types of Fitness are
Important for Football Players
Important types of fitness for football players
• Aerobic fitness
• Speed
• Speed endurance
• Agility
• Strength
• Power
• Core stability
• Balance
General Physical Training
Principles
• Frequency
• Intensity
• Duration
• Reversibility
• Specificity
• Recovery
Aerobic Endurance
What is it?
It is the ability to keep exercising for long periods of
time in training and matches without getting tired.
How can I improve it?
• Running steady
• Running intervals at different speeds
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Rowing
Who Is good at it?
• Katie Chapman, David Beckham, Malin Mostrom.
Football Facts
Jill Scott and Sue Smith have run further in
the bleep test (measure of aerobic fitness)
than any other England International female
players.
Jill used to be a distance runner and Sue
works really hard at her aerobic fitness.
Speed
What is it?
• This is how quickly you run, move, react or
change direction
How can I improve it?
• Running style
• Speed drills
• Strength
• Reaction time drills
• Bungee cords
• Sleigh pulling
Who Is good at it?
• Lindsay Johnson, Aaron Lennon, Marinette
Pichon.
Speed Endurance
What is it?
• The ability to be fast over long distances and
also the ability to recover quickly in between
each sprint
How can I improve it?
• Repeated sprints
• Sprints over 20m
Who Is good at it?
• Alex Scott, Ashley Cole, Hannah Ljungberg.
Football Facts
In the Euro 2005 match against Denmark,
England’s Alex Scott completed 79 sprints.
Alex is very fast and has good recovery.
Agility
What is it?
• The ability to change direction quickly without
loss of balance
How can I improve it?
• Changing direction with and without the ball
at pace
• Running style
Who Is good at it?
• Kelly Smith, Thierry Henry, Elodie Thomas.
Strength
What is it?
• The ability to apply force against a
resistance. Strength is the foundation for all
other types of fitness
How can I improve it?
• Body weight exercises
• Any further programmes with weights must
be supervised to ensure correct technique
• Medicine balls
• Power bags
Who Is good at it?
• Rachel Unitt, John Terry, Birgit Prinz.
Football Facts
Faye White made 26 aerial challenges for the
ball in the Euro 2005 match against Sweden.
Faye is strong and powerful.
Power
What is it?
• Power is a combination of strength and speed,
and a measure of how explosive you are
How can I improve it?
• Short sprints/acceleration
• Resisted sprints
• Jumps/hops with correct technique
• Medicine balls
• Power bags
Who Is Good At It?
• Faye White, Wayne Rooney, Abby Wambach.
Core Stability
What is it?
• This is the strength of the abdominal and back
muscles, which provides a tight and powerful
support for all your movements during football
How can I improve it?
• Supervised abdominal and back exercises to
ensure correct technique
Who Is Good At It?
• Rachel Brown, Joe Cole, Solveig Gulbrandsen.
Balance
What is it?
• The ability to maintain and control your
body during your football match and
training without falling over
How can I improve it?
• Keep-ups
• Stand on one leg, throwing/passing/
volleys/headers to a partner
Who Is Good At It?
• Emily Westwood, Ronaldinho, Marta
Football Facts
In the Euro 2005 match against
Sweden the Germany goalkeeper,
Silke Rottenberg spent 17
minutes standing still and
covered 6.7km.
Silke needs to concentrate for the
whole 90 minutes of the match
Watch a 5-minute video of
any football match
Whilst watching the video
make a list of actions which
require the various aspects of
fitness already highlighted
For example - for jogging you need aerobic
endurance
How Many Did You Manage to
Come Up With?
Aerobic Endurance Core Stability
Jogging Heading
Walking Catching (GKs)
Tracking back Throw-ins
Dribbling Tackling
Recovery runs Crossing
Shooting
Volleying
Speed Endurance Power
Sprinting Heading
Jumping Shooting
Acceleration GK actions
Turning Punching ball
Running with ball Crossing
Recovery runs Tackling
Speed Strength
Decision making Free-kicks
Catching ball Passing
Running Shooting
Sprinting Shielding
Running with ball Agility Kicking
Passing Dribbling Crossing
Crossing Tackling Tackling
Distributing ball Interceptions
Passing
Crossing
Shooting
Heading
Scoring….and
Dancing!!!
And finally……
Top five tips for top players
• You should always warm-up before
matches and training
• Keep a record of the training which you do
• Do most of your fitness work with a ball at
your feet
• Set yourself targets to improve areas of
fitness
• Put maximum effort into all of the sessions
which you complete in.