Strength and conditioning for soccer players, from the research

Athletic performance in soccer comes down to a few things done often: strength, power, the right running, and the exercises that keep hamstrings, groins and knees on the park. Here is what the studies say about each, and how much is enough.

Strength makes players faster

Stronger legs go with faster sprints and higher jumps. Squats, lunges and hip hinges are the base, done heavy enough to matter once a player's technique is ready.

"Maximal strength in half squats determines sprint performance and jumping height in high level soccer players."

"There is a transfer between increases in lower-body strength and sprint performance as indicated by a very large significant correlation (r = -0.77; p = 0.0001)"

Jumps and plyometrics turn strength into speed

Short, sharp jumping work, built up from small pogo hops, improves jumping and sprinting in young players.

"PJT is effective in improving jumping and sprinting performance among young male soccer players."

The injury prevention core: Nordics and Copenhagens

Two exercises carry most of the evidence in soccer: the Nordic hamstring curl for hamstrings and the Copenhagen adductor exercise for groins. A full warm-up program such as the FIFA 11+ brings them together.

"Programmes that include the NHE reduce hamstring injuries by up to 51%."

"The risk of reporting groin problems was 41% lower in the intervention group"

"reducing football injuries by 39%"

How much is enough

Twice a week through the season is the level the injury prevention research is built on, and more strength work goes with fewer injuries.

"A 10% increase in strength training volume reduced the risk of injury by more than four percentage points."

Running: intervals, not just laps

Hard intervals improve how much a player can cover in a match. Four bouts of four minutes, hard, twice a week, is the classic soccer study.

"distance covered during a match increased by 20% in the training group"

Young players are different

Children's warm-ups work too, and the rules change with age: under 12s do the warm-up and play, under 16s train with body weight and technique, and a growing player with sore knees or heels stops jumping and sprinting until a coach checks them.

"The overall injury rate in the intervention group was reduced by 48% compared with the control group"

How Full Season does it

Every player at a club on Full Season gets their own program between club nights: the warm-up, injury prevention, strength, running and speed, built from their tests, age, injuries and club nights, with the study behind each exercise. A player whose club is not on Full Season can have their own program for A$150 a month (see Extra Time). For in-person strength and conditioning in Richmond, see AK Fitness.

Read the warm-up guide, the pre-season plan and the fitness tests.