Breaking your training into strength phases is an important part of your overall fitness especially if you are aiming for higher goals!

Even professional soccer players do this as a way to get even better than they were in the past. If they’re willing to train hard, don’t you think you should follow suit?

In this guide I will give you an example on how to break your soccer season into 4 main phases so let’s start immediately with the first one…

The Off Season Phase

During the off season you should mainly focus on building your functional strength. The off season phase has two goals.

The first goal is to prepare your body for the pre-season. This may include lifting light weights, playing recreational soccer, jogging and so on.

I would recommend you to practice at least twice per week. The other goal is to recover you body.

During the off season phase you should rest at least 2 weeks without participating in any physical activates.

You could just take it easy and enjoy the life. Try also to eat more but not too much as you do not want to increase too many ponds.

Early Pre-Season

During the early off season you should focus mainly on building your maximum strength. You should try to complete this phase before the start of your first regular season game.

This phase should be the most physical demanding one and you should really put big effort in performing it with maximum focus.

Late Pre-Season

In the late pre-season phase your main goal is to convert your strength into muscular endurance.

To achieve this goal you will need to participate in plyometrics and circuit training instead of spending your time by lifting weights in a health centre. The late pre-season should vary anywhere from 4-8 weeks.

In-Season Phase

If you want to become a well-balanced soccer player you will need to accept the fact that you will actually lose some max strength while developing your other soccer skills.

However, you should not worry about this because it will only make you become even better.

During the in-season phase your goal is to keep your fitness abilities that you’ve made during the preseason period.

You will also need to split your strength training into several different cycles. Each of these may last for 6 to 7 weeks.

In the week one-three you should only lift light weights. Week four-five maximum heavy weights and week six-seven you should try to lift lowest possible weights.

Summary

Having good fitness levels is a must if you want to perform well as a soccer player. However, you should not forget to practice with the ball as well. Remember, you are a soccer player, not a track athlete.

There is a time and a place to focus on fitness, and a time and a place to focus on the dynamics of soccer. Knowing the difference is what separates the amateur from the true professional – remember that!