Training for Extreme Conditioning/Endurance

Training
1

Hi all. I’m looking for some help.

Im a footballer (soccer) turned to weightlifting and has now gone back to football. I’m always looking for ways to increase my football fitness and watching the World Cup has prompted this question.

Some of these guys are SUPER fit! Watching the games between Brazil v Chile and Colombia v Uruguay yesterday, the first game going to penalties with players doing repeated sprints in extra time and some of the Colombians looking fresh (despite being soaked with sweat) at the end.

How can you train for endurance like this? Sprinting that much repeatedly in intense heat.

I’m a typical Northern European, live in London with blonde hair and blue eyes and I know I’m not built for playing in such heat but how could I improve for it if I had to?

I can’t run every day as it would hurt my legs and to be honest a lot of sweat really irritates my skin (very girly I know)

Football season is coming soon and was looking for any more helpful tips for training in heat and for EXTREME endurance and / or conditioning

2

You want to get more fit but don’t want to get too sweaty…? Honestly man, you gotta run. Every soccer player I’ve ever known could run 5 miles like it was nothin’ then hit a grueling practice later in the day. From my observations the best overall athletes are basketball players, but the best conditioned athletes are fighters and soccer players, and both do a ton of roadwork. Probably something to that.

3

[quote]adrenalinx wrote:
I can’t run every day as it would hurt my legs and to be honest a lot of sweat really irritates my skin (very girly I know)
[/quote]

I dislike the qualifier ‘girly’ as I know loads of tough women. ‘Wimpy’, however - yes.

Understand that these guys have been playing football since they were kids. That effectively means 3-4 days a week of jogging with intermittent sprinting - for over a decade before they enter a national team. It’s like asking how ballet dancers get so flexible - they invested a boatload of time into it. Chances are there isn’t a shortcut to this, and if there is, it will be very tough and painful - someone who worries about skin irritation probably won’t have the right mindset, no offence. This is especially true for ‘extreme endurance’ since, at a certain point, to keep moving is a matter of willpower, not of mere physical ability.

So, if you want to get there or get close - do cardio as often as your joints and ligaments, not your mind, can handle.

4

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
You want to get more fit but don’t want to get too sweaty…[/quote]

I never said I don’t want to get too sweaty but It irritates the f@@k out of my skin. I worked out on Saturday and I have red sore eyelids and blotches on my nose from the sweat. So if I work out more I am gonna get redder and redder and more sore. It’s not that I don’t want to, believe me , I love working out.
But I hear what you say about the running.

5

Just play football as much as possible, if you cant play then do suicides on a football pitch, they will make you very fit very quickly. I know alot of basketball players that can run forever and not many of them run seperately but they play so often that they get used to running for hours on end. Your legs will hurt with any hard training programme!

6

It’s not the sweat per say. Go see someone about that.

As stated above, invest in getting better. stronger, faster (no short cuts here), or watch from the sidelines.

7

You should get that checked out. The irritation from sweating, I mean.

8

My brother plays varsity soccer for his college and has unreal endurance. He and all his friends run. A LOT. Sprints, distance, and daily 2-3 hour practices. Same with the athletes I’ve worked with at my college. They have great endurance in their sports because they play hours a day, most days of the week.

My advice would be to lift two or three times a week, run 3 or 4 times a week, and play your sport at every opportunity you get. The last one is the most important, try to play lots of pickup games, or find local rec leagues.

9

If you really had the determination to achieve an elite level of fitness you wouldn’t be asking people these kinds of questions and coming up with these excuses. First off, get that skin condition checked out asap. Next thing you’ll want to do is regularly partake in vigorous fitness drills. Don’t go all out at the beginning, instead you should ease into training longer and harder over time. Achieving elite fitness is a long-term commitment and it doesn’t take weeks or months, it takes years.

You don’t need to run everyday, but you DO need to TRAIN everyday. You need to wake up every morning with the mindset that you are better than you were yesterday. Physically better, mentally better. Whip your body into shape with aerobic training, anaerobic training and resistance training. Know the differences between the three. Slow jogs, fast runs, sprints, swimming, jump rope, shadowboxing, burpees, calisthenics, plyometrics, isometrics, weight training. These are the kinds of exercises you need to be performing routinely. In addition to physical fitness you need to be mentally fit.

Keep your brain active - do crosswords, sudoku, math problems, memory techniques. Improve mental toughness by doing things that push you out of your comfort zone, such as waking up earlier and taking ice cold showers after your workout. To achieve elite physical fitness, you need supreme mental discipline. Start saying no to junk foods, sodas and other foodstuffs that will hinder you from bettering yourself, and instead learn to embrace the foods that will supply your body with the fuel that it needs. Fresh plant-based foods, lean meats, whole grains. Drink water by the gallons. Drink various teas - green teas, white teas, black teas, peppermint teas, chamomile teas, herbal teas and so on - and make sure to stay away from the sugar tin.

Too many people overcomplicate this. You know the things you need to do to become a better athlete. Go out and do those things. If in doubt, trust your instincts.

10

Hi Adrenalinx,
Great to see you back on the football pitch!

First of all I would echo the thoughts of others regarding seeking medical advice on your skin condition.

Secondly, I would suggest playing football as much as possible to achieve the level of fitness you seek. I still play football(not at high level anymore), and what I do is train 1-2 times a week with the team, train twice a week by myself with the ball(but also include conditioning at the end(rotate between 300m sprints and suicides)), train 2-3 times in the gym a week(WS4SB’s), and play usually once a week. Also keep an eye on your weight as its easier to run around for 90 minutes when you are not holding excess baggage.

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11

[quote]OmegaWolf wrote:
If you really had the determination to achieve an elite level of fitness you wouldn’t be asking people these kinds of questions and coming up with these excuses. First off, get that skin condition checked out asap. Next thing you’ll want to do is regularly partake in vigorous fitness drills. Don’t go all out at the beginning, instead you should ease into training longer and harder over time. Achieving elite fitness is a long-term commitment and it doesn’t take weeks or months, it takes years.

You don’t need to run everyday, but you DO need to TRAIN everyday. You need to wake up every morning with the mindset that you are better than you were yesterday. Physically better, mentally better. Whip your body into shape with aerobic training, anaerobic training and resistance training. Know the differences between the three. Slow jogs, fast runs, sprints, swimming, jump rope, shadowboxing, burpees, calisthenics, plyometrics, isometrics, weight training. These are the kinds of exercises you need to be performing routinely. In addition to physical fitness you need to be mentally fit.

Keep your brain active - do crosswords, sudoku, math problems, memory techniques. Improve mental toughness by doing things that push you out of your comfort zone, such as waking up earlier and taking ice cold showers after your workout. To achieve elite physical fitness, you need supreme mental discipline. Start saying no to junk foods, sodas and other foodstuffs that will hinder you from bettering yourself, and instead learn to embrace the foods that will supply your body with the fuel that it needs. Fresh plant-based foods, lean meats, whole grains. Drink water by the gallons. Drink various teas - green teas, white teas, black teas, peppermint teas, chamomile teas, herbal teas and so on - and make sure to stay away from the sugar tin.

Too many people overcomplicate this. You know the things you need to do to become a better athlete. Go out and do those things. If in doubt, trust your instincts.[/quote]

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