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Monday, February 27, 2006

Daily Summer Workout Schedule

Make sure you perform Warm-up & Stretching prior to every workout.

Week #1
Monday

Week #3
Monday
Body Weight Circuit #2 (x 2)
Tuesday
OFF
Wednesday
Body Weight Circuit #1 (x 2)3 Mile Run
Thursday
Body Weight Circuit #2 (x 3)Speed and Acceleration (x 5)
Friday
OFF
Week #8
Monday
Body Weight Circuit #2 (x 4)
Tuesday
OFF
Wednesday
Body Weight Circuit #1 (x 4)3 Mile Run
Thursday
Body Weight Circuit #2 (x 4)Speed and Acceleration (x 6)
Friday
OFF

Workout Plan after warm-up: Acceleration and Speed > Stretching Program > Body Weight Circuits > Running Workouts > Agility Drills > Workout Schedule

Acceleration and Speed: Always warm-up before working on these drills.
  1. Blind Starts - Lay on your stomach, pop up and gradually accelerate while maintaining proper running form. At the end of 30 yds (25 m) you should be at full speed.
  2. Tall Fall - From an upright standing position, lean forward until you feel that you are going to fall over. At the final moment drive one leg forward and accelerate into a sprint. 20-30 yds (18-25 m)

Stretching Program: Always warm-up before stretching. Hold each stretch for 8-10 seconds and repeat 3 times.

  1. Single Knee to Chest - Lay on your back, bring one knee up and pull it tight up against your chest.
  2. Double Knee to Chest - Lay on your back, bring both knees up and pull them tight up against your chest.
  3. Straddle - Sit with your legs straight and spread apart. Bring your chest down and lean to left, center, and right.
  4. Butterfly - Sit with the soles of your feet together and pulled in close to your body. Lean forward and push the knees down with your elbows.
  5. Trunk Twists - Sit with one leg straight out in front of you and the other leg bent at about 45 degrees. Place the opposite side elbow on the bent knee and push. Repeat in both directions.
  6. Quads - From a standing position, pull your heel up behind so that it touches your butt.
  7. Hip Flexors - Kneel on one leg with your other foot planted flat on the ground. Lean your hips forward.
  8. Calves - Stand with one foot ahead of the other. While keeping both heels on the ground, bend the knee of the leg behind the body.

Body Weight Circuits: Do 10 reps of each exercise.

  1. Body Squats - Place your hands behind your head and slowly squat down until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and the heels in contact with the floor.
  2. Pull-Ups - Make sure that you pull-up with the bar in front of your chin and not behind your head.
  3. Side to Side - Lay on your back. While keeping your legs straight and together, slowly lower them to the floor on one side. Return your legs to the upright position, then over to the other side. Make sure you don't bend your knees.
  4. Squat Jumps - Similar to Body Squats except after squatting you will jump in the air. Make sure you get good depth on the squat.
  5. Close Grip Push-Ups - Get down like a regular push-up, but keep your hands under your shoulders instead of wide. Keep your elbows next to your side as you go up and down.
  6. Low Abs - Lying on your back bring your knees slowly to your chest so that your shins are parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your feet back down to the floor until your heels touch the floor. Make sure you keep your lower back in contact with the floor.
  7. Walking Lunges - Take a long forward step with your right foot. Lunge to where your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your right knee over your ankle, chest up, and shoulders back. When coming up push on your right heel and slowly come up. Repeat with your left leg.
  8. Dips - Start with your heel on the floor and your arms behind you, holding onto a bench or bar. Lower your butt down until you're in a near-seated position and your upper arm is parallel to the floor. Push yourself back up to the starting position.
  9. Split Jumps - Start out in the same way as with the Walking Lunges, but instead of standing up you will jump up. While in the air switch the positions of your feet so when you land your left should be in front.
  10. Low Back Stabilization - Start by lying on your back with knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Slowly raise your hips to the ceiling to where your shoulders, hips and knees are in a straight line. Hold this position for 15 seconds and then slowly lower your right leg and raise your left leg. Hold it for 15 seconds then repeat again.

Body Weight Circuit #2

  1. Body Squats - Place your hands behind your head and slowly squat down until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and the heels in contact with the floor.
  2. Pull-Ups - Make sure that you pull-up with the bar in front of your chin and not behind your head.
  3. Side to Side - Lay on your back. While keeping your legs straight and together, slowly lower them to the floor on one side. Return your legs to the upright position, then over to the other side. Make sure you don't bend your knees.
  4. Squat Jumps - Similar to Body Squats except after squatting you will jump in the air. Make sure you get good depth on the squat.
  5. Close Grip Push-Ups - Get down like a regular push-up, but keep your hands under your shoulders instead of wide. Keep your elbows next to your side as you go up and down.
  6. Low Abs - Lying on your back bring your knees slowly to your chest so that your shins are parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your feet back down to the floor until your heels touch the floor. Make sure you keep your lower back in contact with the floor.
  7. Walking Lunges - Take a long forward step with your right foot. Lunge to where your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your right knee over your ankle, chest up, and shoulders back. When coming up push on your right heel and slowly come up. Repeat with your left leg.
  8. Dips - Start with your heel on the floor and your arms behind you, holding onto a bench or bar. Lower your butt down until you're in a near-seated position and your upper arm is parallel to the floor. Push yourself back up to the starting position.
  9. Split Jumps - Start out in the same way as with the Walking Lunges, but instead of standing up you will jump up. While in the air switch the positions of your feet so when you land your left should be in front.
  10. Superman - Lay on your stomach with your arms, and legs straight. Slowly raise both arms and legs off the ground about 2 inches keeping them straight and holding them in that position for a one count, then slowly lower them.
  11. Low Back Stabilization - Lying on your back with knees bent and the bottom of your feel in contact with the floor slowly raise your hips to the ceiling to where your shoulders, your hips, and your knees are in a straight line. Hold this position for 15 seconds and then slowly lower your right leg and raise your left leg. Hold it for 15 seconds then repeat again.
  12. Pull-Downs - Use a pull-down cable machine. Lower the bar in front of your chest.
  13. Step-Ups - Use an 18" box step up with your right leg and step up with your left leg. Step down with your right, step down with your left. Then switch, up with left, then up with right. Down with left, then down with right.
  14. Toe Touches - Lay on your back with your legs straight up in the air, touch your toes with your fingers without bending your legs. Then touch the floor behind your head with your fingers without bending your arms.

Running Workouts:

120's

  • 15 x 120 yds (110 m)Each run should be done in under 20 seconds. For each run over 20 seconds, run 1 extra (up to 5). Rest 45 seconds between each run, by jogging back to starting point.


Intervals

  • 4 x 300 yds (270 m). Rest 60 seconds between each run.
  • 6 x 200 yds (180 m). Rest 45 seconds between each run.
  • 8 x 100 yds (90 m). Rest 30 seconds between each run.

3 Miles (4.8 km)

  • Run 3 miles (4.8 km) on a track for correct distance. Target time is 18 minutes!

Agility Drills and Daily Summer Workout Schedule

Individual Training Class 4: Soccer fitness > Physiology for soccer

Physio

  • Warm-up Routine
  1. Skip - Regular skip. Pumping the arms and driving the knees and toes up. 20 yds (18 m)
  2. March - Exaggerated skip. Keeping the elbow at a 90 degree angle and driving the knee and toes up. If your right arm goes forward, your left knee should go forward. 20 yds (18 m).
  3. Arm Swings - Shuffle laterally while swinging your arms side to side straight over head. 20 yds (18 m)
  4. Backward Run - Run backwards while maintaining a forward lean. Make sure you pump your arms and reach back with your feet. 20 yds (18 m)
  5. Bounding - Over-exaggerated skip. Try to get both height and distance. 20 yds (18 m)
  6. Butt kicks - While maintaining a slight forward lean, with your hands behind you, pull at the turf with your toes and kick your butt with your heels. 20 yds (18 m)
  7. Fast Carriocca - Moving laterally, cross your right foot over your left and step laterally with your left. Bring your right foot behind the left, step laterally with your left and repeat. Keep your knees bent and shoulders and hips square. 20 yds (18 m). Start with your opposite foot on the way back.
  8. Fast Shuffle - Get in a good defensive position with your knees bent and shoulders slightly forward. Take a wide step laterally with your right foot and bring your left foot next to your right. Repeat quickly. 20 yds (18 m). Repeat in both directions.
  9. Low and Slow Shuffle - The same as Fast Shuffle only slower with longer and more exaggerated steps. 20 yds (18 m)
  10. Power Skips - High skip exaggerating the knee and arm action. 20 yds (18 m)
  11. Tin Soldiers - Slow march. Raise right leg straight up to face level while keeping left foot flat on the ground. Keep alternating for 20 yds (18 m).

Individual Training Class 3: Soccer fitness > Muscles & Strength

Why you need strength: Strength training helps diminish muscle imbalance. Muscle imbalance causes alteration in some of your movements that may eventually lead to injury. It is possible to improve your muscle strength simply by using the weight of your own body for resistance. The most important factors for a successful training regiment are the effort and dedication you put in.

Exercises should be done for:

Individual Training Class 2: Soccer fitness > Anaerobic & Aerobic Endurance

Anaerobic Endurance: Anaerobic fitness or any training that involves intervals of intense activity and rest (or less intense activity) is a type of conditioning that is also quite effective in burning calories and lowering your body fat.

What is Anaerobic activity? : It is more intense (70-100% of your maximum heart rate) than aerobic but shorter in duration. Due to this, it is commonly referred to as quality training. Anaerobic activity is based on performing work while supplying the body with energy from stored sources such as glycogen. In this process, lactic acid is formed in the muscles thus causing you to feel fatigue or discomfort. Lactic acid buildup is the reason why anaerobic exercises cannot be long in duration and are usually segmented into intervals. Anaerobic endurance refers to your ability to sustain intense activity and recover quicker. This is generally dependent upon your body's lactate tolerance and removal. Weightlifters, for example, try to keep the time between their sets of repetitions as short as possible. This way they are developing both their musculature and anaerobic endurance.

Muscle Endurance (Anaerobic fitness) : Anaerobic fitness accounts for your ability to recover quicker and consistently sprint at high speed.

Aerobic Endurance: Aerobic exercises are designed to improve the cardiovascular system and the efficiency of the heart. Aerobic means "with air." During aerobic activity, the body supplies the muscles with all the oxygen lost during their work. The muscles require it for the oxidation of fat and carbohydrates. In order to maintain this balance and keep the muscles supplied, the rate of exercise must be between 50-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate more or less equals 220 beats per minute minus your age in years. When the exercise becomes too intense, the heart will not be able to provide the muscles with the needed oxygen so they will switch to alternative sources of energy. At this point, further activity will be considered anaerobic.

What to practice: Long distance running.

Individual Training Class 1: Soccer fitness > Speed, Agility & Flexibility

Practicing on Your Own:Practice is all about working at high pace and learning to transition from one skill to another. You'll be able to do that more effectively with just a ball and a wall. For your dribbling or agility sessions and simply for marking purposes, you may consider buying 9" or 12" cones, marker cones.

Soccer Fitness: A player's position means close to nothing in the modern version. Most defenders are required run down the wing, while forwards always check back to link up with the halfbacks. Due to this, an average field player, runs about 10 kilometers (6 miles) per match. Some midfielders cover up to 13-15 kilometers (8 miles)

Soccer speed: Reflexes, tactical anticipation, agility are factors which influence the pace at which one performs on the field. Soccer speed is not confined to sprinting alone as players rarely sprint for over 20 meters at a time. Rapid change of direction, acceleration and above all, speed with the ball is to be practiced. ( All drills designed to improve speed must be executed at maximum effort. You will need to segment your drills into intervals in order to suppress fatigue. )

Physical attributes affecting speed: You need to stress your muscles beyond their maximum capacity. As a result, your body will "overcompensate" by developing stronger and bigger muscles. Exercises designed to "overload" your muscles, the most simple and soccer-specific of which is sprinting, weightlifting and plyometrics .

Technique (with and without the ball) : Sprinting, in contrast to jogging, requires that you contact the ground with your toes. Your upper body should be slightly bent forward. You must keep your arms aside of your body. Put emphasis on driving your legs forward with each stride. By feeling out the ideal length of your stride, you can adjust for optimal performance. Once you have adapted a good sprinting stride, you should not change the rhythm by shortening or lengthening your step. You can practice your ideal stride by placing a line of cones with an equal distance between each. When you sprint next to the cones they will give you a sense of the consistency in your stride and speed. Remember to swing your arms parallel to your path rather than across the body as it preserves energy.

When a player is moving with the ball at speed, he has to keep a low center of gravity. His knees are bent and he is leaning slightly forward. When dribbling in a straight line, the ball has to be pushed with the instep and should not spin. Control is extremely important when working on your speed with the ball. If you feel that you are losing your handle, you are moving faster than your skill level allows.

Body condition: Fatigue renders speed training useless because it prevents you from pushing yourself to the limit. Muscles regenerate on the day after the actual exercise, therefore intense speed or weightlifting workouts should not be done more than 2-3 times per week. Your nutritional habits also affect your speed indirectly. Excessive body fat acts as baggage when you're trying to run. Shed some fat and gain more pace.

Flexibility: Flexibility is a major component of speed. Without good flexibility, your form will suffer, your stride will be shorter and you'll be at higher risk for injury.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Playing soccer in Nagar

I have been playing soccer for the past one year but have not been able to go beyond the basics. Let's see what my basic difficulties are. I can't run quick. When i run, it seems that i'm in slow motion while others are in play mode. I also have a problem with flexibility and that affects my reflexes. That puts going ahead with the ball and dribbling per se beyond me. I'm pretty good at timing a run while defending and also good at bulldozing other opponents. The stopping part after a burst of (slow motion) sprint is also a problem. I follow the captain's orders and fill in the gaps well. It's better if i got myself fitter but lazy that i am, i barely manage a four round run (in slow motion) round a sevens football ground. I think i'll be better. Being able to play soccer this regularly is a blessing but this blessing has other sacrifices taking its toll on me. I hope i can find a balance. While running in football and in life too.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Peacock sessions and soccer practice

Come to our football ground at 7.00 am in the morning and you can see people squatting around and dropping fresh peacocks. But that’s a problem we have had to face in this makeshift soccer ground. Our earlier ground was sold by its owner for a huge lumpsum and its new owners had the grounds tilled to make playing any kind of soccer, a hopeless case. One thing that I cannot seem to understand is how can people, of such a so-called great culture, not have a toilet/bathroom culture. How can people shit in open spaces? I have never ever seen anything like this in Kerala. People do not have that mentality there. In Kerala one cannot even imagine such a thing happening. However, here we have to carry a spade to our football ground to put loose soil over the peacocks that we notice on the grounds on most mornings. Pre-dawn session of peacock dropping by people who do not have a toilet they want to go to. Sometimes it seems like people have done hop, skip and jump while shitting. The fresh peacocks can be distinguished from the not so fresh ones when the dry soil is put over it. If the soil gets a wet look you know that a lot of covering would be needed. The ground is surrounded by people crapping late into the mornings. My cousin Biju wished he had an airgun to puncture a few asses while they were at it, dropping peacocks. We do hope that slowly these people will find better places for their act and certainly not encouraged by the fact that they can watch a game of football during the peacock session. We have started coming here early to stop the squatters but we cannot prevent the squatter-in-the-dark of the pre-dawn sessions from mistaking our ground for his WC.
  • 'peacocks' is the only specialized word that requires a definition in this context. When in school, the senior students would be taken for a three day trek at Sinhagad mountain and it's traverseries. They would all be talking about how they would have to confront peacocks if we started trekking from the village side of the mountain. I was eager about the whole trip and about actually "confronting" the peacocks. Me, having joined the boarding school in 8th Standard didn't really know, until i heard the guys saying "beware of the peacocks, here they come" that what they meant the whole time by 'peacocks' was basically 'shit'.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

the misunderestimators in soccer

Last update was on Indian soccer team standing which stood at 134 on world rankings. Professional Soccer World Cup Football is the most popular sporting event in the world with 203 countries participating in the qualifying round for selection in the World Cup Finals. The Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile etc are considered as Nurseries of Football. The stylish way of playing the game shows soccer to be the biggest passion and more than a religion to the worshippers of the Soccer God. Dozens of high profile soccer clubs in the European continent attract the world’s highest paid soccer superstars into their teams by paying an astronomical amount. There are many players whose inter club transfer fee is more than 100 crores. Laterally speaking, soccer provides a decent livelihood to tens of thousands of players who play in clubs across the world. Thousands of players in the football circuit command crores of rupees per season as professional fees. Football is the biggest employer in the sporting arena. India comes between 115 & 125 in the FIFA rankings and even in Asian Football our position is not amongst the top ten teams. Indian Football enjoyed better position by winning Asian Cup twice and reaching the semi-finals in 1956 Helsinki Olympics. The recently concluded season with around 300 players applying for inter-club transfers show that a few thousand professional football players are employed in reputed clubs in India. Though there cannot be any rhetoric on the kind of money earned by our top cricketors, soccer is a better option for sporting professionals.No other game can provide a decent livelihood to scores of players as in Football. It is high time the Government, the Football Associations, the media and the sponsors realize the immense potential of the game and contribute their mite so as to nurse the soccer dreams of India in a big way. In India we have cricketers who are sorcerors in the game of cricket. Isn’t the time ripe for Indians to produce sorcerors in soccer? Interested. Post a comment and i will get back to you.
WE ARE JUST A HANGAR FOR OPTIMISTS TO HANG OUT AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE COULD DEVELOP EXCELLENT INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS AND GOOD CLUBS WHO WOULD EVENTUALLY TAKE INDIA TO THE WORLD CUP.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

This blog has visitors from these places...Thank You All

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