Stamina Training

A fitter player is a nightmare to play against. They can cover every blade of grass on the pitch, and can sprint, and repeat their sprints to the same intensity throughout a full match.

The best thing about stamina and fitness is that you can improve it quickly. It takes no talent to improve your fitness, but it can make you a better player.

With our players, we use interval running sessions, which target improvements in your stamina. Engaging and putting effort into this can –

• Increase the amount of distance you are able to run in a game by 20%
• Increase the number of max speed sprints you are able to make in a game by 100%
• Increase the number of interactions you will have with the ball by 25%

In this article, we are going to introduce a FULL, FOUR WEEK RUNNING PROGRAMME you can use this pre-season to take your football fitness to the next level.

In these sessions, we use interval running, working hard, then resting, then repeating hard work.

This on-off approach is similar to football. So it works quite well as it replicates a game.

Four week running programme for football

• Complete the assigned run for the week at least 2-3 times. Aim to increase your running speeds over the course of four weeks.
• The sessions will give you a target pace to hit. 
• On the first week, this would be around the pace you would be able to run 1.5 miles at, with maximum effort. Look to progress this speed over four weeks
• You are also given a target RPE to hit for each set. RPE stands for rating of perceived exertion, and in other words it is how hard you found that particular set.
• For example, a RPE of 1 would be resting, a 5 moderately difficult, and a 10 the hardest exercise you have ever done. At the end of your 4 minute run, this should be around a 9-10. 
• We pick this target RPE and pace because it will create massive increases in your fitness, and a lot of match running is performed at or around this pace.
• You are also encouraged to record your average speed you run at during the session, to measure increases in fitness and stamina. There are several ways to do this
• Phone apps-e.g. Strava/Nike Running are a great way to record average speed, by holding your phone while you run.
• Treadmill speed-If you perform your running on a treadmill, you can write down the speed you performed your running intervals at.
• Timing to a known distance-timing on a stopwatch to a known distance, e.g. running track, football pitch perimeter or performing shuttles can also be used to calculate average speed. Distance/Time = Speed.

	Protocol	Target speed	Target RPE
Week 1	4 x 4 minutes, 2 minutes rest between each rep	1.5 mile pace	9-10
Week 2	5 x 4 minutes, 2 minutes rest between each rep	1.5 mile pace	9-10
Week 3	5 x 4 minutes, 2 minutes rest between each rep	1.5 mile pace	9-10
Week 4	4 x 4 minutes, 2 minutes rest between each rep	1.5 mile pace	9-10

Tips for improving your running programme

Solid Warm Up

Make sure that you warm up effectively before your running sessions. 5-10 minutes of light jogging, some dynamic stretching, and 5-7 x 25 m “stride outs” building up to 90% of your maximum sprint speed should get you nicely prepped.

Track your progress

Use the methods described earlier in the article to track your improvements in speed. If you can run quicker for the four minute intervals, you know you are getting fitter.

Summary

• The fittest players can do what they want, when they want, as often as they want.
• In this article, we introduced a four week running programme for football, which you can complete nearly anywhere.
• To get the most out of your programme, ensure a solid warm up, and make sure you track your progress.