All right! So soccer season is right around the corner and you want to make sure that you’re ready when try-outs roll around.
Sounds like fun! Soccer is among the most notorious sports in history, and although it traveled to the United States from countries on the European continent (where it still holds the title of “football” rather than soccer, something that can be very disconcerting for those used to the term football referring to something played with a pigskin and slightly more violence than soccer) it has become one of the great American pastimes, along with baseball and basketball.
Although it is not nearly as brutal as football soccer is still not for the faint of heart.
It takes a great deal of muscle and endurance to keep up when you are racing across a field as fast as you can in an attempt to outrun the competition and take home the prize-in this case, the black and white checkered blur that you see rolling down the field towards your goalie as the other team attempts to gain their advantage.
If you have been an avid sports enthusiast all your life this is probably nothing new to you; you already know how to keep fit so that you are prepared for anything the playing field might throw your way.
You probably make a concentrated effort to eat properly and set aside a portion of your day to workout.
There will be no surprises waiting for you when you step out onto that field; as a matter of fact, if you have played soccer before you probably know exactly what you’re getting yourself into and are wasting your time reading this report!
On the other hand, if you are new to the game and physical activity has never really been your “thing” but you have decided to give it a try you probably need to spend a little bit of time getting yourself in shape.
If this describes you, it’s okay; don’t develop an inferiority complex simply because you are afraid that you may be a little bit behind the game.
It won’t take you long at all to catch up with your potential teammates if you are willing to put a little bit of effort into it.
Of course, simply knowing that you need to put in a little effort in order to keep up with your competition when the time comes for tryouts isn’t going to do you very much good; you need to know exactly WHAT you need to do to ensure that you are as prepared as you could possibly be the first time you step out onto that field.
(For reference sake, we are going to assume that the reason you want to prepare yourself for soccer is so that you can be ready when you go up against competition for a spot on the team for the very first time.
We realize that this may not necessarily be the case; there are a number of leagues that do not require that their players audition, and if you happen to play for one of these leagues it doesn’t matter; the information we are going to relay below is going to apply just as accurately to your situation as well.)
In order to prepare yourself to play soccer you are going to have to build a fitness regime based upon ten key elements:
1) You are going to need to build up the strength and endurance of your leg and arm muscles in order to ensure that they will not falter halfway through a game and send you sprawling on your face on the field with exhaustion.
2) You are going to need to improve your cardiovascular conditioning, making it easier for your body to get the oxygen it needs to keep going and preventing you from becoming tired too quickly.
3) You are going to need to learn what foods to eat and which foods should be avoided in the interest of helping you to bulk up your muscles and decrease the fat content of your body, making it easier for you to increase your metabolism and get in shape.
4) You will need to eliminate all habits which are negatively affecting your health from your lifestyle.
5) You will have to establish a firm work-out routine that works all of your body’s systems to their maximum capabilities.
6) You will need to stop eating certain foods that are touted as being healthy for you but are actually only serving to exert a negative effect on your body’s well being.
7) Throughout the course of your fitness training you will discover that all of your body’s systems are interrelated, and why it is therefore essential that you discover how to achieve the best results from each one to help you to perform at your best when you get out on the soccer field.
8) Of course, there’s more to getting fit to play soccer than simply getting fit. You need to know how to play as well!
We’ll give you a list of easy soccer related drills that will help you to become comfortable with the ball and your role on the playing field so that you will be prepared when you walk in on that first day.
