You get up, pack your bags, do a warm-up and then play your game, running. Until the next practice you are free to do whatever you want, right? If you are just doing the minimum you can answer right. if you are looking to get the most out of your performances, the times between the “team” time is maybe just as important. If I knew about recovery running, I would have been a entire next level of player.
No one likes to be Running
As a youth footballer unfortunately, I was not pro-active in my development. I enjoyed the sport and the camaraderie, but it was not something that I was driven to spend the majority of my time on. Don’t get me wrong, I throughly enjoyed the game until today. When COVID-19 shut down the contact sports for over a year in 2020 I was coerced to start jogging. 1 year and around 800km later I can say that I am hooked on the physical results that I see from running and the fact that it’s a time-efficient exercise. I can get up do the workout and finish it during the available time that I have. Unfortunately, a football match is not the same. Organise the time when everybody is free, warm-ups, the game and post-match chit-chat, etc can account to 3 hours consumed for the beautiful game. I appreciate it but I found something new in running.
Given I was not able to return to playing immediately after I found my new hobby, I would not know how it had effected my game play. To my surprise I increased my stamina in a time when my peers had decreased their stamina. If only I knew that doing around 50km of running a month could passively add to my on field performance as a football player.
Doing Extras
Some young players are just natural, and then there are the other 99% who need to work on their craft to become the best representation of themselves. I found that running allowed me to access my endurance talents while thinking and reflecting. The mental aspects of running are probably not as widely addressed, but in this generation of distractions just being able to focus on putting 1 foot after the other is deeply under-valued.
If I had to share a footballer hack with my younger self, I’d say to get a pair of running shoes and hit the pavement. Start slow working with reasonable distances and slowly move towards a more challenging objective. Who knows sign-up for a 5k, then a 10k, then a half marathon and then hit the big marathon. All things considered that I have not yet hit the half-marathon. But I’m gunning for it and my pitch performance is thanking my new found natural running habit.
If you are looking for a good place to start running there are good programs that are associated with certain trainers, athletes and sportswear companies. Here are a few below.
If you need any personal recommendations about running for your football performance, do not hesitate to contact us.
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