College Soccer Season AND Weight Training?...help

[Mizsoccer83]

My boyfriend comes on this site regularly and posts threads and talks to many people recieving plenty of excellent information...so I thought I might take a stab at it...

I am currently in the pre-season conditioning part of my college soccer season. Our season begins formally on Friday as well as classes beginning Monday.
My question is this: With intense cardio varying from 45 minute recovery runs as well as 2 hours of sprints to a combination of both on avergage during the regular season (right now im doing 4 hours of cardio a day), what would be your recommnedations on the weight training I should do? I have been told to do legs only lightly while im in season, but thats 4 months! I plan to lift tuesday and thursday mornings and sunday mornings as well, giving me an 7-8 hour break in between lifitng and practice or games....I also want to maximize my strength on the field...Does anyone know of any exsercises for legs that are particularly good for soccer players?
Oh and one more thing (sorry), I want to try to slim my legs down. Right now they are quite bulky, and i want to make them appear slimer and more toned...

Thanks for everything!

[hotgymchick]

I would ask your coach what he thinks are good exercises for you to do in season. In season is not the time to be trying to build strength or lose weight- it is maintenence when you are competiting. I didnt even lift at all during cross country season and did not suffer- why put your body under that additional stress.

[hotgymchick]

Leg exercises though, I'd say plyos if you dont already do them, squats, SLDL and lunges would carry over well.

[bscrusher]

bump hot, this is not the time for strength training, 2-6 months ago was.

4 hours of cardio a day? plus classes? what is your pre-game rest protocol? how often do you have games?

it sounds to me like you are already way overtrained. if you cut the volume of your conditioning training in half you will immediately see an increase in power, speed and stamina on the field.

[hotgymchick]

You should really follow a cyclic pattern of the year...Detraining, buildup, tapering, competition.

[Mizsoccer83]

Ok...4 hours a day right now is our pre-season conditioning...we average 2-3 games a week, weekend games are expected. Before games we have a 2 hour warm-up and pre-game meditation....to answer that question. So overall, my conditioning does decrease significantly, and i couldnt agree more that we are over-trained a TON right now!! But as soon as we cut out 2 of the 4 hours, the increase in our speed and endurance on the field is amazing! (So you are absolutely right about that)

AS for weight training, our fitness trainer told us briefly the importnace of maintenance training during the season...after all, doesnt weight training help to reduce injury?

I am conditionally year round training for soccer, non of this is last minute as well....

I guess more so, I have heard mixed things from various trainers as well as the few coaches we have...some say complex workouts like squats, and lunges are good...others say isolated exercises are better...can i get opinions on that?

Also, is it a good idea to maintain 3-a-week full body workouts?? Or are you telling me to lay off weights all season?

Thank You so much so far for all your input!

[bscrusher]

the only way this strength-training-during-the-game-season is gioing to work is if you do not overtrain. weight training only strengthens the body against injury if you are not overtraining.
many athletes make the mistake of adding a huge poorly conceived weight training program on top of a schedule that is already overtraining. and guess what? the athlete immediately gets injured or slows way down. this is how the myth got started that weight training makes a person slow.
you need specific advice but nobody who is not actually observing your training can give it.
here is some general advice.

do not use machines.

do heavy squats and deadlifts.

start with very short and infrequent lifting sessions. you might do squats for only 1 - 5 sets of 2 - 8 reps. that might be all your lifting for the week.

read articles by coach john davies.

lunges are awesome too.

whoever suggested isolation exercises for a soccer player has their head up their a__. you don't isolate your muscles in a soccer game, right? you want the opposite, you want integration of the body's muscle groups, working together.

a two hour warm-up is ridiculous, it tires the body and numbs the mind. 10 minutes PROPER warm-up will do it. read articles by john paul catanzaro, doctor judd biasiotto and steve maxwell.

[Mizsoccer83]

thanks alot crusher...I agree that our cardio sessions are ridiculous, which includes our 2 hour warm-up....sometimes i think we need to get a personal trainer coaching our team =).

The work outs you have suggested sound great, I think I will begin giving them a shot. As for the isolation exercises, I believe they were recommended to those of us who want to slim our leg appearance, which I assume will need to be done in off season as well....being soccer players, we are built with larger legs! (Alot of us are tired of being overly bottom-heavy-myself included).

As for the once a week training with 2-8 reps, should I add in upper body work outs as well? I just need to know if I should continue incorporating full-body weight training while im in season...

This is helping alot, thanks guys! =)

[bscrusher]

hi miz, trying to make your legs skinnier would be working against your ability on the soccer field. form follows function.

also there is no isolation exercise that will make your legs, or any other part of you, smaller. spot reduction is a myth. the only ways to shrink a body part are these....

stop training a muscle and it will shrink.

reduce body fat and your whole body will shrink.

IMHO, big strong legs are beautiful. make them bigger and MORE beautiful.

if you think your upper body looks kind of weak this is a project for the off season. then you can do a muscle mass program. deadlifts, bench press and military press will do it.

keep your game season weight training simple and spare. there is certainly no harm in doing more upper body lifts. just don't tire yourself out and cut down your ability on the field. for bench and military try 3 - 4 sets of 3 reps. for dls try 5 - 10 sets of 1 rep. these are strength protocols, not mass gaining. i don't reccomend trying to gain mass in the game season.

[ndombko1]

My legs are definately already big and strong, I just want to make them a little more cut. I like the look of a lot of the female bodybuilders/fitness models' legs, and that is something I would like to accomplish sometime in my off season. Therfore, i dont want to gain any MORE mass....but cut up the muscles I already have. And, i believe I might be able to drop about 5-10 pounds as well to help that goal. =)

Thanks alot for the help crusher...your fast responses and bulk of information have helped me much!

[ndombko1]

Woops, i just posted a response on my boyfriends member name...i guess it did not log him out when i checked my mail and saw i recieved a posted response...So...this is Mizsoccer83...sorry about that=)