RECOMMENDED PRE-SEASON TRAINING

Training plan for May to August

After long periods of preparation, hard work, and stressful competition, any athlete needs time to recover and it is no different for a football referee at the end of a long and arduous season. Therefore, a rest period after the end of the season is required in order to provide a referee with an opportunity to ‘recharge their batteries’.

However, with rest comes the physiological process of ‘detraining’. This is where the cessation or reduction of training leads to a partial or complete reversal of training induced adaptations. Many studies have demonstrated that significant rest periods lead to reductions in physical fitness. Therefore to counter this the rest phase (ideally 2-4 weeks) should facilitate psychological rest, relaxation and biological regeneration, whilst maintaining an acceptable level of general physical conditioning. This can be achieved via 1-3 low intensity sessions per week utilising activities that are different in nature to those used during the regular training season.

Once training resumes, one of the most important fixtures in any referees calendar during the summer months is the day they take their fitness test and in order to be successful on the day, a thorough preparation period must be followed. With this in mind we have devised a training plan for summer 2009, which is summarised below and can be found in full by clicking here.

2-4 weeks of Rest / Active Recovery Training

Complete rest and/or cycling, football, tennis, squash etc.

Aims

* Psychological preparation for pre-season training

3 weeks of General Preparatory Training

Medium intensity training with a structured re-introduction to running

Aims

* A structured reintroduction into regular physical training sessions
* Development of your aerobic fitness, which will provide sufficient fitness levels to cope with the increases in training intensity that follow during the specific preparation phase
* Development of general strength that will help to reduce the incidence of injury and also enable the attainment of greater levels of strength and a transition into power training as the weeks progress.

6 weeks of Specific Preparatory Training

High Intensity, Speed Endurance and Speed training

Aims

* To train your aerobic energy system to cope with the demands of high intensity exercise along and to recover rapidly during and after training sessions.
* Develop anaerobic energy system to tolerate fatigue and to produce energy rapidly (speed) and frequently (speed endurance).
* To develop a good level of body strength and core stability which will help to reduce the incidence of injury and also enable the attainment of greater levels of strength and a transition into power training as the weeks progress.

Please contact your sports scientist if you need the plan tailored to your individual needs, i.e., rest, matches, holidays, fitness test etc.

GENERAL TRAINING ADVICE

* Try to perform all runs on a forgiving surface such as grass
* Do not underestimate the importance of your stretches during the warm down. Hold each stretch for 25 - 30”, repeating each stretch 3-4x per muscle group
* Recent research on soccer players has demonstrated a strong relationship between pre-season range of motion (ROM) in the hip and knee (quadriceps) flexor muscles and incidence of muscle strain injury in these muscle groups.
* Specifically, those players who injured the knee or hip flexor muscles during the season had a lower pre-season ROM when compared to the uninjured players.
* Similar relationships have been reported for other lower limb muscle groups, e.g. hamstrings
* Therefore, place particular emphasis on your stretching during pre-season training in order to minimise the potential risk of soft tissue injury
* Try to perform at least one dedicated flexibility and conditioning per week. Most of the conditioning exercises can also be performed either at the end of your warm up or as part of your cool down

SPECIFIC TRAINING ADVICE

* The training plan will not suit every individual. However, try to ensure that you have at least 6 weeks hard training in preparation for your PGMOL fitness test.
* Ensure you have 3 days rest (unloading) before the day of your fitness test.
* Those of you who need to work on your sprinting speed and therefore require more speed sessions than are detailed in the plan it is recommend that you cycle the below to routines 2-3x per week. These routines can easily be performed following your warm up but before the start of your aerobic training routine.

Speed Routine 1 (250m)

10x5m, 8x10m, 6x20m

All sprints from a stationary start

20” recovery between 5m sprints, 30” between 10m sprints and 40” between 20m sprints.

Speed Routine 2 (300m)

10x 10m sprints (stationary start) with 30” rest after each sprint

4’ rest

5x 40m (1.5m lead-in start) with 75” after each sprint

* It is important to ensure a progressive overload in your training. This means that as you get fitter you need to raise the training intensity in order to gain the benefits from each and every training session. Therefore, on your HI and SE sessions keep track of the speed you are running at and the distance you are covering on each rep. Aim to beat this on your next session.
* This also applies to your sprint reps. Try to keep a record of your times (and recovery) so that you have a target to beat on each session.
* The running speed for the Interval Test is 18km/h (5m/s). With this in mind below are our recommended running speeds for HI reps of different durations. These speeds should be your aim / focus in training:

10’ interval = 13.5-14.5 km/h

8’ interval = 14-15 km/h

6’ interval = 14.5-15.5 km/h

4’ interval = 15-16km/h 3’ interval = 15km/h

2’ interval = 16km/h

1’ interval = 16.5km/h

30” interval = 17.5-18.5km/h

• The PGMOL fitness test preparation routine document is another viable alternative for your pre-fitness training routine.