· Agility – the ability to change direction quickly and control movements of the whole body. This is needed to be able to change direction quickly while dribbling or to collect a loose ball.
· Cardiovascular Endurance – the ability of the heart, lungs and circulation to deliver oxygen and remove waste during exercise. This is essential for the player to keep a constant pace all the way through the match. This is hard to perform in a circuit, so it would be better to improve this by running long distances or cycling.
· Ball Skills – the skills in football are all open skills. This means that the movement will change in a different environment. A skill is a particular action or set of actions. These are essential for football as they cover everything from a simple pass to a more complicated skills of dribbling the ball in different directions. These are all motor skills as they are skills involving movement. Overload
To improve the fitness of a part of the body, you need to overload it. That means you need to make it work harder than usual. Over time, it adapts to meet the increased demand by getting fitter
You can overload your body in three ways :
· By increasing the Frequency of exercise- how often you do it.
For example start by exercising twice a week, then move up to three or four times a week.
· By increasing the Intensity of the exercise- how hard you work. For example run faster or lift heavier weights.
· By increasing the Time you spend on the exercise. If you are very unfit you might start off jogging just for 5 minutes a session, and work your way up week by week to 30 minutes a session.
Progression
Your body takes time to adapt to the increased demands on it. So you should build up your exercise level gradually. But once it reaches a certain level when it can comfortably deal with the level of exercise, it will not improve anymore. This is called plateauing. To prevent this from happening the exercises must be made progressively harder to ensure that the body continues to improve.
Equipment
· 20 Cones
· 3 Hoops
· 10 Soccer Balls · 1 Measuring Tape
The Circuit
The order in which the exercises are to be done are:
Warm up >> Stretches >> The Circuit >> Warm Down
Warm up & Stretching – The warm up is very important, as the exercises you will be doing are very demanding. The warm up will increase the blood flow and heart rate, warm up the muscles, warms and loosens joints. This will prevent any injuries to the muscles or joints.
Start by lightly jogging for approximately 10 mins. DO NOT SPRINT!!!. Then move on to some dynamic stretching. For example, rotating hips and arms. Then stretch all the major muscles used for football, each stretch should be held for a period of 8 – 10 seconds.
The muscles that need to be stretched are: 1.Hamstrings
2.Quadriceps
3.Gastrocnemiuis
4.Triceps
5.Deltoids
6.Trapizium
Station One
On this station you have to start at the line, sprint to the first cone then sprint back to the line then sprint to the second cone, then sprint back to the line then sprint to the third cone, then back to the line. Then
sprint to the second cone and back then to the first cone and back to complete the exercise. This will improve your speed, agility and muscular endurance of the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Station Two
This station is a sit up exercise. Perform as many as you can in one minute. These will improve muscular endurance in the abdominal muscles; this comes in handy when a throw-in needs to be thrown over a long distance. This is explosive strength because it is done in one explosive movement.
Station Three
This exercise concentrates on a player’s chipping ability and accuracy, the hoops should be placed 5m apart. Place a ball behind the line and chip it so it bounces in the first hoop, then chip a ball so it bounces in the second hoop. Then chip it so it bounces in the third hoop; next chip it so it bounces in the second hoop, then the first hoop.
Station Four
This is a shooting exercise. Place two cones 5m apart, then line up five balls 10m away from the cones and one cone 2m behind each ball. Strike the first ball then turn around and sprint around the cone and strike the next ball then turn around and sprint to round the cone etc. this will improve muscular strength and accuracy.
Station Five
Use this time (1 minute) to rest and relax. Some light stretching can be done to remove the lactic acid that has built up in your muscles during the first four exercises.
Station Six
The exercise on this station are burpees, burpees are squat thrusts and star jumps mixed together. Do a squat thrust then stand up and do a star jump and then another squat thrust then stand up and do another star jump. This will improve your agility, cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Station Seven
Place six cones 1m apart then dribble a ball in and out of them and sprint back to the start, repeat this for 1 minute. This will improve ball skills, speed and agility. Record how many complete runs are done.
Station Eight;
The exercise on this station is kick-ups. Do as many as you can in one minute. This will improve ball control, and muscular endurance.
Station Nine
This exercise is passing; make a rectangle with cones 5m by 2m, then pass the ball back and forth using both feet. See how many complete passes are done in 1 minute. This exercise will improve the ability to pass the ball accurately and ball control.
Once the circuit is finished it can be repeated or a warm down will take place, the warm down will consist of gentle jogging and stretching to remove the lactic acid that builds up in muscles while they are being worked. The warm down should help you perform better next time you exercise.
The muscles that were stretched in the warm up should also be stretched in the warm down. The stretches should be held longer then they were in the warm up to prevent stiffness and soreness.
The table below displays results for one week of this circuit.
In six weeks time these results should improve, below is a results table set over six weeks.
*On target/Scored
Evaluation
In general my circuit program was successful, it tested each area of fitness that I wanted it to and helped build the areas I wanted it to build on.
Station 1, shuttle runs, this station was very successful by the end of the six week period I had improved my speed as I did more runs in one minute. It also improved my agility and the endurance of my quadriceps and hamstrings. Station 2, sit-up exercise, this station was very tiring, after each time I performed this exercise I could feel my abdominal muscles becoming stronger. I improved throughout the six weeks, there was a slight glitch in the results, which was in week 4 I’d had a cold that week and that, was why I was under performing. But as a whole I improved the strength and endurance of my abdominal muscles. Station 3, chipping balls into hoops, I found this exercise very difficult my accuracy and chipping ability improved drastically. Station 4, shooting this station tested my shooting and accuracy ability. This was one of the easier stations as shooting isn’t a very strenuous work out, although I did improve in the six-week period. Station 6, burpees, this I found was the most difficult as it was very tiring and I had already done 4 other stations. This did improve my agility, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings. Station 7, dribbling, this was a fairly easy exercise I have improved on my speed and ball control, I noticed this in week five when I wasn’t as tired as I was the weeks before. Station 8, kick-ups, I am fairly good at kick-ups already but by the end of the program I was able to keep the ball under control at a lower height than what I started with. Station 9, passing, this station tested my right and left foot, my accuracy and my speed, my left foot has improved a lot by doing this exercise, my right foot has slightly improved.
During week four my results decrease, the reason for this is I had a flu that week and was unable to perform to my full potential, as my results show.
I found the circuit to be very intense and tiring, but very effective as my circuit tested all the areas I wanted it to. Also I would make the exercise time slightly less at the beginning of the program so I could get use to doing the exercises gradually. Although I had improved during the six-week period I had only improved slightly, so if I were repeating this program I would make it last 12 weeks so improvements could be seen more easily. Once the circuit becomes to easy I would have to make it harder to affect plateauing. If the circuit is not made harder the body will stop improving in the areas of muscular endurance and anaerobic respiration. The body must also train to prevent reversibility. This is when the affects of training decrease and the benefits are lost.
