As a Personal Trainer and Soccer Coach, there are a number of important points that you should be aware of when training your kids to be fit for soccer. Your first consideration should be the age and current fitness levels of your players. It is very important to realise with your training that kids are not just little adults, and as such adult fitness and conditioning drills are largely inappropriate anabolic pharma. Second consideration should be the types of soccer drills that you are going to use. For children, I always like to make sure that a ball is involved in all of my soccer fitness and conditioning drills. For this reason I use a lot of small sided games for training my kids, as small sided games keep them involved and moving at all times, incorporating both fitness and ballwork together.

When considering fitness drills for your kids, your first realisation should be that kids are not just small adults. Adult fitness drills are generally inappropriate for kids. For the kids that I coach I tend not worry about any kind of fitness drills at training up until about the age of eleven. Up to the age of eleven I try to coach them so that they are active throughout the whole of the training session and I find this sufficient in terms of soccer fitness After this age you should take into consideration the current fitness levels of your players when considering fitness drills. You must then decide which elements of fitness you want your players to work on and formulate your drills accordingly. The various elements include speed, agility, and endurance.

At all training sessions, my primary aim is to maximise the number of ball touches that each player gets during the session. For this reason in most instances I incorporate a ball into the fitness drills that I use with my players. If you devote a significant amount of time to fitness training then you will significantly reduce the amount of ballwork that you are able to do with your players. The best way to avoid this is to incorporate a ball into your fitness drills. Another method that I have used with older children ad with representative teams is to give players a preseason fitness routine. This ensures that your players have a base fitness level when you begin training and will mean that you can spend more training time on ballwork and skills and less on fitness and conditioning.

There are many elements of soccer fitness that players require when they play a game. Factors like speed, agility and endurance are important elements that players require on the soccer field. I find that using a variety of small sided games is an effective way of training these different elements of fitness whilst not having to make the players do fitness drills. In an ideal world the players will not even realise that they are doing fitness drills. There are many different small sided games that I use to simulate the different elements of soccer fitness I find that these are a great way to incorporate both fitness and ballwork into my soccer training sessions so that the players have fun, and learn the different elements of soccer fitness that they require to enjoy the game.

It is an exciting time where so many people are engaging in a wide range of fitness programs. The number of programs available today is the greatest that it has ever been and everyone can find a program that suits them. Programs based on speed, strength, endurance and flexibility will improve any area of your fitness level through active and consistent participation. Before signing up for that next fitness class some preliminary thought could help making your choice of a suitable fitness program easier and allow you to select a program with sustainability. Those that have made the right choice of fitness programs have reported ongoing benefits including; more energy, vitality and quality of life. Here are a number of areas to consider before choosing a fitness program.

When choosing the right fitness program at any age should include an evaluation and assessment of any health issue concerns at the time. There are various fitness avenues a person can take and each will place different demands on the mind and body. Health issues should be considered when looking at each discipline and how the individual will be impacted by the demands. It is prudent to involve your primary care physician in making a selection so that any health issues may be addressed and a plan of recommendation can be used to make a wise decision. Because there is such a large selection of fitness programs available most limitations caused by health issues which may impose restrictions on an individual can be accommodated. Exercise is basically moving the body and any type of consistent movement is going to provide benefits as a result.

Participants in exercise programs who may have joint limitations can select a program with low impact on the joints and receive a whole host of fitness and health benefits. Programs are available at all levels including beginner, intermediate or advanced and can accommodate many individuals with various health issues. If there is a will, then there is a way to meet your fitness goals but it must be done logically and intelligently.

Various fitness routines require different levels of activity and assessing which routine fits best into the lifestyle of the participant is an important selection criteria. Fitness is a change of lifestyle which includes the fitness routine merging into the daily activities of the participant. If your lifestyle is moderately active then a fitness routine which promotes moderate levels of energy will be a choice which is better suited for you and has the best chances of being sustained over the long-term. Another fact is the time you have available to devote to a fitness program. Some regimes require more time then others to achieve results. If you have 2 days a week available for working out then look for programs that can accommodate you and still provide timely benefits which are achievable. A mistake many people make is shooting too high at first and selecting a fitness routine completely off the scale in relation to their lifestyle. What they find is they are unable to sustain the regime, get discouraged and discontinue the program. Assess your lifestyle pace and the venue in which you would like to workout. There’s indoor, outdoor, individual and group programs available and you can find one that requires a pace and environment you will enjoy and be able to sustain as part of a healthy and fit lifestyle.