Don’t Overtrain…And Merry Christmas!

I chuckle to myself from time to time when I think of how naive I was just a short few years ago. I would run without abandon, throw myself into a fray of attackers without concern of injury and generally work out at super hard intensities without knowing the dangers of overtraining. The danger of overtraining is real, and you just don’t know how blessed you are until you are sidelined for weeks, months or even years. It was not until the time I started learning sports science that I realised that having a serious down-time is just as important as extreme physical activity. One very good article cited:

“Oz’s rule of thumb is that bodies don’t bounce back as well after more than 12 hours of exercise a week. He said overexercise can create more oxidative stress, in which oxygen molecules called free radicals are formed that damage DNA and cells in ways that, over time, can accumulate to spur cancer.

Over time, oxidative stress has been linked to health problems, including cancer.

In general, doctors’ advice is listen to your body. If you are tired or achy, take a rest. Take days off and vary the intensity of your workout. Irwin counsels runners to watch out for signs they’re working out too hard, such as a resting heart rate 10 beats a minute over the normal rate.”

And…

“Foster offers some specific pointers for beginners trying to burn off the holiday bulge: Cross-train and give yourself six months or so to build endurance. Respect the limitations that come with age, he said, and ”don’t try to be 19 the first week. ”

But whatever you do, don’t stop exercising.”

I know many of you will be training intensely for the season ahead, but also remember to try to engage in active rest days. I emphasize the word “active”, because it means that you should not stop training, kick your heels up and pop open a bag of chips. Active recovery means going down to the pool for a run in the cold water, or even a wade at the beach. Also, because of free radical build-up, that seriously can hinder your health, try ramping up your consumption of high antioxidant foods found in your fruits and vegetables.

Most importantly, remember to enjoy your time with family and friends, save a strong prayer for peace and harmony around the world and remember to take it easy…your body will thank you for it.

Please Note: I’ll be taking the next 2 weeks off, so we will possibly update with some posts if I have the time. I will check my email from time to time, and would be glad to hear from any or all of you. God Bless.

Tim Howard: Sticks & Stones, A Video Tribute!

Woe to the slings and arrows of goalkeeping doldrums! It is not really that bad, though goalkeepers at the top flight can really feel the sting of competitive goalkeeping, especially when the pressure is on an small blunders (or large ones) become amplified to the max. Tim Howard has become accustomed to what it means to be one day hot, and the other day not. All in all, great goalkeepers attain a certain level of greatness because they instill respect from their defensive line and other team mates. Maybe this was something lacking with Tim Howard? Overall, Tim has shown that with great adversity (he has fought with tourettes syndrome his whole life) you can leap to the occasion and become larger than what your four walls will allow you to be. Here is a video tribute of Tim Howard…for better or worse.

Around The Net In Goalkeeping

Plenty happening in the wild world of goalkeeping as we take a look at the hottest news items from around the net:

• Gianluca Pagliuca has reached the grand age of 40 years, and is living testament to the goalkeepers ability to keep on keeping on at Ascoli Calcio 1898.

• Tim Howard, now on loan at Everton is feeling the need to move from Old Trafford seeming Edwin van der Saar is renewing his contract again.

• Fabien Barthez has a tough road ahead of him as he re-enters competitive football and tries to help keep Nantes in the premier division of France.

• Soccer Blog reports the effects of a goalkeeping blunder epidemic in the Bundesliga.

And that is a wrap for another week of tumultuous goalkeeping antics from across the globe.

Schwarzer Gives Thumbs Up To Sports Science

What do names like Zoff, Seaman, Shilton & Schwarzer have in common? Well the first three players are goalkeepers who played at the highest international level well past their primes. Mark Schwarzer on the other hand is thinking that he could be part of the same elite group. One recent article has given the goalkeepers insights into Guus Hiddink’s supposed poor player management ability during the recent World Cup, his nonchalant dismissal of the quality of Zeljko Kalac and his big thumbs up for continuing to play for the Socceroos well past his goalkeeping prime.

One of the pivitol parts of the article was that Schwarzer believes that with the advent of sports science, goalkeepers should have no problem playing past their prime. This is a great testament to the ability of goalkeepers of all ages to take advantage of fundamental sports science principles. Learning the basics about good sports nutrition and athletic training guidelines are a huge step forward for any aspiring young goalkeeper. Following is what Mark had to say about it:

"I don’t see why with the aid of sports science a keeper can’t play up to 40 and beyond in the modern game.

Them’s fighting words, so get cracking and start learning about your body and how to maximize your goalkeeping performance so that you can take your game to new heights.

 

Around The Net In Goalkeeping

Let’s take a sweeping birds eye view of all the happenings this week in the world of goalkeeping.

•  Liverpool are digging deep into their pockets to keep goalkeeper Jose Reina at Anfield.

• Brazilian Felipe of Santos has failed a doping test. Boo…to poor goalkeeping! It seems that Felipe took a banned diuretic.

• Aston Villa have borrowed Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly from Crystal Palace for 1 month.

 Stay tuned for the next installment of fiery goalkeeping gossip! 

Christian Abbiati: Great Goalkeeping For Torino

With news that AC Milan will be looking to Abbiati as a piece to their goalkeeping jigsaw puzzle now that Dida is injured, I saw it fitting to search and find a video of Abbiati in all his goalkeeping glory. OK I won’t go that far, but there is some serious goalkeeping going on here as Abbiati performs some great parrying saves for Torino.

Jelly Beans & Sports Drinks For Goalkeeper Performance

If you have ever pushed your goalkeeping training to the max, then you could testify that the aftermath of your training session can leave you totally drained. The reason why we often feel like this after intense goalkeeper training is that we have depleted our muscle glycogen stores. One of the easiest ways to replenish your glycogen stores, and maximize your goalkeeping performance after an intense goalkeeping session, is to consume simple sugars such as those found in a High GI food rating scale. Following is some information from a recent study that points to the benefit of the humble jelly bean for maximum performance.

•  Sports-formulated jelly beans contain electrolytes and vitamins that standard jelly beans do not.

• Consuming carbohydrates before, during and after competition will help prevent fatigue. In fact, training for 1 hour at intense levels can deplete nearly all of your muscle glycogen levels. Therefore, sports formulated jelly beans are a great way of enhancing performance.

• The American College of Sports Medicine suggests that 30-60 grams of carbohydrate be consumed per hour for moderate intensity exercises over 1 hour of duration.

• Goalkeepers can consume a 1 ounce bag of sports formulated jelly beans for every 20 minutes of exercise depending on body size.

Your can read up about the study to help enhance your goalkeeper performance here.

Victor Valdes: Spanish Giant Displaying Great Goalkeeping Feats

Iker Casillas eat your heart out! There is plenty of talk about Casillas as one of the worlds best goalkeepers. What about Victor Valdes of Barcelona? Spanish goalkeepers have an amazing temperament, great acrobatic ability, reflexes and cool reserve under pressure. The following video highlights some of the best saves by one of the best young goalkeepers in the world today. One of the most prominent saves highlighted in this video occurs early on with Valdes catching…not parrying, a razor-edge drive into the top left pocket, that is what I consider clinical goalkeeping, and something every young goalkeeper should strive to  enhance in their goalkeeping arsenal…ie. the ability to catch the ball.

Around The Net In Goalkeeping

Let’s take a sweeping view of what is hot in the world of goalkeeping from around the Net:

• AC Milan is signing on-loan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati , so what does this mean for Australian shot-stopper Zeljko Kalac?

• Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hoping that super in-form shot-stopper Jose Reina will sign on with the club, after being hunted by Valencia for the January transfer window.

• Frank Rijkaard has nothing but praise for his Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

And that is a goalkeeping wrap (no, I don’t know what that means either?)

The Goalkeeper: It’s a Game!

I hate Macs! Sorry, but I love goalkeeping. This was a shareware game I came across a year ago that has been released recently, and it’s all about goalkeepers. Cool! You can play a full career as a soccer goalkeeper, and play in all the largest leagues in the world from Serie A, Primera to the English Premier League, over 150 global soccer teams are represented! You can even train the goalkeeper, which is the best part of the whole thing. So you can improve fitness and get the goalkeeper up to speed in the big leagues.

I actually endeavoured to play the trial last year and it was good. They seem to have ramped it’s functionality up a bit, but I highly recommend it as it is good fun, and great to see a game especially designed for the goalkeeper. One of the things that stood out was that you can try to make the goalkeeper a little more charismatic? I thought that was something that came along with donning the gloves and getting between the sticks. You can find out more about the game here. You can play the game on PC and Mac but it was originally designed for the Mac. Cool stuff.

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