Strength Training Is All Relativity For Goalkeepers

This training regime focused on strength training is a good little read about how a personal trainer can help you facilitate increased strength levels depending on your sport. If you are looking at increasing strength you can go about it two ways, depending on the sport you play. For goalkeepers who use their body weight to propel themselves the type of strength training that we should focus on is relative strength. Relative strength is described below:

• Relative Strength: This type of strength training focuses on sports that have to utilize their body weight. Goalkeepers utilize their body weight in many different situations, from diving for the ball to attacking the ball at an opponents feet. Relative strength training looks at utilizing the neural power of the muscle. This entails low reps, with heavy weights and longer rest periods.

The article looks at a wave-like form of training that usually looks at reps and sets in the following example:

7, 5, 3,3,5,7 —> This means 7 reps on the first set, 5 on the second etc… with each set you increase the weight, and then decrease to rep out. Please note, maximal strength training needs to be utilized by goalkeepers or athletes who have created a solid base and are training regularly. Don’t think you can just hop into a fully blown strength training regime without first establishing a firm base of training. Now if you have read the article you would have seen that the program was developed for a tennis player.

How does this make sense for a goalkeeper? This is where technique and performance enhancement through exercise differ widely. Goalkeeping technique will be totally different than the technique that tennis players utilize. Performance enhancement looks at the athlete as a whole (regardless of their sport) and aims at enhancing their performance for specific areas that needs improvement. Remember to always look at the specifics of your sport and areas where you feel you need to improve.

Goalkeeping Elite Sheds Some Light On Fitness

Jens Lehmann, goalkeeper for Arsenal, a little too hot headed at times but that is the stuff that us goalkeepers are made of. Arsenal.com have recently interviewed Lehmann and it was a very interesting insight into what professional goalkeeping is about at the highest level in the English Premier League. I’ll let your read up about it, but here are some great tips that I feel you can take away from it and utilize in your own goalkeeper development:

• Game practice is extremely important. Lehmann was placed on the bench for 11 games in the previous season. When this occurs you lose a certain edge to your goalkeeping ability on the field. Stay focused and don’t lose sight of the bigger picture, you must always work hard to keep your position at a higher level, don’t ever assume that everything is a given. If you are playing first team football and benched, discuss it with the coach and ask him to at least place you in the reserves to be match fit. If he does not allow you then there are certain issues that need to be addressed between you, management and the rest of the team.

• Lehmann is the first in at training every morning. What this shows is a resolute determination to be the super fit for game time. This is the mark of a professional. If you want to be the best, get in early to practice and workout with dedication.

• Having a goalkeeping coach is pivotal to development. In Lehmann’s words “It’s part of the routine. If you practice catching the ball 1,000 times, you will be better than a guy who practices 500 times”. Again, a goalkeeper coach can keep you focused and determined on the very specific demands of goalkeeping.

• Nobody believed that Lehmann, whom started goalkeeping at 14 years of age would ever make it professionally. Testament to having a never say die attitude, Lehmann persisted and is now number one goalkeeper for Arsenal.

Straight from the horses mouth. If you are looking at being the best goalkeeper you can be, there is nothing like advice from professionals that have gone before you. If that means seeking the right advice then do just that. When searching for a good goalkeeper coach (they are few and far between), look at their track record. If they are not well known, try to find out their qualifications..actually demand it from them. If you don’t have a goalkeeper coach at your club, talk to the governing soccer body in your district or state to recommend you a good goalkeeper coach.

Holistic Medicine The Way For Full Soccer Season

While on the topic of the body. Over the last few weeks I suffered a very nasty flu. In fact, in the past month me and the Mrs. have bought a brand new treadmill. It cost us $1,800 , I haggled the price down from $2,100. Therefore for about two and a half weeks I was training on the treadmill doing long slow distance running, building up from a base of 15 minutes to about 26 minutes before I caught the flu. Now here is the point, when I caught the flu, I could well have utilised some prescription drugs to get my fix. Over the past few months I have been looking toward natural supplements to remedy any ailments that I may have been exposed to.

I believe that holistic therapy and medicine is probably the best way of countering any minor ailments that may affect your performance. Also, because of the heavy demands of work recently I feel that my metabolism had broken down quite significantly and this is perhaps the primary reason because of my flu. Therefore I was utilising some of the following natural products, supplements and foods to get me going again and have just recently made a full recovery:

• Ease-a-Cold Flu Strength: Ease a Cold is an Australian product which you can find in your local Australian pharmacy. It contains only natural ingredients such as Echinacea, andrographis, elderberry, olive leaf. I don’t really know of the equivalent in America.

• Liquid Garlic Tablets: Garlic is one of the most potent antioxidant known to man. Back in the days of yore, Russians would utilize a garlic concoction to manage a cold or flu. Liquid garlic capsules will allow you to counter the effects of the flu and help restore your metabolism.

• Brahmi: Brahmi is a fantastic herb that helps with stress and cognitive functions.

• Korean Ginseng: Just bought it today and have used it numerous times during high stress periods. Basically it gives you energy and stamina and can help with cognitive function.

• Glucosamine Chondroitin & Fish Oil: These two taken together have been a real help with recovery from my knee surgery. Fish oil reduces swelling while glucosamine repairs cartilage and ligaments.

Talk about a pill overdose! Seriously though, all the above have really helped me get back into shape and back onto my new baby…my treadmill.

Get Proactive About Your Body

If you don’t understand your own body, how can you progress when you are playing competitively in soccer or any sport for that matter? I forked out $2,500 last year to study personal training and another couple of thousand a few years back to become an internationally certified fitness instructor. I always felt that growing up as a goalkeeper and training for goalkeeping was totally different than what any outfield player experiences. Over the past few years (including my recent injury) I felt that what I learn about my body, and what I could do to increase my performance through my own studies were invaluable.

By learning about my own body through experiences as a fitness instructor, by gaining knowledge and constantly seeking knowledge, by establishing fitness fact from fitness fiction I am sure that you will benefit also. Anyway, here are some tips on gaining insights into your own body:

• Research scientific journals on fitness. Scientific journals show you tangible results in highly monitored situations. What you gain from these journals is a deep knowledge of recent trends in sports science.

• Believe me, nothing beats a wholesome diet from natural sources. Having said that, there is volumes of scientific research that points to some supplements that can be extremely effective for performance enhancement.

• Investment into a personal training course speaks volumes about how your own search for knowledge can help you attain your best performance. understanding all facets of your body and how it works, really helps you separate facts from fictional advice or marketing hype.

What all of the above information means is that you are searching for specifics. Each and every one of you are inherently different, and therefore there are facets of your game that may need tweaking. For example you discover that you have a strong upper body and can throw the ball out to your outfield players really well. But, you poor kicking game shows you are lacking strength or power in your legs, so what do you do? You research about what specific exercises you need to do to generate better strength or power in your legs. Simple. Performance enhancement is not about the latest designer drugs or fitness fad, it is about polishing off specific facets of your game so that you can progress to the next level.

Therefore, understand your body and you will better understand what you need to do to become a better goalkeeper or athlete.

Carb Loading For Better Performance

One of the most fundamental components of your training regime lies in simple and complex sugars. The much aligned carbohydrate should never be underestimated for goalkeepers training and playing competitively. Carb loading before a competition and after is very important to replenish muscle glycogen loss during intense activities. Something that has me steamed is the perception that low carb diets can be healthy for you. They aren’t. The fact is that the more you starve yourself the more your body’s defense mechanism raises the alert that you need to store fat as a means of survival. We have brilliant bodies that can adapt to any situation. The prime reason for athletes feeling over trained is that they do not plan their carbohydrate loading throughout the competitive season. Following are some key points to understand so that you get the most out of your season:

• Carb load several or more days before competition. Eat high carbohydrate meals such as starchy potatoes bannannas and pasta.

• Throughout your training regime remember to hydrate yourself, during competition remember to consume electrolytic/carb mixtures every 15 minutes, like Gatorade for example.

• Remember the importance of sodium and potassium during exercise. Carb drinks can really help, as they have a mixture of potassium and sodium which helps replenish the sodium potassium pump for muscle contraction.

• Last. Be active, remember that in most areas of the world, soccer is year round at a competitive level. Therefore maintaining activity and phasing your training will help you better succeed athletically all year round.

Therefore, don’t forgo the trusty carb for powerful results in your training. Also note that simple sugars directly after intense training (e.g. cherries, strawberries, grapes etc…) can help restore muscle glycogen quickly and also repair, restore and grow muscles for better performance.

Adidas World Cup Sales Soar

Our previous Keeper Skool poll results showed that Adidas was your preferred soccer equipment. Reuters have just given some indication that Adidas has pulled in about 1 billion + dollars worth of sales because of this years World Cup in Germany. Impressive. They have very much changed their tune, winning coveted awards for their advertising efforts which have really become innovative, urban and (from what I feel) have taken soccer back to the grass roots when it was not only about the giant stadiums and the multi million dollar deals. Also, their slogan of ‘impossible is nothing’ is extremely compelling. It encompasses that you can basically do anything if you set your mind to it…the same rings true with your training. Of course, the fancy marketing aside…Adidas is a global sales machine and they do it well, especially when it comes to innovative soccer equipment. If any of you are wondering, the above diatribe is me wearing my marketing hat. None of the above links are affiliate promotions…like Run DMC once shouted I just love “my Adidas”.

Aussie Blokes & Yanks Mixed Opinions About World Cup

Two articles struck me about the contrasts of the World Cup and how the Western and Oceanic world view football or soccer. The first from the Telegraph in London suggested a mixed view about how Australians are viewing the World Cup. For most Australians there is jubilation, but some Australian sporting codes do not believe that soccer will really stand up as a sporting code against traditional sports such as AFL, Rugby League or Rugby Union. To tell you the truth, if you ever watched an AFL game it would bore you to tears…but damn it, it’s a great Australian blokey type sport and that’s what we Aussies love mate!

On the other side of the world with the US National Team bowing out of the World Cup competition it seems that the same feelings apply. Most people in the US feel that soccer is relatively boring and cannot compete against traditional sports such as Baseball, NFL or Basketball as stated on this blog. Again, how monotonous can 4 quarters of an NFL game be? What about a game that should last roughly an hour be dragged out to 2 or 3 hours…isn’t that a little boring?

What should be stated is that soccer is universal…8 billion people world wide are tuning in at any given time to watch the World Cup. In essence the World Cup and soccer in general has a huge scope. US or Aussie codes of football, while rough, rugged and enticing to the typical bloke just don’t hold the same sway as a game of soccer. The World Cup entices not just for the unity it creates around the world, it’s what happens on the pitch that can hold a whole nation captivated and destroy hopes and dreams at a whim. That is pretty powerful in itself.

Train The Brain: Even World Cup Stars Get The Blues

Injury can be debilitating. Now this statement does not just encompass the body, it outlines that injury can really have a negative effect on mental performance. Even World Cup stars with seemingly brilliant capacities to perform, have negative lapses in performance that effect their game as this article suggests. Something to realize from the article are two very important points

• “In a soccer match, she added, experienced players sometimes focused on the gaps in the opposing team’s formation, instead of on the opposing players themselves.”

• “Athletes choke when they focus on outcomes — the final score — Smith said. Much better, she said, to focus on aspects of performance, which are the only things that are really under the athlete’s control. A soccer team, for instance, could ask: How quickly does it switch from defense to attack? How many passes are collected cleanly? How long does the team hold possession of the ball?”

When something goes wrong, soccer players tend to focus on good aspects of their game, rather than the bad. This results in a vicious cycle. What should be done is for the athlete to focus on the bad (say by recording a game for example) and review the mistake and try to rectify it. The truth hurts sometimes, but if you don’t look at what you did wrong during a game then you can’t analyse what needs to be done, plan ahead and get on with your game.

World Cup & Faith

This fantastic article in the NY times made me think about the universality of the World Cup. I was wondering how many of us, before we enter the field to play, do the sign of the Cross, praise Allah or talk to Buddha? When billions of football lovers praise their national teams, in unison…possibly unbeknownst to most of us, we pray to a higher order. Whether it be to save us from brilliant Brazilians or thank the sky above for defeating an Argentinian machine for example. The beauty of ‘the world game’ is that it embraces the world. Apart from the money or the glory, we are also amalgamating many faiths.

This in itself means that an Aussie from the inner suburbs of Sydney can rub shoulders with a Ghanaian witch doctor…that in itself is pretty cool. This is the premise of the World Cup in Germany, that in essence it makes the world a better place through football, it brings nations together in joy and hope. So for all those who are looking to the sky while watching their favorite World Cup team, understand that God, Buddha, Allah or the big pie in the sky is looking down smiling because when he or she or they created the World Cup, looked down below and smiled because the World Cup made things good in this mucked up world!

Adidas World Cup Ball Nightmare For Goalkeepers?

Uncanny free-kicks and muddled slow motion goals are making the World Cup Adidas ‘Teamgeist’ ball a nightmare for top level goalkeepers. This article from a Bath university states that wold class goalkeepers such as Paul Robinson and Jens Lehmann suggest the Adidas World Cup ball as being terrible to keep goals against. The Adidas ‘Teamgeist’ has 14 panels compared to the traditional 32 panels and is super light. I can remember my old trainers son collecting a ball from each and every World Cup. I still have one of them in my bag and that is a nightmare to kick. From a goalkeeping perspective catching or parrying the ‘Teamgeist’ ball seems difficult. I have seen some goalkeepers in the World Cup struggle in a few games, where they would traditionally have no problems at all parrying or catching a simple ball.

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