Starter Strength Training For Goalkeeping

It’s always hard to start things, isn’t it? It’s hard to get up in the morning. Couldn’t be bothered to put your goalkeeper gear into your bag? De-motivated to place your key in the ignition to get down to the park? How about starting a strength training or aerobic exercise regime? I remember reading a line from Sun Tzu many years back which stated something that epitomizes the character of the best athletes in the world. The word contained within that line was momentum. One of our readers asked me a very important question about planning to start a strength training regime and it led me to think that no good plan is executed without momentum. Following is the question:

Q: Hi I’m Joe from America and I have been playing soccer for as long as I can remember.  I am a junior in high school and have gotten some attention from colleges but not as much as I would hope, what I would really like to do during this off season is step my play up to the next level. The biggest way I could think to do this is to hit the gym. So I have started working out, but I haven’t really worked out before so I was wondering if you could just help me get started by giving me a few tips.

A: Awesome to see that you have done something that others only ever think about…Begun! Joe, you’ve just unleashed one of the most powerful motivators to accomplishing your greatest endeavors to training success. You’ve taken your first steps. Funnily enough, I’m in your shoes at the moment (having not trained at the same intensities I’ve previously enjoyed over the past year) so I have just begun to train for strength also, and guess what? Even the most simple action like a push-up kills me! No joke.

Having said this, I’m assuming that you have already worked on your aerobic base? Once this is accomplished the best ways to get involved in any strength training regime is through concurrent training. Concurrent training is awesome, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home to begin with (which can save you cash). Here is a sample training program for concurrent training:

Set up a circuit that includes a push up station, a jogging station (if you have a treadmill that is awesome), a sit-up station, some stairs that you can run up and down, (either from one level of your house to the next or stairs in your apartment complex), a chin-up bar (if you can buy one that would be cool), a skipping rope and squat station with dumb bells (you can buy them on the cheap from ebay). Now that you have set this up, and Mum, Dad or room mate are looking on in bewilderment at the mess you have created, you can start to do some concurrent training!

Try for 1-2 minutes at each station, completing each exercise (with strict form) before moving onto the next. You should complete the circuit in 1/2 hour.

Repeat the circuit 2 times and increase incrementally over a 4 week period.

Change the variety of exercises at each station regularly so that your body has a hard time adapting and you keep up the intensity (which should be progressive). Remember to increase the intensity each day. With the last day of the training week, cut down the session to half the intensity of the third day.

Continue the program for 4 weeks (each week you must increase the intensity incrementally), with the fourth week being half the intensity of the third week.

Concurrent training is a great primer before any goalkeeper moves into strength training (the heavy iron kind), as concurrent training taxes both the cardiovascular and muscular system all in one hit. Hope this helps you and all our readers here at Keeper Skool. Enjoy, and remember to keep up the momentum!