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Strength Training For Soccer - A Tailored Soccer Fitness Program

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Soccer Training Tests

The public school system is always testing their students, and if you’ve watched The Wire on HBO, then you’ve seen how futile this is, teaching students how to answer test questions rather than actually teaching something to the students. 

In soccer, you don't want to waste all your time on testing and fitness, but you do have to measure the fitness level of your players.  Then, as an individual player, you want to know where you stand compared to other players. 

A lot of colleges will initiate fitness tests on the first few days of pre-season camp to gauge the fitness levels of their players - see if they've been following the off-season fitness plan.

It's a good idea to test fitness levels at the beginning of the season and then at a mid way point, where you can then gauge whether or not a player's fitness has improved or not.  Also, after a player has suffered an injury, and is now recovered and ready to return to training, you might one to initiate a test.  Below are a few good ones.

Speed & Endurance Tests

The Beep Test (Yo Yo test) - 20 meter shuttle run where the player must reach the line before the beep goes off. Initially players will easily be able to reach the line but the beeps will come at faster rates and players will soon fall out as they are unable to keep up.

The Cooper Test - Players run for 12 minutes and the distance covered is recorded. Usually the goal is to run 2 miles under 12 minutes for a player in the late teens. It’s best to do the test at a track so it’s easy to record how far each player has run.

40 year dash - good way to measure speed and quickness

Strength Tests

Pushups & Sit ups - count how many push ups a player can do in one minute and then do the same for sit ups.

Pull ups - if you have access to a gym, testing to see how many pull ups a player can do at one time gives you an idea of where that player stands in terms of strength.

Remember:  In soccer, often a player's quads will become strong from running up and down the field over the years.  It's important to balance this out by maintain strength in the hamstrings - to prevent a player from suffereing a muscle strain.

Learn more in our weight lifting section.

Other Resources: Top End Sports