All exercises are not equal. It is important to understand the differences between different exercises and especially between specialized and general exercises. There are major differences between them in regard to execution and in the results they produce in your execution of specific skills and game play. GENERAL STRENGTH EXERCISES General strength exercises are those exercises that are used in overall body conditioning. They are not directly related to the specific actions seen in soccer, (i.e., they do not strengthen the muscles as they are used in running and cutting). They do, however, increase your functional potential for executing these skills. When the movement pattern in an exercise duplicates what occurs in execution of a specific skill, it is known as a specialized exercise. An example of a specialized exercise for the hamstrings is the pullback (pawback) that is done in the same pathway and in the same range of motion as seen in running, especially in sprinting. An example of a general exercise is the common leg curl, also known as the hamstring curl. In this exercise you lie face down and bend the knees to bring the shins up toward the thigh. This is an effective exercise for strengthening the hamstring muscle and its tendons that cross the knee joint. It also helps strengthen lateral stability of the knee; but, it does not duplicate any of the forceful actions seen in running or cutting. In running, the shin does fold up behind the thigh after the push-off, but it is more a consequence of the push-off force, not a volitional action. A key action in running is hip joint extension. This is the main action used in the pawback which drives the leg down and backward to make contact with the ground and as a result, propel the upper body forward. The movement involves the hamstring muscles (together with the gluteus maximus), but, and this is most important, it involves the hamstring muscles and its upper tendons that attach to the hip joint, not the knee joint. It should also be noted that the upper insertion of the hamstring tendons is the site of many hamstring injuries. Doing the knee curl has little to no effect on the upper junction of the hamstring tendon. Its main outcome is stabilization of the knee flexion action. To be specific to running, you must develop the hamstring muscle as it is used in running, i.e., in hip joint extension, which involves the upper portion of the muscle-tendon arrangement. Thus, hip extension as occurs in the pawback exercise, then becomes a specialized exercise for running. Because hip extension is also an integral part of cutting actions, it can also be used as a specialized exercise for cutting actions. SPECIALIZED STRENGTH EXERCISES The key to improving skill execution is to do special exercises that duplicate the movements and actions seen in competitive play. The development of your physical abilities that are specific to soccer skills will have the greatest impact on improving your ability to play more effectively for the entire game. You will see almost immediate results in performance from doing such exercises. Specialized strength exercises are used to develop not only the physical qualities but also some psychological qualities that apply directly to soccer. The exercises are designed and selected so that the movements and actions closely match those seen in competitive play. Specialized exercises that promote psychological traits consist of movements and actions that require decisiveness, willpower, perseverance and confidence to achieve specific goals. They have similar concentration and psychological qualities as seen during play, especially competitive play. For example, execution of certain specialized exercises requires deep concentration to develop the neuromuscular pathway needed. A strength exercise that duplicates one aspect of cutting or running requires concentration and perseverance to repeat exactly the same movement pattern time after time so that you develop the necessary muscle feel and are able to repeat it automatically without thinking. For the specialized exercises to have maximum positive transfer you must be decisive in your movements and actions in order to develop the confidence needed to repeat the action during play. CRITERIA FOR SPECIALIZED STRENGTH EXERCISES For an exercise to be specific it must fulfill one or more of the following criteria: 1. The exercise must duplicate the exact movement pattern witnessed in the key joint actions involved in cutting and running. For example, an exercise to duplicate the exact ankle, knee, hip or shoulder joint action involved in running or cutting. 2. The exercise must involve the same type of muscular contraction as used in the actual skill. For example, in the push-off in running and cutting, the calf muscles and the Achilles tendon undergo a quick (explosive) shortening contraction (after being pre-tensed) to produce maximum force. Thus the special exercise must include an explosive muscular contraction as occurs in the ankle joint action, after strength has been developed. 3. The special exercise must develop strength in the same range of motion (ROM) as in competitive play. For example, the thigh raise, in which you raise the thigh directly upward against resistance uses the same muscles as involved in running but not the same ROM as seen in running and cutting actions. More specific to these skills, is to do the thigh drive beginning with the leg behind the body (where it is after the push-off) and then driving the thigh forward rather than upward. The more horizontal the thigh drive is, the greater its contribution to running speed. Thus doing the thigh or knee drive beginning with the leg behind the body, and driving it forward is much more specific to the running and cutting actions. Raising the thigh upward from a standing position is not specific to running and cutting. The concept of true exercise specificity is new to soccer but the term “specificity” is not. Many authors have used the term “specific exercises” but few exercises described actually fulfill the above criteria. The specificity referred to by these authors usually refers to strengthening or stretching the muscles that may be involved, but not the way they are used in executing specific soccer skills. For example, it is fairly common to find the Olympic lifts and exercises (snatch, clean and jerk, power clean, etc.) being used as exercises specific to improving soccer skills, especially running and jumping. The Olympic lifts, however, are very specific events and take considerable time to learn well, if they are to be executed with good technique. With poor technique it is common to find many injuries occurring. The weightlifting exercises involve explosive power and are excellent exercises — specific to weightlifting. To say that they are specific to running is erroneous although there may be some transfer to soccer. It should also be noted that weightlifters do not simply do more and more Olympic lifts to improve their performance. They do many other supplementary exercises in addition to perfecting their technique and mastery of the Olympic lifts. The same applies to soccer. Even the application of valid research data can be deceiving when it comes to specificity of exercise. For example, researchers who conducted electromyographic studies to determine the muscle involvement in running, found that the abdominals play a major role. To strengthen the abdominals the researchers recommended the crunch and the crunch with a twist. These exercises do of course strengthen the abdominals but only through a very small range of motion that is not displayed in sprinting or cutting actions. When the abdominals come into play in sprinting, it is mainly the abdominal oblique muscles to prevent the hips and shoulders from rotating too much during the run. The obliques also play a major role in rotating the shoulders when cutting. The crunch with a twist involves the obliques but the ROM is extremely small and more importantly, the twisting occurs when the spine is flexed. This is a potentially dangerous situation since rotation of the trunk should always take place when the spine is in correct alignment. In the crunch exercise it is mainly the upper rectus abdominis that is strengthened. In running and cutting, the lower portion of the rectus abdominis plays the most important role, especially in sprinting. Thus even though the exercises strengthen the abdominals they are not specific to the actual muscle actions involved in running and cutting. Coaches use many drills for conditioning and improving soccer skills. These drills play a very important role and can enhance physical conditioning and overall game play. But such drills can become more significant and show even greater levels of improvement if you first develop the specific physical and technical abilities needed for the drills. After doing the necessary specialized training, you will be able to execute the skills faster and more effectively for even greater perfection of the actions involved. This will allow you to see the greatest improvement in your overall soccer play. Typical strength and conditioning programs for soccer usually deal with general exercises to get you “in shape”. In some cases, the exercises that are prescribed use the same muscles as used in execution of soccer skills, but if these exercises do not duplicate the same ROM, the same type of muscle contraction, or the exact movement and coordination patterns as seen in running and cutting, they will not be functional, i.e., they will not directly improve these skills. General conditioning programs and doing general exercises to get in shape can improve your overall playing ability, but not to the extent that specialized exercises can. If you have not weight trained previously, simply getting stronger will enable you to execute the skills more effectively and to play longer without fatigue. For those of you with prior weight training, the improvement in speed and quickness can be even greater when supplemented with explosive (speed-strength) training. In the sub-teen and teen years, for those who have never weight trained before, simply increasing the levels of strength will show an appreciable difference in your game play. The reason for this is that strength is related to coordination, speed, explosiveness, quickness and endurance. Thus, as you develop strength, you will find yourself more capable of running with better technique and greater speed. You will also be quicker and able to execute many other actions. General strength training has a profound effect on youngsters and those who have not previously weight trained. For those who have a strong background in weight training, specialized strength training will have the greatest influence. It is at this time that you already have developed basic levels of strength. This is a great foundation for then doing specialized strength exercises that duplicate exactly what you do in your running and cutting actions. In this way you will see much greater improvement in your performance almost immediately, and you will see increases in speed and quickness much faster than if you did only additional running and playing. If you complement or follow-up the specialized strength training with explosive and speed-strength exercises, the improvement in speed and quickness will be even greater. Many girls with whom I have worked are amazed at how much quicker and faster they became in a very short period of time. Merely getting in shape to prepare yourself for play only brings you up to a level of play that is far below your potential. If you are a teenager, physical maturation can show a significant difference in your playing ability but it is still much less than what you can experience from special training. As an adult, merely getting in shape before the season only enables you to play and, in most cases, not even as well as you did the previous year. Only with supplemental specialized training you can become significantly better each year. For maximum effectiveness, the development of strength must be in synchronization with your skill development. This is considered usable strength, i.e., the strength that you gain will be displayed in your skill execution. This is the greatest value that specialized exercises can give you that general exercises cannot. Because of the need for skill duplication, most exercises are best done with elastic tubing as in the Total Athlete System™ set, especially for the leg, hip and rotational actions. The reason for this is that it is very difficult and some cases impossible to duplicate the exact movements of the legs, hips and turns with dumbbells, barbells or machines. However, some medicine ball and dumbbell exercises can be of great value. Another very important reason for using the Total Athlete System™, is that almost all of the exercises can be done on the field. This means that you do not have to take an extra trip to the gym and if you do not have much time, you can do the exercises right after practice, as long as you are not in an extreme fatigue state. You can also workout with the exercises at home, in your spare time. All of the exercises do not have to be done at one time and you can spread them out over the day. Proper Breathing During Specialized Exercises When you do exercises for technique, strength, speed, or explosiveness, how you breath is very important. Because of this, you should develop proper breathing patterns from the start. This also applies to execution of all soccer skills, ie., jumping, running, dribbling, cutting and kicking. The instructions for the strength and explosive exercises tell you to inhale and hold your breath on exertion–that is, on the hardest part of the exercise, when you are overcoming resistance. You then exhale on the return, staying in control of the movements. But don’t be surprised if you read or hear the opposite from other sources–that you should exhale on exertion and inhale on return. The widely used recommendation to exhale on exertion is based on theory, not research, and applies mainly to people with heart and circulatory system problems. For example, if you hold your breath for too long (up to eight seconds with a maximal exertion), you could pass out. That is because the internal pressure in the chest and abdomen increases when you hold your breath on exertion. If it increases greatly, it squeezes down on the blood vessels shuttling blood and oxygen to and from the heart. When this happens, you can black out. However, this occurs very rarely, and only on maximum exertion. If you are without cardiovascular problems and do not hold your breath for more than a few seconds, as needed in the recommended strength exercises, the breath-holding on exertion is perfectly safe. It makes the exercises safer and more effective. If you have high blood pressure or other circulatory system or heart problems, avoid heavy resistance and breath holding. You should also probably not play soccer which is very demanding on the cardiovascular system. Inhaling and holding the breath briefly on exertion–any exertion, in all sports, including soccer, comes naturally. Many studies have shown that whenever athletic skills are executed properly, athletes hold their breath on the exertion–during the power phase, when maximum force is generated. The breath-holding is especially important when shooting on goal, executing a quick cut on a fast play or accelerating for several yards. Inhaling and holding the breath on exertion provides up to 20% greater force, stabilizes the spine, and helps prevents lower back injuries. It transforms the trunk (and, in fact, the whole body) into a stable unit against which your hips, shoulders, and arms can move most effectively. In addition, your accuracy improves greatly especially in goal shooting and passing. Breathing exercises can also help you relax. For example, it is not uncommon to read that you should inhale and then exhale before taking a penalty kick. This is a good technique to help you relax. But before starting the kick, it is important that the muscles have some tension–not excessive tension, but sufficient tension to execute the shot well. Thus, inhalation and breath-holding are needed immediately before and during execution of the key actions. Studies done with devices to monitor breathing patterns have proven this beyond any doubt. To execute a quick cut, sprint or accurate shot, you must hold your breath during execution. In effective breathing, especially when you are lifting weights, do not take a maximal breath and then hold it. Doing this can make you very uncomfortable. Just take a breath slightly greater than usual and then hold it to experience the positive benefits. This is especially important for stabilizing the body, holding the spine in position, and getting greater power in your strength exercise or in your running, jumping, cutting and shooting accuracy. Each of these acts is executed very quickly. Breath holding time is very short. Thus, you should have no fear of holding the breath too long or of overexerting yourself. In regard to stabilization, a few words must be said about the recent trend in the fitness field in regard to core stability and core balance training. Having strong core muscles (abdominal and lower back) is, of course, very important since they play a key role in many soccer skills. In running, your mid-section not only holds your body erect but transfers the forces from your legs up through the upper body. Thus, you must have not only a strong core but a flexible midsection for execution of effective cutting actions and to maneuver into position for execution of different kicks and movements. What is being advocated, is off-balance exercises to develop the stabilization abilities of the muscles. This type of exercise is potentially dangerous and not recommended. If you do most of the exercises with the Total Athlete System™ and free weights, you will be developing ample amounts of stabilization strength in order to do the exercises effectively. Many of these “experts” who now advocate this type of training, recommend the use of exercise machines a few years back because you did not have to worry about balance. The machines guided and secured you so that balance did not play a role. They did not recommend the use of free weights which forced you to develop balance with stabilization strength. They now see the value of such training, but instead of merely recommending the use of free weight exercises, they developed a “new” method of exercising on large round balls and other moveable objects, which are unstable. If you do not have adequate stabilization strength, exercising with them can easily cause injury. In addition, the ROM in most of these exercises is very limited and you will not get much transfer to soccer. Thus, avoid this type of training, which has the potential for injury and contributes very little to your abilities. Doing the exercises presented in this book will more than suffice to develop your ability to balance and stabilize yourself during the execution of various skills.