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Eric Dannenberg, Performance Specialist
Athletes Performance Phoenix, AZ

While some may view the offseason as lost time to help your players and team improve, it offers
a great opportunity to introduce new training techniques and habits that can pay dividends next
season. As you plan your offseason strength and conditioning plans, check out these training
staples that our team uses to support top teams around the globe, including the German
national team, Everton FC, Sporting KC and the LA Galaxy.
Weve broken these exercises into four important areas that you should incorporate throughout
the year to help create your teams best performances while also helping them to decrease their
non-contact injury potential.
Soft Tissue/ Self Massage: While athletes may associate stretching as a way to relieve sore
muscles and injuries, but this can actually be detrimental to improving performance if that is the
only method used. If you think of muscles like pizza dough, the more you stretch it out the more
small tears you create. But if you were to knead the dough out with a roller you would still
increase the length without creating more damage to the dough. The same benefit can be
attained for muscles by using soft tissue methods and simple tools, such as a baseball, foam
roller, or utilizing a massage stick. By introducing soft tissue/self massage techniques, athletes
can help decrease their non-contact injury potential while increasing daily recovery between
training sessions

By getting your players to begin addressing common areas of the body that are prone to injury
and tightness during the offseason, the more routine it will become for them during the season
when recovery and injury prevention is most important.

Here are some simple and inexpensive tools to help your athletes perform soft tissue self
massage work from the feet on up to the calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, hip flexors, IT
bands, and back.

Foam Roll: A simple tool that is great for massage of all the major muscle groups of the
lower body.

Tennis Ball/Baseball: Great for arch rolls and for releasing hard to reach trigger points.

Massage Stick: Excellent for activating muscles and increasing circulation before training or
competition.

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Pillar Strength: Pillar strength exercises allow athletes to address common areas of injury and
movement dysfunction while creating symmetry and balance in the body. These are simple
body weight exercises that can be done without access to a gym and have a lot of bang for their
buck. For soccer players especially, addressing the glutes can help decrease the potential for
hip flexor, back, hamstring, and knee injuries. Pillar strength exercises addressing the torso
(hips to shoulders) can help increase speed and power when sprinting, while also helping an
athlete to become stronger for shielding the ball from opponents. By incorporating these simple
exercises 2-3 times per week, athletes can see benefits across many different aspects of their
game.

Glute Bridge Marching: 2 sets x 8 reps each side

External Hip Rotation Sidelying: 1 set x 10 reps each side

Pillar Bridge: 2 sets x :35-:60 with perfect posture

Lateral Pillar Bridge: 2 sets x :20-:40 each side

Movement Preparation: These exercises help prepare the body for movement through
innovative and dynamic movements that increase core temperature, prepare the nervous
systems and help to strengthen the body. These exercises are a great way to get athletes
moving and prepared for the multidirectional movements of soccer.

Worlds Greatest Stretch: 1 set x 3 reps each side

Lateral Lunge: 1 set x 3 reps each side

Inverted Hamstring forward: 1 set x 3 reps each side

Heel to Butt forward with arm reach: 1 set x 3 reps each side

Pillar March Linear: 1 set x 10 yards

Pillar Skip Linear: 1 set x 10 yards

Strength Training: Many soccer players are afraid to lift weights for fear that they will become
too bulky and become slower. This is a huge misconception. By following a proper diet, training
schedule, and exercise program that includes weight training, athletes can actually improve
speed and decrease their injury risk. Every soccer player knows the importance of winning a
50/50 ball or making that explosive step past an opponent. That initial burst of acceleration and
the 1-5 steps that define who wins or loses that 50/50 ball are directly related to the athletes
maximal leg strength. The ability to propel your body forward has a direct correlation to your leg
strength. By including these single-leg and upper body strength and stability exercises your
athletes will be able to create equal strength, stability and flexibility on both sides of their body.
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Split Jumps: 3 sets x 5 reps each side

Split Squat with Barbell:
12 week sample progression as reps increase, weight load should increase:
Weeks 1-3: 3 sets x 8 reps each side
Weeks 4-6: 3 sets x 6 reps each side
Week 7: Off
Week 8: 3 sets x 5 reps each side
Week 9: 3 sets x 4 reps each side
Week 10: 4 sets x 4 reps each side
Week 11: Off
Week 12: 2 sets x 3 reps each side, with 2 split jumps/side immediately following each
completed set

2 Arm, 1 Leg Romanian Dead Lift with Dumbbells:
12 week sample progression - as reps increase, weight load should increase:
Weeks 1-6: 3 sets x 8 reps each side
Week 7-8: 2 sets x 6 reps each side
Weeks 9-11: 2 sets x 5 reps each side
Week 12: 1 set x 4 reps each side

1 Arm, 1 Leg Contralateral Dumbell Row:
12 week sample progression - as reps increase, weight load should increase:
Weeks 1-3: 3 sets x 8 reps each side
Weeks 4-6: 3 sets x 6 reps each side
Switch to: 1 Arm, 2 Leg Row:
Week 7-8: 2 sets x 6 reps each side
Week 9-11: 2 sets x 5 reps each side
Week 12: 1 set x 4 reps each side

While these are sample exercises to include into your offseason training plans, keeping the
overall offseason training simple and short will ensure that your athletes are not overwhelmed. A
successful daily program can be 30 minutes to an hour while including soft tissue, pillar
strength, movement preparation, strength training, and of course sprint/ interval work for
conditioning.
For more information on creating successful training plans for your team, stay tuned for joint
NSCAA/Athletes Performance education courses and contact the Athletes Performance team
today at info@athletesperformance.com for more information on customized offseason training
packages for your team.