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An ergonomics model of the soccer training process
Thomas Reilly
a
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences , Liverpool John Moores University ,
Liverpool, UK
b
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences , Liverpool John Moores University, The
Henry Cotton Campus , 1521 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET, UK E-mail:
Published online: 18 Feb 2007.
To cite this article: Thomas Reilly (2005) An ergonomics model of the soccer training process, Journal of Sports Sciences,
23:6, 561-572, DOI: 10.1080/02640410400021245
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02640410400021245
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An ergonomics model of the soccer training process
THOMAS REILLY
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
(Accepted 24 July 2004)
Abstract
An ergonomics model of training is described in which the demands of the game and the tness proles of soccer players are
placed in perspective. The demands of the game may be gauged by monitoring the work rate of players during matches and
the concomitant physiological responses. These indices suggest an increased tempo in contemporary professional soccer
compared with previous decades, a trend replicated in the tness levels of players. The simulation of the exercise intensity
corresponding to match-play has enabled sport scientists to study discrete aspects of play under laboratory conditions.
Observations highlight the value of exercising with the ball where possible, notably using activity drills in small groups.
Small-sided games have particular advantages for young players, both in providing a physiological training stimulus and a
suitable medium for skills work. While complementary training may be necessary in specic cases, integrating tness training
into a holistic process is generally advisable.
Keywords: Aerobic power, body composition, eld tests, small-sided games, specicity
Introduction
Training for soccer may be placed in an ergonomics
context. The game can be viewed as imposing a
range of demands on its players who must possess
the necessary tness to cope with these demands.
Fitness for soccer calls for a combination of different
physiological characteristics. Training these factors
enables the player to add training effects to his or her
endowed characteristics so that ultimate potential
can be realized. Even though the training effects for
some characteristics may be moderate in magnitude,
the impact on performance characteristics can still be
substantial.
As soccer is a team game, a priority in preparing
players for match-play must be to harness their
individual capabilities so that the group becomes an
effective competitive unit. The dilemma for the
coach or manager is often which team selection is
the most appropriate for the forthcoming engage-
ment. One difculty the trainer faces is the
identication of individual weaknesses that can be
remedied in training, over and above the overall
conditioning work for the team. There is also the
need to take positional role into account to ensure
specicity of the training programme. These factors
are incorporated in the ergonomics model illustrated
in Figure 1.
Fitness tests can provide an indication of players
distinctive strengths and deciencies. They can also
be employed to determine the effectiveness of any
systematic change in training regimen. A prole of
tness test data juxtaposed alongside physiological
responses to match-play can highlight the extent to
which players can impose demands on themselves
and provide pointers as to when they are under-
performing in matches by not meeting the
Figure 1. An ergonomics model for the analysis of football.
Correspondence: T. Reilly, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, The Henry Cotton Campus, 15 21
Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK. E-mail: t.p.reilly@livjm.ac.uk
Journal of Sports Sciences, June 2005; 23(6): 561 572
ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/02640410400021245
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requirements of the game. In such instances, this
individual may be omitted from the team selection
until tness is remedied or may be assigned an
alternative tactical role.
The self-imposed demands chosen by players
reect both their commitment to the teams efforts
and their own abilities to pace themselves throughout
the game. The choice of exercise intensity represents
a subjective judgement with regard to what is thought
to be tolerable. Since the majority of activity is spent
in running off-the-ball (Reilly & Thomas, 1976),
the individual who has been over-committed may not
recover in time to engage in the next bout of critical
activity on-the-ball. The ne timing of self-chosen
strenuous efforts is an important product of the
training process.
This review represents an attempt to place the
training process in soccer within the ergonomics
model. Some consideration is rst given to the
physiological demands of the game. Some insight
into these demands is added by reviewing tness
data on contemporary professional players. The
attention is directed to training programmes, both
soccer-specic and general conditioning. The use
of small-sided games for young players is consid-
ered before the review culminates in an overview
that places training in the context of talent
development.
Physiological demands of the game
Playing soccer constitutes intermittent exercise in
which the timing of the high-intensity efforts is
acyclical and therefore unpredictable. A team coa-
ched and trained to perform at a high tempo has a
competitive edge over an equally skilled but less t
opposition. If recovery periods in between bouts of
strenuous efforts are inadequate in duration, tran-
sient fatigue will ensue. Mohr, Krustrup and
Bangsbo (2003) showed that activity was reduced
in the 5 min immediately after a 5-min period of
sustained exercise at high intensity.
In a review of the prolonged run-up, which the
Korean team adopted in preparing for the 2002
World Cup Finals, Verheijen (2003) described how
initially the team could not keep up the desired pace
of the game for the full 90 min. Players made high-
intensity runs less frequently and fewer explosive
actions as the second half progressed. After a
systematic training programme, they were able to
maintain a high tempo for the entire match. By the
end of the next phase of training, the team was
prepared to raise the pace of the game even higher,
and recover more quickly between actions.
Notwithstanding the repeated sprints and the
contests for possession of the ball that entail
anaerobic exercise, most activity during a game
employs aerobic metabolism. Bangsbo (1994) calcu-
lated that the major substrate used by the active
muscles is glycogen, the stores of which that are
located in active muscles contribute more than do
glycogen sources mobilized from hepatic depots.
There is also a substantial engagement of lipid
metabolism compatible with endurance exercise.
The contribution of protein is relatively minor at
around 2 4%, although Wagenmakers, Brookes,
Coakley, Reilly and Edwards (1989) demonstrated
that protein metabolism is employed in exercise
sustained for 90 min well before muscle glycogen
concentrations are depleted.
It has been estimated that the energy expenditure
during match-play averages 70 75% of maximal
oxygen consumption (Bangsbo, 1994, Reilly, 1997).
It has been calculated that the total energy expended
in a game approximates 6.317 MJ (Reilly & Thomas,
1979). These estimates were based on extrapolations
from heart rate and motion analysis data during
training games, utilizing individually calibrated heart
rate oxygen uptake relationships determined under
laboratory conditions. Although such an approach to
estimating energy expenditure during intermittent
exercise may be criticized, errors appear to be
averaged out over the period of measurement
(Ainslie, Reilly, & Westerterp, 2003; Bangsbo,
1994). Saltin (1973) demonstrated that glycogen in
the vastus lateralis approached depletion towards the
end of a game. Players who undertook strenuous
training the day before the match had severely
lowered concentrations of glycogen even at half-time
and played at a reduced work rate during the second
half.
The contemporary game at the professional level
seems to be more demanding than suggested in
much of the early literature (e.g. Reilly & Thomas,
1976) and therefore calls for a more systematic
approach to training. Strudwick and Reilly (2001)
compared the work rates of English Premier League
players over two seasons (1998 1999 and 1999
2000) with previous observations of top English
League players before 1992. The current players
covered approximately 1.5 km more in a game than
their earlier counterparts, the differences being
manifest among all the playing positions (see Figure
2). Williams, Lee and Reilly (1999) have provided
evidence of a faster tempo of the game in the 1997
1998 season compared with the 1991 1992 season,
including more movement of the ball and shorter
intermissions in play. Changes in the rules, such as
the rule prohibiting the goalkeeper from picking up a
back-pass, the penalizing of time-wasting and per-
mission to use three substitutes, have contributed to
the rise in tempo. The end result is an increased
reliance on optimum training programmes to meet
these elevated demands.
562 T. Reilly
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Assessment of game demands
Various methods have been used to determine the
demands of competitive soccer match-play. The
most common have been indirect methods, such as
assessment of distance covered, while physiological
responses have also been employed either in compe-
titive or friendly matches. A further alternative has
been to simulate the exercise intensity corresponding
to match-play on the basis of work rate proles and
to study such simulations in laboratory conditions.
The classical method of motion analysis has been
used by different research teams (e.g. Bangsbo,
Norregaard, & Thorso, 1991; Reilly & Thomas,
1976: Withers, Maricic, Wasilewski, & Kelly, 1982)
to determine the work rate of players during a game.
The aggregated data can be expressed as overall
distance covered in a game; this index is sufciently
sensitive to differentiate between positional roles
(Reilly & Thomas, 1976), environmental conditions
(Ekblom, 1986), styles of play (Drust, 1999, Rienzi,
Drust, Reilly, Carter, & Martin, 2000) and levels of
play (Florida-James & Reilly, 1995). The observa-
tions can also be broken down into distinct
categories, including the distance covered in (and
frequency of) sprints and other high-intensity activ-
ities. They may also include discrete actions, such as
jumping, tackling and kicking, which are related
directly to involvement in play (Bangsbo, 1993).
Summaries of the main methods adopted for
motion analysis are reported in the literature (Reilly,
1994, 2003). These include applications of trigono-
metry, global positioning systems and the use of
synchronized multiple cameras. Global positioning
systems have been used to a limited extent (Kirken-
dall, Leonard, & Garrett, 2003), and their precision
remains in question. Customized computer-aided
analysis has been popular with coaches, and compu-
terized and digital video-based systems have been
commercialized for use in notation analysis. The
software allows for recording of each action, asso-
ciated player involvement and position on the pitch,
Figure 2. Distance covered per game in the Premier League compared with former First Division (pre-1992). Data taken from Strudwick
and Reilly (2001).
An ergonomics model of soccer training 563
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so that all actions can be aggregated to quantify
patterns of play. The observations are most useful as
feedback on performance and the majority of
computer programs do not have the capability to
determine distances covered due to limitations of
camera work. These drawbacks are overcome with
the use of multiple cameras placed strategically at
elevated positions on the stands, allowing both the
monitoring of movements of each individual player
and notation analysis of patterns of play (see Carling,
2002). Although such systems have been used by
many of the top professional clubs in Europe, their
reliability has not been formally established and small
errors in data collection could signicantly inuence
their interpretation. The high cost of the service
restricts its accessibility to the exclusive few rich
clubs that can afford it.
Rahnama, Reilly and Lees (2002) adapted
computer-aided notation analysis to study injury
risk in soccer. Their approach employed a critical
incident technique in which all actions in a game
were classied according to their potential for
causing injury. Tackling constituted the major
source of injury risk. The rst 15-min and the last
15-min periods in the game were when critical
incidents were most in evidence. The method was
useful in highlighting behavioural precursors of
injury occurrence.
Physiological responses to match-play have in-
cluded monitoring metabolic variables (such as
oxygen uptake, blood lactate accumulation, glucose
and fatty acid utilization), thermoregulatory re-
sponses, circulating metabolic and stress hormone
concentrations. Studies of the adenonucleotide and
adenosine monophosphate (AMP) systems (Apor,
1988; Ekblom, 2002) have also been conducted in
the context of soccer play. Energy expenditure in
training has been placed in the context of habitual
activity and analysed by means of combined diary
card and physiological methods (Reilly & Thomas,
1979), including doubly labelled water (Ebine et al.,
2002). The average daily energy expenditure has
been estimated as 14.8 +1.7 MJ. The availability of
short-range radio telemetry systems for monitoring
heart rate during exercise has led to its widespread
use in a soccer training context. The so-called Team
System (Polar Electro, Finland) enables physiolo-
gists to monitor heart rates of all players
simultaneously during sessions: responses may also
be used to regulate rather than monitor training
intensity, for example when heart rates in the zone
120 130 beats min
71
are desired on recovery days.
While heart rate responses have been criticized for
use in intermittent exercise due to the inuence of
non-metabolic factors, such as emotional and ther-
moregulatory stimuli, heart rate has proved to be a
robust index of physiological strain in non-steady-
state activity (Bangsbo, 1994; Bot & Hollander,
2000).
Drills associated with training have been examined
using eld studies (Kawakami, Nozaki, Matsuo, &
Fukunaga, 1992). These authors used a portable
respiratory gas analyser to measure metabolic re-
sponses to small-group activities in a training context.
The study provided a model for relevant eld studies
of training activities. An alternative approach was used
by Reilly and Ball (1984), who isolated the practice of
dribbling a ball for study in a laboratory setting.
Energy expenditure, blood lactate and perceived
exertion were elevated when dribbling was compared
to running on a treadmill, the increase being similar at
all four running speeds investigated. For a given speed
of locomotion, the training stimulus is higher when
working with the ball compared with running nor-
mally, suggesting benets of soccer-specic work
wherever possible. Additionally, Reilly and Bowen
(1984) compared orthodox running, moving back-
wards and moving sideways; there was a progressive
increase in energy expenditure at each speed studied
for the unorthodox movements. Since the ability to
move backwards and sideways quickly is an important
skill for defenders, and is an unorthodox mode of
motion, special attention should be given to such
activities in training.
Another alternative open to applied physiologists
is to simulate the work rates associated with soccer
for experimental investigations. This approach is an
advance of the 90-min continuous exercise or the
more regimental intermittent exercise protocols
previously adopted by researchers. Nicholas, Nut-
tall and Williams (2000) employed a repeated
shuttle run, average intensity of which corre-
sponded roughly to the work rate of football
match-play; the activity was continued for 75 min
and subsequently altered to provide a test to
voluntary exhaustion. The protocol was designed
with a view to study nutritional interventions that
might offset fatigue towards the end of a normal
game or benet performance in the event of extra
time. The protocol was later modied by Edwards,
Clark and MacFayden (2003a) and, in a restricted
form, used for purposes of tness testing. Drust,
Reilly and Cable (2000b) designed a different
protocol, for use on either a motorized or non-
motorized treadmill, in which the exercise inten-
sities were changed frequently to reect the
dynamics of soccer play and correspond to its
intensity. It has been used to study effects of pre-
cooling before a match (Drust, Cable, & Reilly,
2000a). On a non-motorized treadmill, the power
output can be calculated by tethering the partici-
pant to a force transducer via a running harness
and monitoring the revolutions of the treadmill belt
(Lakomy, 1987). Each intensity can be regulated or
564 T. Reilly
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the high-intensity efforts can be freely chosen by
the individual to yield a measure of performance.
This paradigm can be used to study experimental
interventions, such as the relevance of creatine or
carbohydrate loading.
In summary, a number of approaches to the
complex assessment of game demands have been
employed by researchers. It is important that the
method chosen should t the purpose of the
investigation. The limitations of particular ap-
proaches should be appreciated if the researcher is
to interpret the observations correctly.
The tness of contemporary players
Information about the tness of current elite
players provides an insight into the requirements
for competing at the top level. The tness
requirements of soccer are related to the physiolo-
gical, physical and technical aspects of the game. A
combination of demands is imposed on the player
during competition, as a result of which tests with
a high degree of specicity to the game should be
employed for the assessment of performance
capability. This principle has led to the promotion
of eld tests conducted in applied settings,
although more useful physiological insights have
been gained from laboratory tests.
Maximal oxygen uptake has proved to be a good
indicator of aerobic prowess (Table I). Reilly and
Thomas (1976) reported a high correlation between
maximal aerobic power and distance covered in a
game. Apor (1988) found a direct correlation
between the average maximal oxygen uptake of a
team and its nishing position in the Hungarian
League. Bangsbo and Michalsik (2000) showed that
mideld players had on average higher values than
full-backs, who were in turn superior to forwards,
with central defenders having the lowest values
among outeld players. These observations were
broadly similar to the results of a eld test (i.e. the
Yo-Yo test) applied to 115 Danish players,
although in this case the forwards performed as
poorly as the defenders.
The average value of the top Hungarian team
studied by Apor (1988) (66.6 ml kg
71
min
71
) was
unusually high for football players at the time (see
review by Douge, 1988). Such values are regularly
attained by contemporary teams. Casajus (2001)
reported a mean value of 65.5 ml kg
71
min
71
for a
Spanish League team early in the season, rising to
66.4 ml kg
71
min
71
by mid-season. Even higher
values (67.6 ml kg
71
min
71
) were reported by
Wislff, Helgerud and Hoff (1998) for Rosenburg
FC, a top Norwegian professional side. This gure
provides a reasonable guideline for current teams to
adopt while recognizing that gures may vary
according to positional role and individual factors.
The increasing use of eld tests for soccer players
has meant that few teams are assessed entirely in
laboratory contexts. The 20-m shuttle run test
(Ramsbottom, Brewer, & Williams, 1988) and the
Yo-Yo tests (Bangsbo & Michalsik, 2000) have been
adopted for administrative convenience and lack a
physiological criterion that maximal effort was
achieved. Where maximal oxygen uptake values are
available, they indicate that there are fewer low
values among the current squads playing at a high
level. Repeated measures taken throughout the
season suggest that values do not change much
during the competitive campaign; the Spanish team
studied by Casajus (2001) improved from 65.5 +8.0
to 66.4 +7.0 ml kg
71
min
71
between early season
and mid-season. It would also appear that due to
personalized tness training in the off-season,
detraining effects during this period are minimized
(Edwards, Clark, & MacFayden, 2003b).
While the change in maximal oxygen consumption
among the Spanish players (Casajus, 2001)
amounted only to 1.7%, greater improvements were
observed in the lactate threshold. The relative
intensity at which the lactate threshold (the ination
point in the blood lactate responses to graded
exercise) was observed increased from 76.6 to
79.4%
_
VO
2max
. The velocity at which the lactate
threshold occurred increased from 12.4 +1.5 to
13.1 +1.4 km h
71
, a relative improvement of
5.7%. It would appear that blood lactate responses
Table I. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO
2max
) as measured in professional football teams (average values and sources are cited)
Team _
VO
2max
(ml kg
71
min
71
)
Reference
Elite players 61.0 Douge (1988)
Austrian national team 58.3 Bachl & Prokop (1977)
German national team 62.0 Hollmann et al. (1981)
Bundesliga team 58.4 Dickhut, Simon, Bachl, Lehman, & Keul (1981)
Hungarian champions 66.6 Apor (1988)
Portugese First League team 59.7 Puga et al. (1993)
Spanish League 65.5 Casajus (2001)
Norwegian champions 67.6 Wislff et al. (1998)
An ergonomics model of soccer training 565
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to incremental exercise may be more useful to
applied sports scientists than are maximal values.
Grant and McMillan (2001) showed how lactate
proles were sensitive to detraining effects due to
injury and to subsequent improvements in tness as
rehabilitation goals were being reached.
Physiological variables strongly related to endur-
ance running performance do appear therefore to be
relevant to soccer. These sports differ in that the
latter is also heavily reliant on muscle strength and
power. There is a wealth of data supporting the
superiority of soccer players to age-matched counter-
parts in measures of muscle strength determined
using isometric (Reilly & Thomas, 1980) and
isokinetic dynamometry (Fowler & Reilly, 1993).
Professional players perform signicantly better at all
angular velocities and in eccentric as well as
concentric modes than do players of a lesser standard
(Rahnama, Reilly, Lees, & Graham-Smith, 2003).
The proling of individuals can help to identify
asymmetric imbalances in peak torque between left
and right limbs and between leg exors and
extensors. Once weaknesses are identied in indivi-
dual proles, these should be rectied using
appropriate physical conditioning regimens.
The strength of the lower limbs of soccer players
has been assessed using isokinetic dynamometry. An
asymmetrical difference between limbs or a dispro-
portionate balance between the knee exors and knee
extensors may predispose a player towards muscu-
loskeletal injury. Rahnama et al. (2003) reported that
Premier League players were superior in strength to
size-matched sub-elite players at a range of angular
velocities, for dominant and non-dominant limbs
and for concentric as well as eccentric modes of
action. Oberg, Moller, Gillquist and Ekstrand (1986)
found relatively greater fast speed/slow speed ratios
in national players compared with other players,
highlighting the relevance of strength assessments to
actions in the game. For injury prevention purposes,
it would appear that the relative eccentric strength of
the knee exors compared with the concentric
strength of the knee extensors is a determining
factor. This index has been termed the dynamic
control ratio (Aagaard, Simonsen, Magnusson,
Larson, & Dyhre-Poulson, 1998).
The muscularity of professional soccer players is
reected in the physique or somatotype. Interna-
tional players competing in the Copa America
championships displayed a mean somatotype with
high mesomorphy values but low endomorphy values
(Rienzi et al., 2000). The gains in muscular strength
should not compromise speed of movement. Strud-
wick, Reilly, and Doran (2002) showed that players
in an English Premier club had similar tness proles
(including aerobic power) to those of a top Gaelic
Football side, except for their faster running speeds
over 10 and 30 m. Besides the ability to accelerate
over short distances, another distinguishing feature
in soccer is agility or the ability to change direction of
movement quickly (Reilly, Williams, Nevill, &
Franks, 2000).
Accompanying the muscular make-up of contem-
porary professional players is a low level of adiposity
(see Table II). As is to be expected, the percent
adiposity tends to be decreased as the season
progresses (Casajus, 2001) and in the off-season does
not regress to the high gures reported in previous
decades (White, Emery, Kane, Groves, & Risman,
1988). There is a problem in comparing values
expressed as a percentage of body fat when the gures
are derived from different methodologies and com-
puted using different formulae. The majority of the
data reported were acquired from estimations based
on skinfold thicknesses, but occasionally the reference
method of hydrodensitometry has been used. The use
of skinfold thicknesses has been criticized on the basis
of a weak relationship with internal fat depots and the
concentration of upper body sites in the case of
Durnin and Womersleys (1974) equations (Clarys,
Martin, & Drinkwater, 2002). Nevertheless, there is a
good relationship between values recorded using dual
energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and percent
body fat predicted from four upper body skinfold
measures (Egan, Reilly, Chantler, &Lawlor, 2004), as
shown for observations on 16 Premier League players
Table II. Adiposity in soccer players (mean percentages for players, including goalkeepers, are cited)
Team % Body fat References
English First Division 19.3 White et al. (1998)
Portugese First Division 10.9 Puga et al. (1993)
English Premier (early season) 12.6 Dunbar & Power (1997)
Spanish professionals 7.9 Mujika, Padilla, Iban ez, Izquierdo, & Gorostiaga (2000)
English Premier team 12.3 Strudwick et al. (2002)
Copa America 10.6 Rienzi et al. (2000)
La Liga
Early season 8.6 Casajus (2001)
Mid-season 8.2
566 T. Reilly
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pre season (see Figure 3) The DEXA technique is
likely to be the reference method of the future and,
while the technology is expensive, it has the added
benet of indicating bone mineral density. The extent
to which the skeletal system responds to football
training or protects against injury is yet to be
established.
In summary, it would appear that elite contem-
porary footballers have distinct features. These
include few low values of maximal oxygen uptake
among the squad, combined with good endurance
capabilities in mid-season. They have a muscular
make-up and lower adiposity than players of previous
decades. They are further characterized by speed
over short distances and by their agility.
Soccer-specic training
In view of the extra energetic costs of exercising with
the ball at a given speed of locomotion (Reilly & Ball,
1984), working with the ball has been advocated as a
means of facilitating training stimuli. This practice
would be economical in use of players time, when
physical training is integrated with technical aspects
of preparation. This strategy does not exclude the
use of additional general conditioning, which may
include running, weight-training, exibility exercises
and agility drills, and other regimens such as
plyometrics (stretch shortening exercises) and
deep-water running.
The traditional training programme may be
divided into different components, as shown in
Figure 4. The rst four elements (warm-up,
calisthenics, running, circuit training) constitute
physical training, whereas the remainder represent
work with the ball. The recovery component is the
sum of intermissions between the discrete sections of
the training session. It is evident from mean heart
rate responses that the more intense parts of the
session are when the ball is used (Reilly, 1979).
Reilly and White (2003) compared the effects of a
classical interval training programme in a group of
young players in an English Premier League club.
The training consisted of additions to the normal
programme, the players doing interval running
consisting of six 4-min runs with a 3-min recovery
in between efforts, three times a week for 6 weeks.
The experimental group played ve-a-side games for
an equivalent duration and recovery, with vocal
encouragement from the trainer. Both groups main-
tained their aerobic tness and lactate proles
equally, the training being conducted in mid-season.
It is clear from the typical heart rate responses in
Figure 5 that the soccer-specic work provided a
comparable training stimulus to classical interval
training.
In a related study, Sassi, Reilly and Impellizzeri
(2003) compared small-sided games under different
conditions with formal interval training. In this
study, the interval training consisted of 4 6 1000-
m runs, while the number of players, dimensions of
the playing area, technical factors and so on were
varied systematically. The results, summarized in
Table III, show how the inclusion of a goalkeeper
and an emphasis on pressing the player in possession
inuence the responses. They show that appropri-
ately designed exercises can raise the intensity to a
level that exceeds interval running. It was concluded
that small-group work with the ball can present
physiological training stimuli comparable with and
sometimes exceeding interval running without the
ball. In contrast, technical/tactical training presents a
moderate challenge to the circulatory system, more
compatible with maintenance programmes or recov-
ery on days following competitive matches.
The observations on elite players have been
corroborated in participants at a recreational level
in indoor four-a-side leagues. MacLaren, Davids,
Isokawa, Mellor and Reilly (1988) showed that
metabolic and hormonal responses of players ex-
ceeded those found in typical outdoor games at this
level. Noradrenaline, adrenaline and blood lactate
concentrations were greatly increased, values during
the league nal reaching 414%, 228% and 130%,
respectively, of the values noted after recreational
games. It was concluded that the four-a-side version
of indoor soccer has important implications for its
use as a training method for the outdoor competitive
format or as a recreational activity in its own right.
Similar conclusions were drawn by Miles, MacLa-
ren, Reilly and Yamanaka (1993) in a study of female
participants. It would appear that small-sided games
can provide an acceptable means of training the
oxygen transport system in both sexes at elite and
recreational levels.
Figure 3. Percent body fat of Premier League soccer players
(n = 16) pre season determined by dual-energy absorptiometry
(DEXA) and estimated from skinfolds according to Durnin and
Womersley (1974). Mean values for DEXA were 13.26 +1.84
and for skinfolds 12.99 +1.97 (r = 0.88).
An ergonomics model of soccer training 567
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A variety of drills for execution with the ball have
been designed to train the metabolic systems for
application to soccer. These have incorporated the
training of the aerobic system (Reilly & Bangsbo,
1998), anaerobic endurance (see Bangsbo, 1993)
and running speed (Wilson, 2001b). They also
accommodate the period between matches, includ-
ing recovery days and more intense training,
regulated by blood lactate responses, heart rate and
perceived exertion (Bangsbo, 1994; Drust, 1999). In
particular, attention has been drawn to the opportu-
nities offered by small-sided games as a means of
simultaneously acquiring physiological and skills
training effects.
Small-Sided games and young players
Young players need to develop their physiological
determinants of tness in conjunction with games
skills and decision-making in a soccer context. These
factors depend not only on the intensity of exercise
but also on the direct involvement in activities with
the ball. Youth soccer matches can be played by a
reduced number of players on smaller pitches,
depending on the players age.
Platt, Maxwell, Horm, Williams and Reilly
(2001) examined the inuence of small-sided
games on players actions, combining physiological
investigation with a notation analysis of players
aged under 12. Three-a-side was found to be
superior to ve-a-side on all of the criteria
employed. The mean heart rate was higher in the
three-a-side version throughout the 15-min period
of observation. The smaller group of players had
more involvement with play, dribbled more with
the ball and had more opportunities for executing
skills such as passing and shooting (see Figure 6).
Furthermore, they had more relative success in
these skills than their counterparts in the ve-a-side
game. The results support the promotion of the
three-a-side game for young players, although
suitable pitch dimensions should be established to
t the tness levels of the group.
In contrast, Castagna, Belardinelli and Abt (2003)
found that moderately trained and skilled Italian
high-school students (aged 16 17 years) reached an
average only of 53% of maximal oxygen uptake
playing ve-a-side on a court measuring 40 629 m.
They concluded that this intensity would have little
impact on the development of aerobic power. While
acknowledging that dimensions of the playing area,
number of players and rules employed affect the
exercise intensity, the duration of play may also be an
inuential factor, as is the motivational climate in
which the practice is conducted. Castagna et al.
advised that the physiological load of small-sided
games should be quantied before they are used
within a training programme for the development of
aerobic power.
The dribbling elements of the game could
enhance important game skills. Reilly et al.
(2000) reported that dribbling capability distin-
guished elite under-16 players from age-matched
players at a lower level more than did shooting,
passing or ball control tests. Since dribbling
typically entails changes in direction to deceive an
opponent, it also offers a convenient means of
training agility.
Figure 4. The traditional allocation of training time to its different components. Sessions started with a warm-up and callisthenics (exibility
and agility) and ended with drills and games (from Reilly, 1979).
568 T. Reilly
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Complementary training
Although recognizing the value of integrating the
physiological preparation of players with game-
related activities, some aspects of physical condition-
ing may require individual attention. The main
reason for this requirement is that competitive play
may not provide the necessary training stimulus at a
sufcient intensity, for long enough or often enough
to secure a physiological adaptation. A further reason
Figure 5. Typical heart rate response to interval training (4 64 min with 3 min recovery) and small-sided games over the same time periods
(from Reilly & White, 2003).
An ergonomics model of soccer training 569
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is that conditioning embraces protecting against
injury as well as enhancing performance. In a
classical study, Ekstrand (1982) demonstrated that
a systematic programme of exibility training re-
duced the incidence of injuries over a season of
Swedish League soccer. His programme of exercises
targeted muscles susceptible to injury in the game,
notably the hamstring group and the thigh adduc-
tors.
There are also positional differences in tness
requirements whereby certain players need to focus
on conditioning work that enhances their roles. For
example, plyometric and complex training is likely to
be more benecial to central defenders than mideld
players (Wilson, 2001a,b), whereas whole-body
agility is important for goalkeepers (Whall, 2001).
Non-specic activities can also help to add variety
to the habitual activity of players. Running and
weight-training can have a positive inuence on
players because of the psychophysical calibration
inherent in these activities. Wislff et al. (2004)
demonstrated how the benets of weight-training
transferred positively to performance in a game
context. They also provided a quantitative measure
of performance in terms of time, distance or load
lifted. Alternative modes of exercise, such as various
forms of running in water, offer an acceptable means
for promoting recovery after matches (Reilly, Dow-
zer, & Cable, 2003). Running in deep water avoids
impact loading on muscles likely to be sore following
games: it can be used as part of a warm-down when
facilities are available, or as recovery training the
following day. During the off-season, any formal
training may be for general conditioning purposes
(Edwards et al., 2003b).
Overview
An ergonomics model allows training to be con-
sidered as interfacing with the demands of the game
on the one hand and with the capabilities of players
on the other. Preparation for competition is opti-
mized when technical, tactical and physiological
requirements are integrated in the planning cycles.
Such a holistic approach favours the use of exercises
with the ball as far as it is possible. This principle is
underlined in the case of young players whose talent
is to be developed concomitantly with natural growth
and development processes. In this instance, priority
is given to deliberate practice and acquisition of
Table III. Heart rate (beats min
71
) and blood lactate concentration (mmol l
71
) during two different training drills (mean+s) (data from
Sassi et al., 2003)
4 vs 4 8 vs 8
4 6 1000 m
Without
goalkeeper
With
goalkeeper
Free
touch
Free touch
(pressing)
Technical tactical
drills
Heart rate 167+4 178 +7 174 +7 160 +3 175+4 140 +5
Blood lactate 7.9 +3.4 6.4 +2.7 6.2 +1.4 3.3 +1.2 2.9 +0.8
Figure 6. A comparison of activity during three-a-side and ve-a-side games in boys aged under 12 years (from Platt et al., 2001).
570 T. Reilly
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game skills and awareness (Williams & Reilly, 2000),
while recognizing the value of physiological criteria
for training appropriate to age (Stratton, Reilly,
Williams, & Richardson, 2004).
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n
l
o
a
d
e
d

b
y

[
U
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
y

o
f

V
a
l
e
n
c
i
a
]

a
t

0
7
:
0
3

0
2

J
u
l
y

2
0
1
4