increasing running performance

[atty_a]

i am a regular soccer player... i find it hard to keep up a good performance in a game.... i play midfield/strike and whenever the ball gets played to me i am either in the wrong position or completely out of breath... i understand that if i run on a regular basis, which i do, my running distance would increase right... but being in my position i need to improve on my sprinting distance.... how would i go about doing this? could i do that thing where when im running i do a 10 second sprint and then go down to my original speed of joggin???? plz help!

 

[Kalrog]

That would be called HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and yes it might be just the thing for you. You need to keep the endurance up because soccer games can stretch on for a while, but you really do need bursts of speed. Seems like HIIT would pretty much be exactly what would imitate a game for you. You might want to lengthen the jogging part so that you run further though and keep up the endurance. Usually it is a 10/50 second split. You might want to do a 15/120-240 second split and do this over the course of a couple of miles.

 

[Mogwai]

Sprint training will not only allow you to increase your general cardiovascular capacity, but will also allow you to improve your recuperation time. Therefore, to put it simply, after running around for a while, you will still be able to go for an all-out sprint, and after an all-out sprint, you will still be able to run around at a lesser intensity w/out huffing and puffing. There are many different ways of going about it. There is a method called Fartlek training, which involves walk/jog/sprint or just jog/sprint intervals in a non-stop fashion. And there are many different types of Fartlek trainings as far as time intervals, etc go. I am sure you can find plenty on the internet about that, I think this would be an excellent option for you

 

[Muscle Man]

Our coach has us do this all of the time. We will do "sprint straits and jog curves" HIIT for a mile and a half before stopping. What I have found is that because of HIIT I can still maintain a good jog without killing myself after an all out mile.

 

[marcerrin]

I played professional soccer for 5 years, and worked with some of the best trainers around on running for optimum performance results.
Every single one had the same drill, and all swear by it. Most people call it "running lines", or "gut busters". The trainers I knew called them "progressives".
We would run around a soccer field with six cones marking different spots around the perimeter; one on each corner, and one on each side of the center of field mark. We would start by jogging once around the field, when we reached our starting point we would sprint to the nearest cone, then resume a jog till we reached the original starting point again. Then we would sprint to the second cone. So "progressively" we reached the point where we would end with an all out sprint around the entire field. Bear in mind that the jog is not a rigorous jog, its actually the resting portion of the drill, just slow and constant. Very important to keep the same pace throughout the drill.
I played the same position as you do, and I understand your question all too well. This exercise should do the trick if you do it a few times a week.

 

[dustin265]

my name is dustin I am 16 and have been both strength training and mass training for four years now. I have found that if you run at jogging pace one week and the next pick up your pace slightly faster than a jog or until discomfort hits you. then go light again the next week, it worked for me, I was up to 4-5 miles a day and could run a 5 minute fifty second mile, and had excelent stamina playing sports with friends. I am no expert but this is what worked for me.. my email is dustin1087@yahoo.com if you want to ask for some more advise that worked for me.