Why Performance Training is Even More Important for Female Soccer Players
Soccer is a game of repeated sprints, constant accelerating and decelerating, change of direction (COD), jumping and striking of the ball. If you want to perform well on the pitch you need to have an excellent metabolic conditioning base, be able to sprint repeatedly at high-intensities, be fast and agile all while being strong and powerful. Oh yeah, and injury free. There is nothing wrong with males and females being totally different, gender differences are undeniably evident and admitting it is one step closer to getting better. With relative strength being the main driving force, it is no secret that males can perform these actions mentioned above faster and do so without an increased chance of injury. Compared to males, female soccer players lack metabolic conditioning, strength and power, and neuromuscular coordination -- to name a few. Due to these differences they are at a greater risk of injury with an even higher chance of an ACL injury occurring. Check out my blog post about Assessing the Female Soccer Player on the OPZ website for more info on what to look for when assessing female soccer players. There could be multiple reasons for the increased risk of an ACL injury, but for the sake of this article let's briefly go over some “trainable” reasons -- lack of conditioning, relative strength, and neuromuscular coordination or control. If you are a female soccer player here are a few reasons why you should dedicate yourself to a well-rounded strength and conditioning program.
Female soccer players need more aerobic and anaerobic training - Or simply put, conditioning. Before we go any further, let's first explain the difference between aerobic and anaerobic training as both are important. Aerobic training can be explained as exercise that can be maintained for a longer period of time, where anaerobic training is composed of exercises that are highly-intense and in short duration. Aerobic capacity has been a great indicator of on the pitch performance through many important in-game parameters. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 Max) is the measurement of an athlete's ability to supply maximum amount of oxygen to the working muscles and the ability to use that oxygen during a high level of exercise. On the other side, anaerobic training does not use oxygen as an energy source, but instead uses the formation of ATP as its main energy source and is a major reason for lactate build up. Both aerobic and anaerobic capacity are important not only for on the pitch performance, but for reducing the chance of an ACL injury. Now that we understand what aerobic and anaerobic training mean..
The game of soccer is filled with repeated bouts of high-intensity sprints. Most of these bouts of sprints are performed under 10 seconds with the average sprint being 2-4 seconds, and with fairly short recovery times. It’s a fact that the fitter an athlete is the better they will perform on the pitch. Research has shown that higher level players will cover greater distances on the pitch compared to lower level players. With this being said, higher levels of aerobic conditioning can result in greater distances covered on the pitch and training, which can make all the difference in a close match. Unfortunately, female soccer players lack aerobic and anaerobic conditioning when compared to male soccer players. Many ACL injuries happen in the state of fatigue due to the changes in movement pattern, and if conditioning levels are not at a exceptional level, the chance of an ACL injury from occurring increases exponentially. It all kind of makes sense once you think about it, if a female soccer player can increase their conditioning performance they will set back the onset of fatigue, which then can reduce the chance of injury.
Due to the demands of the game I tend to lean towards conditioning training that is composed of bouts of high-intensity exercises. I prefer high-intensity interval training (HIIT) because it will improve both aerobic and anaerobic capacity and additionally there is likely no detrimental effect to strength and power. Oh and it doesn’t take nearly as long as aerobic interval training. Here is an example of one of my favorites using a sled:
5 seconds on : 5 seconds off
Strength and Power - Higher levels of strength and power have shown to result in better on the pitch performance (acceleration, change of direction, jumping). Not only will on the pitch performance improve, but the best way to prevent an ACL injury in female soccer players is to make them strong. There are other qualities that are important, but overall females lack relative and absolute strength when compared to their male counterparts. I specifically like to focus on relative strength or the amount of strength compared to his/her body weight, as it is more applicable to being able to control one's body. Increased leg relative strength has shown to improve full body control. If a female soccer player is able to control their body better they will be able to handle the high amounts of forces that the game demands, which in the end will enhance performance and reduce the chance of an ACL injury. Important to note, absolute strength is also important in both dealing with external factors of the game and resisting fatigue. Here are two of my favorite exercises for both absolute strength and relative strength:
Trap Bar Deadlift
1-Leg Squat from Box with Counterbalance
Strength is also the precursor to power. It is hard to build power when there is no foundation of strength, as overall strength has also shown to be a huge influencer on power. Power is the ability to create high levels of force in a short amount of time, which perfectly explains the game of soccer. My goal as a coach is to make my female soccer players as powerful and strong as possible without adding any unwanted body weight. Power can be trained multiple ways and I prefer to train it using plyometrics because of the enhanced stretch shortening cycle component, olympic lift variations and ballistic training.
Neuromuscular Coordination - I am a huge believer in neuromuscular coordination training (NCT) for performance and injury prevention. I wrote an article a while back specifically on neuromuscular coordination -- Neuromuscular Coordination Training for Athletes at Higher Risk of ACL Injury. I will briefly go over NCT and if you want to know more, read my other article. Neuromuscular coordination training helps with neuromuscular control through biomechanical and neuromuscular elements, which improves sensorimotor control and functional stability. All in all, female soccer players need to be able to obtain equilibrium of the legs in both static and functional situations to be able to control certain demands of the game and even more so due to their disadvantages anatomically.
With all this being said, we have to notice that there are differences between male and females, which allows us to train them independently from one another. There should always be an individualized approach when it comes to training any athlete. A female soccer player's goal should be to become the fittest, strongest, most powerful and the most controlled on the pitch because it enhances on the pitch performance as well as reduce the chance of an ACL injury. A well-rounded performance program can do this.
