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Training Science
Children and Adolescents in Soccer

Some notes about Strength Training (ST) in children and adolescents.

Contrary to the traditional belief that ST is dangerous for children or that it could lead
to bone plate disturbance, ST can be a safe and effective training activity for these age
groups, provided that the program is properly designed and completely supervised.
It must be emphasized, however, that ST is a specialized form of physical
conditioning distinct from the competitive sports of weightlifting and power lifting, in
which individuals attempt to lift maximal amounts of weight in competition.
ST refers to a systematic program of exercises designed to increase an individual’s
ability to exert or resist force.
Children and adolescents can participate in ST programs provided that they are
correctly controlled. For instance, children in gymnastics develop different strength
tensions without muscle or joint problems. ST can benefit all children providing that
the exercises are in accordance with their level of maturation. Younger children can
participate in strength-related activities, such as push-ups and sit-ups as well as other
more dynamic exercises as low-impact plyometric exercises.
Generally speaking, if children are ready for participation on soccer games, then they
are ready for some type of ST.
The goal of youth ST should be to improve the musculoskeletal strength of children
and adolescents while exposing them to a variety of safe, effective and fun training
methods. Adult ST guidelines and training philosophies should not be imposed in
youngsters who are anatomically, physiologically and psychologically less mature. ST
should be one part of a well-designed fitness program that also includes endurance,
flexibility and agility exercises. Soccer skills can easily develop endurance, flexibility
and agility capabilities. Strength capabilities are much more difficult to achieve
through soccer skills. So, it’s necessary to develop strength out of the game and return
stronger to it to improve the other capabilities.
Properly designed and competently supervised youth ST programs may not only
increase the muscular strength of children and adolescents, but may also enhance
motor fitness (e.g. sprinting and jumping) and sports performance. May also decrease
the incidence of some sport injuries by increasing the strength of tendons, ligaments
and bone. Correctly strength training is the best preventive therapeutic against
injuries.
During adolescence, training-induced strength gains may be associated with increases
in muscle size, but this is unlikely to happen in prepubescent children who lack
adequate levels of muscle-building hormones.
To avoid injuries some safety guidelines must be respected:
. ST must be closely supervised. That implies:
. Knowledgeable instructors
. Proper spotting procedures
. Safe exercise environment
. Complete instruction regarding proper exercises techniques
. Respect of training procedures (e.g. warm-up and cool-down)
. Medical examination is desirable to assess orthopaedic condition
. Conscious chose of proper training programs
. Adequate selection of type equipment
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. No rules about series and repetitions. As start point: 3 sets of 5-15 repetitions
. Perform two to three workouts per week on non-consecutive days
. Alternate muscle groups exercises
. Avoid maximal weights
. Emphasis in technique of execution not in load
Children and adolescents. In children and adolescents, discriminating between the
processes of conditioning and growth is a challenging task. Certain physiological
changes often attributed to exercise are an inherent part of normal growth. Often,
changes in physiological variables in young performances are more likely to be
caused by growth than training stimulation.
Speed, Agility and Coordination. The Speed of movement must be fulfilled with
exercises searching for Agility and Coordination. The final goal of Speed, Agility and
Coordination exercises is to develop the technical and/or tactical skills of soccer
game.
Strength and Power. Strength and Power training must be focused on building and
stabilize a basement to improve soccer’s technical skills, not to develop force per se.
Adolescents often tend to compete among them demonstrating their strength levels.
From the very beginning this behavior must be avoided.
Flexibility. Sport training and competition rarely enhance muscle flexibility. Specific
programs are required to produce increases in movement ranges that exceed those
which occur naturally in a sport. Greater range of movement could serve as an injury
prevention measure as well as facilitating some extreme movements natural in soccer
game. Two kinds of flexibility should be developed: passive and active. Passive
stretching exercises must be done in the end of the workouts or matches. Active
stretching exercises (dynamic movements) prepare the body for action.
Periodization and Recovery. It’s necessary to design and respect a proper
Periodization by which the recovery and regeneration processes must be got.
Recovery is important to maximize the effectiveness of next workout. Hard training
only over a recovered body. Differentiate between muscle-skeletal recovery and
nervous recovery. The adaptation to the stress imposed by severe training loads is
only obtained if the recovery periods are respected.
Warm-up. Respect but don’t emphasize the warm-up. The time spent in warm-up
depends on the climatic conditions. Despite any weather conditions warm-up never
must exceeds 30 minutes. Warming-up effects:
. raises core body temperature
. increases elasticity
. prepares nervous system for work
. improves muscle contractility
. prepares cardiovascular system for exertion
. improves coordination
. increases awareness, arousal and reaction time
Warm-up increases work capacity but it is important to retain that the energy spent in
warm-up decreases the overall energy stored in the body. So, warm-up only must last
the sufficient time to prepare the body for exertion avoiding superfluous energy
expenditure.
Biomechanics and Injury. Biomechanical knowledge of movement, flexibility
development and stability and balance development reduce acute and overuse
(chronic) injuries. To avoid usual soccer micro traumatisms is necessary to take care
about, shoes, ground and skill’s complexity. How better the physical conditioning of
the players how greater the prevention against injuries. How better the technical skills
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of the players how greater the prevention against injuries. How wiser the conjugation
between rest and exercise how greater the prevention against injuries. How better the
hydration status before, during and after the workouts and the matches how greater
the prevention against injuries.
Muscular profile of youth. Some coaches try to select the fastest boys and girls,
testing them over sprint sets. The better the results the better the muscle profile
corresponding to a greater percent of Type II muscular fibres – the fibres of sprinters.
It’s necessary to know that the adaptability of young boys permit them to perform a
variety of tasks, particularly endurance exercises.
The training effects in young boys (11-13 yr) is different of the adults.
Human muscle is characterized by different types of fibres:
Type I – slow-twitch
Type IIa – fast-twitch oxidative
Type IIx – fast-twitch glycolytic
Type I fibres are related to endurance capability
Type II fibres are related to strength and speed capabilities
However, in young boys (11-13yr) the muscular differentiation can mean nothing at
all. I’ll give an example:
A study was performed over 18 boys (11-13 yr) from different sports (4 endurance
runners, 7 tennis players, 4 weightlifters, 3 sprinters). They were divided into two
groups according to a “fast” group (59.2% Type II fibres) and a “slow” group (60.4%
Type I fibres). The characteristics of both groups are indicated in the following table.

Category Fast Group Slow Group

Type I 40.8% 60.4%
Type II 59.2% 39.4%
Type IIa 36.5% (61.6%) 22.8% (57.9%)
Type IIx 22.7% (38.4%) 16.6% (42.1%)

A variety of tests were performed. Few significant differences were revealed.

Reaction time to sound and choice reaction time were fast for the fast group and also
had a greater rate of force development. However, there were no differences between
running velocity, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) or anaerobic characteristics. The
similarity in aerobic capacity stemmed from the training program of the boys (general
endurance within each sport). The training switches the anaerobic fibres to oxidative
functioning, so the differences between the groups tend to lower. This study shows
and implicate that in young boys, the adaptability of the inherited fibre distributions to
different types of training makes measures of aerobic or anaerobic capacity relatively
useless as a performance predictor.
However, reaction time and power development rates may discriminate between fast
and slow-twitch dominant pubescent boys. As soccer performance depends on a
variety of physical capacities, it’s an error to discriminate young boys by Physical
conditioning testing or anthropometrical measurements, because training and growing
process can alter significantly some inherited characteristics. Adding, soccer is more a
question of art than a question of running or jumping.
Load Specificity for young people. It seems that, contrary to adults, the loads to
youngsters don’t need to be very specific to promote similar results. This statement
was proved with a study realized with young males using the same power output to
control for amount of work done. Training lasted for 10 weeks and was performed
four times per week with 40 min duration. There were formed 3 groups performing:
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. continuous training at 80% of VO2max
. lower power interval training consisting of alternating 3 min at 100% at VO2max
with 2 min at 50%; and
. high power interval training consisting of alternating 30 seconds at 120% VO2max
with 30 seconds at 40%
All the results were similar. There were no differences in training effects among
groups. So, in this young population, is likely that a general program will produce the
same adaptive response, as would a specialized program.
Aerobic fitness. Novice athletes or competitors with relatively low aerobic capacities,
usually demonstrate noticeable fluctuations in aerobic fitness variable between out
season and competitive season.
When young athletes train seasonally with long resting periods between seasons
physical conditioning gains from training and competitions tend to be lost in the
inactive periods. However, when athletes train regularly over 10 -11 months, some
aerobic parameters, e.g. muscle mitochondrial and capillary density, are almost
completely maintained. The maintenance of some physical activity during vacations
help to sustain aerobic capacity. This supports the principle that the more one trains,
the longer it takes to detrain and to lose at least some training adaptations. However,
is necessary to be conscious that the effectiveness of aerobic training adaptations in
pre-pubescent children is more limited than in adults. Prepubescent children should be
trained aerobically but expectations for improvement should be less than that afforded
by adults.
Long lasting aerobic condition. Soccer players with good aerobic capacity generally
show no seasonal variations in respiratory parameters, despite the fact that soccer
specific performances very often continue to improve.
Pre-season training. In soccer where performance in mainly determined by tactical
and technical skills, physical conditioning normally takes place during pre-season,
aiming to bring players to their peak condition just before the first official match.
When training concentrates exclusively on technical skills and tactics, maximal
aerobic condition and general fitness often show slight decline. That is provoked by
the overuse of the specific training. So, from time to time a period of general
conditioning training must be scheduled.
Anaerobic threshold (AnTh). May be defined as the work load above which steady-
state is broken and exercise cannot continue for a prolonged time. It is used
extensively for predicting aerobic performance. It corresponds to the maximal work
developed in steady-state. In soccer, contrary to long lasting continuous endurance
sports, AnTh is not an absolute index of performance.
Anaerobic physical fitness. It’s an important index of soccer performance because
all the high quality movements soccer-related are supported by anaerobic sources of
energy. However, some of the tests utilized to assess anaerobic fitness (all-out cycle
ergometer tests, standing broad jumps and vertical jumps) do not appear to be
sensitive enough to detect seasonal variations.
Muscle strength. Usually pre-season training includes considerable amount of
strength training, which provokes an increase of both, muscle mass and strength.
However, when competitive season commences strength training is de-emphasized
and some of the adaptations are lost. So, strength training must be maintained during
all the competitive phase, even when the priority is given to technical and tactical
skills. One question is important to answer: Which amount of strength training must
be programmed to maintain adequate individual strength levels? This is the one-
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million-dollar answer. Unable to give an absolute answer the solution can be achieved
by common sense and trial and error approach.
Cardiac parameters. Resting and exercise heart rates are generally not affected by
seasonal training or detraining.
Blood lactate tests. Maximal lactate measurements are not important in soccer. To
assess the Anaerobic Threshold, blood lactate is a useful tool, but some procedures
must be respected to avoid biased results.
Testing reliability. In soccer players, anaerobic parameters, heart rate, subcutaneous
fat, flexibility, and hemoglobin levels remain relatively unchanged through the
competitive season. Aerobic metabolism and muscular strength may demonstrate
noticeable (mostly unfavourable) changes, and plasma hormonal levels normally
follow changes in training intensities. However, observed alterations may purely
reflect incidental fatigue produced by a previous training session (acute fatigue) rather
than a longer-term effect (chronic fatigue).
Effect of specific training in physical condition. Specialized training (based mostly
on technical and tactical skills) and competitions are inadequate for physical fitness
maintenance and/or physical improvements. However, specific training is of utmost
importance for soccer performance. General physical condition is the basement;
specific training is the main goal.
Assessment reliability. Most physiological measures are affected by the state of
fatigue of an individual. Before testing resting status of the players must be
controlled. Testing conditions must be similar from test to test.

Anaerobic Energy Sources

ATP-CP (Alactacid) system. Theoretically, this can only sustain work from 7 to 10
seconds. Thus, for efforts of greater duration, performance cannot be as fast as that for
very short periods. In efforts that require a greater level of energy, the glycolytic or
lactacid system opens up almost immediately to partially preserve the status of the
alactacid system. The ATP level remains almost constant in the muscles, but CP drops
considerably lower.
Lactacid or glycolytic system. The disadvantage of this system is that it generates
lactic acid which accumulates as lactate and H+ ions, causing an increase in cellular
and blood acidity. It takes some time before the acidity in the blood balances the
acidity within the cells. Because of that time lag, blood samples must be taken some
time after work stops to record the highest blood lactate level. In extreme cases, the
blood lactate level can reach 25 mM. Work is sustained by this system somewhere
between 45 and 60 seconds.
Aerobic Energy Sources
Training and competition in soccer are primarily dependent upon aerobic system. The
anaerobic systems serve to support high quality skills and movements. Aerobic
metabolism helps to restore anaerobic energy sources. Intermediate metabolites from
glycolytic metabolism are much more rapidly removed when aerobic metabolism is
increased.
Training and Detraining. An injury or illness, which keeps an athlete from training
for as brief period as 10 days can have a deleterious effect on performance. This is
referred to as the "reversibility concept" (or detraining), which means that the positive
changes from training (adaptations) are lost as a result of the body adjusting to a
lesser physical demand and peak condition deteriorates rapidly. Some of the cardiac
factors related with aerobic performance (e.g. cardiac output) are lost mostly in the
first 12 days of detraining. So, after injury or illness soccer players must follow a
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conditioning recovery period. To shortness of the recovery period is often half way to
new injury or deeper illness. The recovery pace is slow. If an athlete stops training for
12 days only 75 percent of enzymes lost will be regained after 24 days of retraining.
Training Maintenance. Training for as little as two days per week is enough to
maintain endurance performance, provided that the exercise intensity is high (85-
100% VO2max). As with endurance training, the maintenance of resistance training
adaptations appears to be related to exercise intensity rather than exercise frequency
or duration. During the competitive season, strength can be maintained by one heavy
session per week. One to three sessions per week of high intensity programs, in
soccer, can prevent training adaptation loss. However, such a reduced training
program cannot be sustained indefinitely without some eventual detrimental loss.
Critical rest point. Few days of rest or a reduction in training will not impair, but
may even enhance performance. However, is necessary to establish clearly the point
from which the inactivity will produce deterioration in performance. That’s the
coaching art only achieved when the coaches know very well all the team
characteristics.
What is lost with detraining? The functional strength (specific strength) may be lost
relatively quickly while general strength is retained. Non-specific strength/power
measures may not reflect the loss on specific performance.
The importance of former training. When an individual has experienced a
prolonged period of progressive and systematic training, by which he was able to
perform high performance levels, after ill or injury the recovery process will be more
rapid. There is far less effort required to regain strength, power, and muscular
endurance than that required to first develop it.
During injury. For injured athletes, any stimulation will be beneficial to the affected
areas. Isometric contractions have been found to be very effective for retaining
strength and muscle tone. Electrostimulation is also another solution to keep some
muscle performance during injury.
Loss of Muscular Endurance. When soccer players stop training there is no change
in their muscle glycolytic enzymes (phosphorylase and PFK) for at least four weeks.
On the other hand, the oxidative energy system declines much more rapidly. This
explains why sprint times are virtually unaffected by brief lay-offs (up to a month) but
endurance performances decline significantly within a period as short as two weeks.
Loss of flexibility. Flexibility is very transitory, and must be trained during all the
season. Reduced flexibility may leave athletes more susceptible to injury.
Loss of Cardiovascular Endurance. The cardiovascular system detrains rapidly with
inactivity. The decline is due largely to a reduction in blood volume which diminishes
stroke volume. That decline reduces the maximal oxygen uptake. Highly trained
individuals will not be able to afford long periods of inactivity with little or no
endurance training. Abstaining from training during long periods increases the overall
stress during pre-season training. One of the reasons for the success of F. C. do Porto
players in the Portuguese championship is the training during off-season period. It’s a
rule installed in the club since the 70’s. Exertion’s quality is necessary to maintain
maximal aerobic power (efforts requiring 90-100% of VO2max).
Changes in Body Composition. Lean body weight decreases and total body fat
increases with inactivity. Substantial variations in skinfold thickness occurs with these
changes. Optimal body composition levels can be maintained during periods of
reduced training by engaging into a moderate level of activity and controlling the diet.
Athletes must watch their weight carefully when the demands of training are reduced.
Principle of Individualization
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. Large muscles heal slower than smaller muscles
. Fast or explosive movements require more recovery time than slow movements
. Fast twitch muscle fibers recover quicker than slow twitch muscle fibers
. Women generally need more recovery time than men
. Older athletes generally need more recovery time than younger athletes
. The heavier the load lifted, the longer it will take the muscles to recover.
Principle of Overload
The principle of overload states that the physical load imposed by the training must
constitute sufficient stimulus to stress the organism and induce new adaptations. The
obvious limit of this principle is the genetic matrix of the individual.
Principle of Progression
The principle of progression implies that the loads must be continuously adapted to
the new level of the athlete till the point stated as “the competitive level” by which the
non-specific loads must be controlled. Respecting this principle enables the athlete to
avoid the overtraining danger.
Principle of Systematic Repetition
Is very important in soccer because implies the stabilization of basic skills and
physical improvements. This principle implies new routines and/or the increase of
complexity of the older ones. Systematic repetition must avoid the “blind” reaction to
the stimulus; must be the proper path to put the mind in action. The mind anticipates
and controls the action, this is the basic principle for every intelligent action.
Principle of Specificity
The Specificity Principle simply states that only the systems, organs, cells, capacities,
sufficiently overloaded by the training stimulus suffer structural alterations and
functional adaptations. This principle connects the general training with the specific
training. In soccer, only the soccer skills improve the “soccer condition” but to attaint
higher levels of performance a well developed physical condition is required.