Starting point determination: Training intensity in football perfectly dose after summer break

This article addresses possible anchor points that can give orientation to this highly sensitive phase of the football season, as the Base stone laid, which is relevant about success and failure withdecision. These points are explained by way of example on the basis of the time of preparation for the season. However, most of them are also useful and quickly applicable in a winter preparation, in individualized rehab processes or when a new team is taken over in the middle of the season.

The following is considered:

1. Context-dependent and individual situation analysis
2. Monitoring and Performance Diagnostics
3. The “Zero Point” - Football-specific performance diagnostics
4. Further practical recommendations
   
   

Context-dependent and individual situation analysis

At least three aspects are relevant for the analysis of the conditions at the time of entry:

(a) the previous season, especially the last phase up to the season break, (b) the actual unleashed time and (c) the phase in which players with individual plans (running, power, mobility plans, etc.) optimize the entry into official season preparation.

a) Previous season and final season: Important questions are:

- When was the last season game and how intense was the last phase physical and

psychic?

- Was it still about the ascent/departure or ended the last season safely in the middle third of the table?

- How long was the training operation maintained when the last season game was held in April or May?

- Was the end of the season attempted to keep the fitness high or were the volume and/or intensity significantly reduced?

- ...

The Total load in the final phase of a season until the summer break is the first approach point, which determines the starting point of a season preparation. In no case should it be underestimated, after the summer break you want to create the start fresh and healthy. After a long and hard season, in which until the last matchday under great mental pressure has been fought against the descent, e.g. more recovery time for mind and body necessary as if there is already a safe space in the middle field before the end of the game, and the trainer has already decided for more rotation. If, for example, the last day of play was relatively time in the year, and the training intensity/density was subsequently reduced, this also has a significant negative influence on the fitness, which must be considered during the planning.

(b) The actually unleashed time. This is determined by the respective schedules of the previous and the coming season. In addition, international tournaments and training phases must be observed. Especially players who get a lot of playing time in the club and also at the national team often make over 50 games in a season. In these cases, two free weeks are hardly enough to avoid the fatigue of the previous season. In addition, many players already engage private coaches in this so important recovery and repair phase or train independently, hoping to start the new season even more. This holds various opportunities and risks, e.g. increased force values, but also a lower freshness or higher fatigue already at season start. This must be assessed by each association according to their own philosophy and possibilities and, if necessary, express instructions for action.

The length of the inactive time should be considered individually, for example after playtime or downtime in the past season. Personal, social aspects should also be included. This applies, for example, to players whose families live abroad or who come into contact with a culture unfamiliar to them. For them, the free time may be more important than for players who sit with their family in the evening table every evening. Consequently, the decisive question is: What happens and what individual needs exist in this phase?

c) Individual plans to optimize entry into season preparation

The player-related consideration of the inactive time referred to in (b) can be discussed with the help of individual plans in which, for example, duration, density, volume, intensity, and/or type of activities can be different. Another way is, different entry times for season preparation for different groups of players to define. Players who took part in an international tournament in the summer usually start their season preparation significantly later. This strategy presupposes that the training load is temporarily differently designed. These points are also depending on the length of the summer breakthe Season preparation length until the first game, the season target, etc. These preliminary considerations determine the starting point and schedule of summer preparation and especially the design of the first training weeks.

Do I put test games into the first week of preparation? Do I start with intensive and/or long training or do I initially count on “full gas” units and playing time and use the available training time consciously for active regeneration or simply for a short break? Finally, the role of individual plans in one example should be highlighted. Because it is crucial: What are my players ready to start the season preparation? If, for example, an individual plan previews four running and two power units of 45 minutes each last week before the official season preparation in the club, this player at the end of the week, has shown simplified, about 4.5h sports. In this fictitious context, a first regular training week of season preparation could include four team training units on the pitch with 75 min each, twice strength training for 60 minutes each and a test game (planned here with 45 minutes). These are rounded 7,75h sports. The volume comparison is 4.5h vs. 7.75h. It must be assumed that the Team training as well as the test game on average are more intensive than the runs and the independent strength training. So we have significant increase in volume (156%) AND intensity (possibly even quantifiable by running data, RPE, etc.). You don't have to be an expert to see that this jump should be considered in the overall load in the planning.

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To whom this is too easy, be on the training sciences ‘principle of progressive load increase’ Reference. If the intensity inevitably rises due to the framework conditions, here the change of individual runs to team training, the volume should not be increased in parallel if necessary. even temporarily lowered, areif the body is to get the chance of healthy adaptation. Otherwise, overload phenomena are provoked easily. This example is now less intended to encourage the design of 10h sports programs for preparation for the first joint training, but to pay attention to the state and fatigue signals of the players in and around the training during the dosage of the first weeks. Flexibility in short-term adaptation of training, even in the middle of training, can become the key here.

Knowing where a player is “here” and where he wants or is supposed to,” is therefore a prerequisite for assessing and planning the situation and the next steps.

Monitoring and Performance Diagnostics

Another approach is to find out how athletes react to a specific training incentive. The continuous observation of this reaction seems to be more important to be trained exactly at the current power limit. In some clubs, it is additionally attempted to find out through performance-diagnostic tests immediately before the training phase or in the first days/weeks how a player will likely react to a training to assess the optimal dose.

The topics of performance diagnostics as well as monitoring alone already give enough substance to fill articles and own books and also enough room for discussions on different points of view. They will not be deepened until two points. One of these points has already been announced: Directly or indirectly observable fatigue signals can be very valuable for trained observers without great effort! They can be clear, but they can also be more subtle. Thus, the spectrum of red heads and players, who are severely out of breath, extends to less clear and yet very revealing, abnormal behaviors. Short and closed answers, low interaction in team meetings, rather closed postures etc. Everything that leads to a lower energy level of a human being.

Here it helps to think about people outside the context of football: family, friends, or even about themselves. How could it say if someone has no full “accus”. How does it feel with me and how do I behave in such situations? The spectrum is very wide and individual. Everything imnormal should be considered more accurately and at best checked by a direct conversation before adjustments occur. The prerequisites for this are the basis of our work: confrontation and interest in the people with whom we spend so much time.

Without knowing the people and their reactions and without looking closely, it is difficult here, even if there are, as mentioned above, some hints that are true for the majority of players.

The second point, which will be discussed in more detail, is also helpful and practical, because easy and quick to implement, tool: RPE, the subjectively perceived effort. A query immediately after the training, whether digitally via app, questionnaire or with closed eyes in the team circle, can give information on how exhaustively certain training sessions were felt. Whether the BORG scale is used for this or if you adopt a simplified scale of 1-6, you will leave the desired precision and practicality. The Direct feedback can therefore be helpful to assess the current state and also to control the planned training load. These two simple helpers can be implemented very easily even with a low budget. Perhaps it is even the only important parameters...that can be discussed!

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If it is now possible to use further tests such as regular measurement of creatinkinase, the height of the counter-movement jump, the hand force, the finger base distance or an uncomplicated and regularly executable YoYo test, the image can be sharpened further (Akenhead & Nassis, 2016; Gabbett et al., 2017).

Those who work with isolated runs as part of the training can benefit from a differentiated performance diagnosis of the endurance in order to subsequently use a targeted interval training at the performance limits. Whether this really reflects the performance of football can be questioned at least.

The “Zero Point” - Football-specific performance diagnostics

If the performance diagnosis of endurance and/or sprint repetition capability is either too insulated, non-specific or simply poorly implementable in its own environment, the ‘Zero Point’ (ZPB) to Raymond Verheijen (Verheijen, 2016, p. 106 fff) is recommended mainly due to its practical applicability. The aim of this method is to: by observation, in clearly defined forms of play or Game sizes to find out how long a team can manage its tasks or tasks Players to fulfill their football matches with consistent quality and quantity and from when the “Zero Point”, i.e. the point from which a noticeable loss of performance in these categories can be noted, is reached. With this football-specific performance diagnosis, it is possible to find out how high the performance of a team in certain forms of play, which often represent the most intense forms of training, is up to date. Consequently, a subsequent differentiation in (1) targeted overload (main load days) & (2) is possible with deliberately reduced load (for other training days, for example tactical or technically embossed training units). And this also without expensive GPS system.

As many trainer eyes as possible are highly recommended here, as well as video recordings at best to reflect training impressions in retrospect. For example, an 11v11 form of play is played for a certain duration, then a clearly defined break is given, followed by the next block of the same play time and so on. Played until the power drop is noticed. This time becomes the starting point for the next training in which the same form of play is to be played up to fatigue. For the sake of simplicity and on the basis of studies on player behavior, action densities, fatigue (Verheijen, 2016) etc. will be by Verheijen recommended to divide the forms into large, medium and small forms of playto standardize rules and area per player.

In addition to a precise first picture, this should also make various football-specific endurance effects specifically trainingable. The small forms of play, especially fast recovery or a higher action density trains, for medium and large forms of play, depending on size and tactical focus, the ever-long sustaining of high-quality football actions or Behavior (Verheijen, 2016). Here, the basic action density should always be above the average game action density. Due to the corresponding breaks, fatigue should be largely reduced in order to ensure the desired quality and quantity of football actions in the next pass.

Since we always train in the game to retrieve the best performance, should work here at these borders and also content/tactic specifications are given, so that no unnatural/optionally unintentional behaviors arise. For example, this would be the case if a team here falls into a defense pressing to save energy, but the coach actually wants to extend or improve the time and quality of the attack pressing in the game.

Those who want to deal more closely with this method should deal more closely with the books and courses of the trainer and authors already mentioned several times. Before the application, however, there should be a clear idea of how the stress on the training week should be designed. There are also many contributions and own books (Mallo, 2015; Bompa, 2019; Joyce & Lewindon, 2016), where you can find the right option for your own environment.

The recommendations given by the author (Verheijen, 2016) can be accepted as a rough orientation for the ZPB. However, they must always be checked in the implementation, because Depending on the level and tactical requirements, field sizes, playing times, etc. should be adapted to obtain the optimal stimulus.

- Large forms of play: 11v11-8v8: 10min blocks, 2min break

- Intermediate forms: 7v7-5v5: 4min blocks, with 2min break

- Small forms of play: 4v4-3v3: 2 blocks á 6x 1min and 2 min stress break

the games, block break 4 min

Further practical recommendations

Another very useful orientation can be a recommendation that at best does not greatly increase or reduce the load of a player from week to week. There are no reliable indications that a 10% magic limit in the weekly load variance can significantly reduce injuries, but the investigations indicate a relationship between a similarly strong fluctuation and increased number of injuries (Charlton & Drew, 2015). We can make use of this and, starting from a regular training week, how to find it within a season or possibly already known and defined target values, count backwards.

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Usually, running data is used here if a GPS or LPS system is present. Whether one deals with the overall running distance, the sprint distance, short intensive approaches or another value, is strongly dependent on the possibilities, beliefs and the way of play or the way in the club.

But even without running data, you can use this system for yourself. The total training time, the net training time within intensive exercises or the sRPE... of creativity are not limits.

The application of the ‘10% rule’ again presupposes that: Start of season preparation probably the time within a season at which the Load compatibility of the players is the lowest and thus the need for time to regenerate and recovery is the highest. Here, just like exercising within the season or even more, literally yells to overwrite structures quickly.

Furthermore, investigations were carried out on how long players need to achieve their previous performance levels after a break without hurting and, in addition to the break length, also differs according to activity level within the break. His results are shown graphically below.

A brief example to explain the graphic:

Player A, for example, has two weeks free in a fictitious winter break, in which he does a reduced sports program. This occurs at an approximate, average activity level of 40% compared to its usual load. This means that player A after the break for approx. 2.5 weeks Construction training would have to be completed until his body can complete the previously used load without increased risk of injury. This therefore corresponds to a total of 4.5 weeks of reduced or increasing training. If, for example, a week is completely paused in order to give the body a little air, the phase is extended until the usual load compatibility. All these Orientation points, and context-dependently still many more, can help to make the entry into the subsequent training phase more successful.

Final and outlook

For the sake of simplicity, this article refers to a hypothetical, homogeneous team to illustrate the approach. One individual consideration should follow after this first team analysis. downtimes, mission minutes, national team calls, possibly structurally lower load capacities, private additional trainings during the break, other psychosocial stressors, etc., influence the handling of the individual player. Considerations such as these are included in his planning and, above all, logical followers are used in the analysis of the starting point and the planning based on it, GPS data and other expensive tracking or monitoring systems now appear significantly less important. They are no longer the starting point of all planning, but rather an aid for reflection on planning and implementation. Paired with the necessary flexibility in implementation, you can meet every player with its requirements and thus reach the best for his team.

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About the author

Benedikt Hänneschen is an athletic trainer in the U19 of RB Leipzig. Here he takes care of the physical performance of the U19-juniors as well as the rehabilitation of injured players.

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