ERFORMANCE P SOCCER CONDITIONING A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING SOCCER PLAYERS www.performancecondition.com/soccer Using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recover Test as a Conditioning Program Rand Cayer y basic approach to soccer conditioning for my kids is we train them for the four pillars of the game, which is INT obviously technique and tactics plus psychological and physical. ADV For our program and the way we play high school soccer, one of the big components for physical play is M endurance done with a special consideration to the component “speed/endurance.” For this reason I use the Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test. Here’s why. I use the test as gauge of my team’s fitness. Most teams begin very fit at the start of the season. Afterward, be­ cause of the high demand of games your practices become more tactical due to the wear and tear of the games. Because of this evo­ lution of practice as the season progresses, we kind of lose sight of people's fitness. This is where the Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test allows us to track our players every week—I can measure the level of conditioning of my players. Our goal is to get progressively more fit as the season approaches and then during the first part of the season as the players get into a routine, we try to plateau and then we try to take it to the next step and that makes a big difference in our play. The soccer we play requires a tremendous amount of fitness because we play a direct type of soccer where many runs are off long driven balls. As a result, our players are making long runs to support and they're also making long runs to recover. This in­ termittent recovery is what the Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test not only tests but in our case, trains. My kids love it and respond to it but they don't always look forward to it. It is pretty taxing when it gets up to the higher levels of progression on the tape, but they do know that on many occasions they are winning games because of their fitness. Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test as Part of Training Due to referee demands, this year we play our games on any given day of the week. They have really scheduled our games all over the place, so when I do the recovery test it is when we have two days off after a game and that usually happens once a week. For instance, if we played on a Tuesday, we might play again on Friday. Consequently, on Thursday I would do the recovery test. Prior to this year I had always done it on Sunday night because we always played Tuesday and Friday. However, as I mentioned above, this year we are playing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or whatever day they can get referees. Basically I look for a two day window sometime during the week and I try to hit them on the second day so they are pretty much recovered from the last game The Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test is taxing but not to the point it drains the players for the next day. These kids are very fit; they are young men who can still have very a good practice after the Yo­Yo test. We schedule the test after warm­up but not immediately after warm­up. We try and do a high energy warm­up that gets their hearts pumping. Then, before we start the test, I give them a quick drink of water, let them recover for two or three minutes and then get them right into it. I think it is important that they are able to perform when they have already exerted themselves. This is a much different atmosphere and more part of practice as opposed to just coming right out of warm­up and jumping into the test. It is done usually anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes into practice and after warm­up—we want the heart rates up to anywhere from 70% to 80% of maximum. Administrative Aspects Testing is done as a team. We always partner up and one person goes while the other person times the test taking care to mark the first failure and then the second, which ends the test. Then they simply switch roles do the same thing again. It usually takes us 35 minutes to complete the test. However, we do it as a team because there's a lot of support and a great deal of emotion when a person is getting to a new level. It really takes a lot of encouragement sometimes for those guys to push to the next level. To record our results we have a chalkboard inside our little clubhouse and we always keep track of each player’s highest achievement. Every time they do the test they go into the room where everyone's name is on the board and they list their time where everyone can see. By doing it this way, it's as clear as day when they have achieved a peak or, conversely, realized a low point. We do the test about 15 times a season. What I like to do from time to time is switch things up and do the YO­YO Endurance Test that measures V02 max. We do it just for a little variety and also to get a gauge as to where our players are at with their V02 max. We might do this two or three times during the season. Training Tips The Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test is a very demanding training program. The biggest thing to get results is encouragement from the teammates and myself. We want our players to improve their fitness. Getting the players to pace themselves is important— we want them to make the most of their recovery time and not try not to finish quicker than what the beep indicates. We tell our ath­ letes to believe in themselves and to remember that they have good days and bad days. We let them know that sometimes they will be doing great and other days they won't do so great. Record keeping really helps in this area. We have kept records over the years on how many players on the team reach a certain level. It’s good to show them that the progression is up and down, not just straight up. Records from years past also allows us to challenge our guys. We can show them in years past that at level 16, the record is 75% of the team achieved that level and we challenge them to see if we can’t beat and get 80% of the guys at level 16. We kept track of records over the years in a database so we entice the players with such things as, “can you be the best group ever?” or “can you be the most fit team ever?” We always remind our player that we think we're the only school doing the Yo­ Yo Intermittent Recover Test. Like I said, they don't always love it while they're doing it but they sure love it when they realize they can run and run and run. Some coaches reading this might say that doing this type of high intensity fitness during the season could lead players to be a little overtrained or overplayed and that the test results might be an indication to back off on the workloads the players are doing. I've thought about checking this; however, I've never really seen a fall off in performance by doing this training program. I pay close attention to the demands the game puts on the kids and build in some days off. The Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test really fits in well with the schedule. I try to keep things on a pretty steady schedule. We are playing two to three games every eight days and because of that, we need solid days of rest in there quite often. I'm impressed with the test because soccer is a very demanding sport and the amount of running that takes place in the game often makes the kids very fit. The beauty of the program is for the subs—the ones that don't play as much. You often rely on them in the closing minutes of the game or when somebody gets an injury. On some teams those players often are not fit enough to play because they don't have enough playing time. Our kids coming in know they are fit and it really makes a difference for us. I've been using the Yo­Yo Intermittent Recover Test for roughly 7 years and I've never come to the point where I thought the kids were getting beat up and needed a break, which is a credit to the test in large part. I just think taking good care of your players; making sure they get medical help when necessary; making sure they get fluids in the warm­down after a game; and really staying on them about good nutrition all play a big role keeping them active and uninjured. We give our players literature and different articles about nutrition. Our kids are smart, they are good scholar athletes and they value the information for the most part. Nevertheless, I’m a realist also. I'm sure they're sneaking to Burger King here or there but for the most part they do well.