ARE YOU FIT ENOUGH TO PLAY FOOTBALL

How often do you find yourself playing a game of football and find yourself gasping for air after just a few minutes?  What about 60 minutes into the game when you try and track that runner and feel that your legs just too heavy to keep up?
You may even be in a position where you haven’t played a game yet but are curious to know if you’ll be able to do the game or even the season!
Whether you are defeated at not knowing if you are fit enough already or interested to know if you will be, we have a few things for you to consider to put your mind at ease.

WHAT’S NEEDED

The first thing that has come to your mind is probably endurance.

Football players at the elite level often cover 10km+, run at speeds over 30km/h, are able to run, tackle, shoot, jump and sprint for 3-8 seconds with anywhere from 20-90 seconds of jogging, shuffling or walking for 90 minutes and can play over 50 matches per season.

So clearly players don’t only need to have aerobic fitness. They also have to have speed, power, be able to improve quickly and be strong and flexible enough to persist a full season

Do you need to be ready to do this? Well, that depends what level you play at, what position you play and what you’re physically proficient of.

LEVEL

Are you playing professionally? Semi-pro? 5’s or 7’s?

The match demands of each level differ hugely. The higher the level the faster the running speeds, the more often they will be required to be completed and the higher quality your moves will have to be.

Don’t go stressing about being as fit as your mate who plays semi-pro if your primary goal is to be Casual league fit.

AGE IS NOT JUST A NUMBER

It’s just a number they say but the truth is as you get older the body naturally slows down a bit. Recovery becomes that little bit harder, warm-ups take longer and you can’t go as hard as often in training. The opposite can be true for the younger players!

So if you are a 35-year-old who has been playing for 25 years in a team with youthful 18 and 19   old’s, don’t be too embarrassed if you think these fellows are fitter than you.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

To know where you have to get to you need to know where you are.

A few fitness tests are helpful in know where you sit.

By all means, don’t be concerned if you aren’t hitting all of these standards if you are at a lower level you may find you are lower on some of these goals.

However, these are some standards we see players hit who are definitely fit enough to play football.