Football
A football player's ability and talent can never be compensated for by fitness. However, a very skillful player who cannot last the whole match due to lack of stamina, or cannot get to the ball due to lack of speed, is not as useful to the team as the player who has slightly less skill, but more speed and stamina.
Thus footballers need to achieve both types of fitness, and players in different positions (midfield, defense etc.) will need different levels of both:
Aerobic
- Aerobic training is an activity that increases your heart rate but you do not reach a stage where you get out of breath or overly tired. Activities like jogging, cycling, and swimming are all aerobic activities and training in a controlled manner will increase your ability to run further and faster before getting tired.
Anaerobic
- The most obvious example of anaerobic training is sprinting; where you reach maximum intensity but for a short period of time. This kind of training allows your body to recover quicker from short bursts of intense activity by removing lactic acid and waste products from muscles.
Football Injuries
Because of the intense nature of a game, players are approximately 11 times more likely to sustain an injury during a match then during training. So often injuries can be traumatic in nature and involve another player.
None the less there is a pattern to the injuries that appear in such sports:
Muscle Sprain Strain/ Tear
See a the link on Acute Injuries for details on muscle sprain, strain and tear
- Adductors (Groin Strain) account for the most strains, approximately 53% of them.
- Hamstring, is the next with 42% of the injuries
- Calf
- Quadriceps are the most common after hamstring and groin.
Ankle Sprains
Also very common among footballers, here the ligaments surrounding the ankle joint become stretched or torn. Often players are predisposed to ankle injuries and if so should examine ankle exercises outlined to strengthen the joint and prevent injury.
Tendonitis or a ruptured tendon
Tendonitis is simply inflammation of the tendon that arises from continuous use of the joint, weakened ligaments and some pathological predispositions. Constant use of the inflamed tendon can lead to a tendon rupture or tear. Strengthening the joint and rest can help avoid tendonitis.
Knee Injuries
Ligament injuries to the knee are very common in sports that require stopping and starting or quickly changing directions like football. Ligaments are fibrous bands that attach bone to bone, thus any damage done to them can seriously compromise the knee and the legs stability, sometimes even hindering walking.
Knee Cartilage or Meniscus is the bone like structure which lies in between the knee joint keeping it cushioned and fluid. Tears in the meniscus are often the result of twisting, pivoting, decelerating or a sudden impact. Again all common activities associated with the game of football.
Avoiding Injury
- Warm up - approximately 10 minute light exercise and specific stretches/exercises preparing the body for the movements that are about to occur help prevent injury during a game.
- Nutrition, a good pre-match meal, consuming carbohydrates at half time and energy sports drinks help maintain energy levels.
- Static Stretching to increase flexibility
- Hamstring
- Quadriceps
- Adductors (Groin)
- Hip Flexor
- Lower Back
- Shoulders
- Neck
- Calf
- Dynamic Stretching, which takes the body through the types of movement done during the activity. In football this involves, leg swings in all directions, trunk twists, and hip twists.
- Rest, it is important to rest after a game and during training sessions as overused muscles are more susceptible to injury. Ignoring strains, tiredness and stiffness can lead to overtraining and injuries
- Plyometric exercises specific to Football involve explosive exercises to help build power strength and speed. For example lateral, forward/back, vertical hops, shuttle runs, scissor exercise and forward and back runs.