The Speed Blueprint

Two major clubs without managers

This week has brought some news that will leave Liverpool and Barcelona leaderless.

Jurgen Klopp and Xavi have both announced that they will be calling it quits with their respective clubs after the season is done.

Klopp only had good words when it came to Liverpool, and it was more of a personal decision to take a step back from football.

Xavi, on the other hand, isn’t feeling the same way.

Just a year after winning La Liga, he feels worn out, and the pressure is unbearable.

Even Pep had warned him of it before he stepped up.

The best of luck in the future to both of these legends.

Schalke’s potential shutdown

After being a mainstay in the Bundesliga and having won the 4th most Bundesliga championships, Schalke find themselves in a bit of a literal life and death situation.

They sit 4th from the bottom in Germany’s second league currently.

The kicker?

They’re tied with the two teams lower than them.

The second kicker?

If they were to be relegated, the club would likely have to shut down.

The club has racked up quite a bit of debt, about $150 million, and has been told they would be denied a competitive license in the third division because of it.

That means they’d have to start again in a semi-pro league to work their way back up.

However, no amateur club is worth close to that much money and would most likely be disbanded.

So you’re looking for speed, ey?

Without a doubt, the number one question we get here at Footytutor is “how do I get faster?”

That’s probably not a shock.

Players like Mbappe are praised for having a high max speed.

It pays to be fast with how the game is played today.

In some systems, it’s even a necessity.

While you should spend all your time trying to build your max speed, it’s an undeniable pillar of the modern football player.

So let’s talk about how we get faster.

Before we get into it, there are a few things we need to get straight.

Acceleration vs. Speed

Speed is the absolute maximum pace that your body can reach.

Acceleration is how quickly you can shift into top gear.

While they go hand in hand, they need to be trained separately and fine-tuned separately.

Having a higher top speed usually means that you’ll be able to move past others in a breeze.

But if Alphonso Davies gets beat on the first step (acceleration), it gives the other player the advantage, even if Davies is much faster.

All this to say that speed is important, but it’s not the only factor.

Building strength vs. Sprinting

Below, we’re going to break the work into two sections.

Exercises to build the necessary strength and workouts that apply that strength.

These are two very different things.

If you were to spend a ton of time in the gym but skip out on actual sprinting, chances are you’re going to see very minimal improvements.

Why?

That muscle doesn’t know how to apply its newfound power to running yet.

If you only have the time to spend on one thing, let it be actually sprinting.

Your body will improve the more you do something correctly and efficiently.

But to see the best results, building strength is necessary.

How to get faster

In the gym

As we mentioned earlier, doing work in the gym is going to be a key component of increasing your pace.

As you progress, your body adapts and allows you to produce and handle more force.

This translates to being able to move with more power and being less prone to injury.

There are three muscle groups that are critical when it comes to sprinting.

Quads, hip flexors, and hamstrings/glutes.

Below, we’ve given an exercise to hit each one.

Ideally, these exercises are done explosively.

If you can move weight fast, you can move without weight even faster.

1. Squat jumps

These can be done with dumbbells or a trap bar, depending on your experience and strength.

2. Banded knee drives

3. Romanian deadlifts

These are the most technical of the bunch, so we’ve provided a bit more of an in-depth video.

On the pitch

1. Fartlek (speed play) runs

So this might look like a bit of a funny word (and it is).

But fartleks are one of the most potent ways to increase your fitness.

It can extend how long you hold your top speed while also increasing your recovery.

This doesn’t have to be on the pitch either, but it’s nice to have the visual cues.

2. Sprint work

This one speaks for itself.

You will not get better at sprinting if you don’t sprint.

This means training with maximum effort.

3 sets of 10 meters and 3 sets of 20 meters with 2 minutes of rest in between will provide great results if you put in max intention.

For when you’re ready to improve

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Until next time,

Footytutor