Physical Improvement

Elite soccer players spend a substantial amount of time trying to improve physical capacities, including aerobic endurance and strength and the strength derivatives of speed and power.

Research has revealed that a soccer-specific training routine with the ball might be as effective as plain running. Strength training to produce neural adaptations has been effective in changing not only strength in terms of "one-repetition maximum", but also sprinting velocity and jumping height, in elite soccer players without any change in body mass.