Fitness For Soccer: A Goalkeeper’s Workout Plan
Posted on 24. Sep, 2011 by mikev in Sports Fitness
The most uncelebrated, and blamed soccer player on a field is the goalkeeper, but little do people know that a fitness routine for a goalkeeper can be far more intense than a regular player.
A goalkeeper is the eleventh man on the field and is definitely responsible for a team’s loss, and rarely for a win. In charge of making sure that the ball doesn’t go inside the net, a goalkeeper needs to be flexible, agile, observant and have a timed reaction that can help him or her reach out for the ball.
A fitness routine for a goalkeeper includes all the workouts meant for a regular player and more. Goalkeepers need to learn how to catch the ball, jump high enough to reach all the ends of the largest possible goalpost and most importantly need plenty of practice time saving the ball to get the reaction times right.
A goalkeeper needs more flexibility than the rest of the players and definitely more upper body and arm strength than the other ten on the field as well. For a goalkeeper, a workout schedule would include lots of cardio, strength training and goalkeeping practice. Since goalkeepers can join the team on the other side of the field during times of crisis, they need to be in top shape for that as well.
A good goalkeeper can predict which side the ball will go even before it’s kicked and that can’t be determined by reaction, but by practice and understanding kicks of other players. Most goals happen when goal keepers predict the ball movement wrongly.
Professional training, exercise and mental conditioning are three things that make a regular goalkeeper world class and it doesn’t happen overnight. Getting goalkeeping right depends on years of practice and dedication to the sport, and discipline.
To become a good goalkeeper, make sure you are providing your legs a lot of exercise and flexibility for them to jump. You need your hamstrings, thigh muscles and calves working in unison to save the tough goal attempts. Practice a lot of jumping. In order to launch yourself higher and higher you need a lot of bone and muscle strength, and determination. Once you get the height up to a decent level, try jumping diagonally. Goalkeepers also need strong abdominal muscles to take the impact of the ball coming from down under.
Goalkeeper fitness will also include a proper diet plan with lots of fibers, milk and protein. Eggs, lean meat, and protein should form the core of a goalkeeper’s diet because without the right food, any exercise is futile and that is true for becoming a goalkeeper as well.
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