By Josh Staph
STACK Magazine
For years, countries the size of Rhode Island ran circles around our National Team, delighted by the opportunity to embarrass the All-Mighty United States of America for all the world to see.
We were playing their brand of football, and we sucked at it.
Now, we play soccer, and soccer has become an American Game.
All the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team needed was a reason, a will, and a little time. Being laughed off the world stage provided the reason. The will was always there, maybe just buried a little. And time has passed, the growing pains have stopped, and our game has come of age.
Young American phenoms now fill our massive stadiums. The faces on our posters and magazines no longer belong to men whose names we can't pronounce. When overseas, our national coaches are rushed by European soccer enthusiasts with questions about our players. Our National Team ranks as one of the top five in the world.
The team is making its final preparations before heading to Germany for the 2006 World Cup. Soon they will test their game against the rest of the world. It's too early to tell whether the nations that used to control the soccer field fear us, or even respect us. But we do know they hear us coming.
Leading the charge for the U.S. National Team is internationally recognized soccer star Landon Donovan. The team's forward has his mind set on big goals for this summer's tournament. "We all know that American fans don't care about what happened four years ago," he says. "They care about the present and want us to do well again. If we want our sport to keep growing, we have no choice but to keep succeeding at the international level. That's what we're going out to do."
Since the late 90s, the American Game has become faster and more athletic. These improvements fuel Donovan's confidence. "There were some great players back then, but they had more time to make plays in a game. Everything happens so much faster now," he says. "Our players get to their places faster, they think faster, and they move faster. This makes us more competitive on the world stage, because that is how the game is played around the world."
Pierre Barrieu, the National Team's fitness coach, has prepared the team to compete at an unprecedented level, after driving them to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. Donovan says, "Pierre came in about six months before the last World Cup and helped us tremendously in Japan and Korea. I was in the absolute peak shape of my entire career. I had never been fitter, stronger or felt better. I always assumed I was in pretty good shape, but I wasn't near the level to which Pierre brought us."
Barrieu's program works to build healthy, strong and blazing-fast athletes specifically for the pitch. Proof of the plan's effectiveness: Donovan netted two goals in the '02 Cup and earned a spot on the tournament's Honorable Mention Team. "Landon improved every aspect of his body-it was truly amazing," Barrieu says. "He always had the speed, but the strength training allowed him to play at a higher level and stay healthy."
Donovan also experienced a mental boost from Barrieu's training. "Landon's improved strength has increased his confidence in his physical abilities," Barrieu says. "He refuses to back down from any challenge."
One challenge from which Donovan refuses to back down is convincing people to believe in the new American Game and National Team. If you're one of the doubters, he's got some choice words for you: "We are miles ahead of where we used to be, and I know soccer will completely catch on here. You can either deal with it, enjoy it and educate yourself about the game, or you can be ignorant and left behind."
If you want to keep up with the new Game, you have no choice but to devote yourself to the training that sparked the revolution.
ON-FIELD TRAINING
Speed warm-up
Barrieu's speed warm-up goes well beyond casually stretching out and loosening up the team. It's all about getting them fast. "I have found that one of the best ways to improve speed is to use speed technique exercises as a warm-up," Barrieu says. "Improving speed is not complicated, because we know how to train an athlete to be a good runner. Correctly performing these speed- and track-inspired movements daily will make the players faster. It's that simple." Donovan understands and makes the most of the speed warm-up. "We don't relaxingly go through this routine to stretch out," he says. "These exercises work speed by building muscle memory in your fast twitch muscle fibers to react quickly." Focusing on the following coaching points will help you gain the fast twitch effect.
Pierre's Coaching Points
1) Keep your toes pulled up toward your shins to maintain tension in your calves
2) Keep ground contact time as short as possible-be quick off the ground
3) Stay on the balls of your feet; never allow your heels to touch the ground
4) Work to get full extension in the hips
Skip with Arm Swing
Skip forward while swinging arms forward and backward
Zigzag Shuffle
Shuffle right at 45-degree angle for three strides
Plant right foot, pivot, then shuffle left at 45-degree angle for three strides
Repeat pattern in continuous fashion
Ham Kicks
Rapidly kick heels to upper hamstrings while running
Cover as little ground as possible with each step
A-Skip
Skip by driving right knee up as you push off with left leg
Drive right foot down as you raise left knee
Continue in skipping fashion
B-Skip
Skip by driving right knee up as you push off with left leg
With knee still elevated, extend right leg and accelerate it down by contracting hamstring
Repeat with left leg
Continue in skipping fashion
Knees to Shoulders
Stand with hands at shoulder level
Alternate driving left and right knees up to hands
Skip with Clap
Perform A-Skips while clapping hands under raised knee each skip
Groucho Walk
Arch back, push butt back, and bend forward at hips until chest is almost parallel to ground
Take long step with right leg by reaching out with heel; make sure to keep right leg straight
When heel reaches ground, extend foot so that ball of foot touches ground
Without allowing shoulders to rise or body position to change, pull yourself forward with right leg
Repeat with left leg and continue in walking fashion
Low-level Plyos
After the speed warm-up, the National Team goes through three to four minutes of plyometric exercises. "The plyos teach the guys to react off the ground quickly and prepare them for practice by getting their central nervous systems to fire fast," Barrieu says. "We keep the plyos at a low level, so we don't create any soreness at the beginning of practice."
Donovan says, "These drills help us work on exploding, which is necessary for the game; that's how it's played. You need to work on explosion regularly so it comes more naturally in a game."
Barrieu's speed warm-up coaching points apply to these drills as well.
Bounds
In continuous fashion, explosively bound from one leg to other
Cover as much ground as possible and achieve maximum hang time with each bound
Tuck Jumps
Lower down into quarter-squat and explode vertically for maximum height
Pull knees into chest while in the air
Absorb landing with soft knees, then immediately explode into next jump
Hurdle Fast Leg
Begin facing row of six mini-hurdles placed one yard apart
Line up right leg with middle of first hurdle and place left leg outside of it
Skip over each hurdle with right leg, making sure to drive right foot into ground between hurdles
Keep left leg straight and use as support during each skip
Repeat drill with left leg
Hurdle Fast Leg Lateral
Stand to right of row of six mini-hurdles placed one yard apart
Position feet so right foot is lined up with middle of first hurdle and left foot is back 12-18 inches
Skip laterally left over each hurdle with right foot, driving it into ground between hurdles
Keep left leg straight and use as support during each skip
Repeat drill with left leg
Agility training
Once the players are warmed up and their central nervous systems are awake and ready to fire, Barrieu ups the intensity with change-of-direction work. "Forcing the guys to change direction makes this training sport-specific and improves their reaction," Barrieu says. "And I always make sure the guys initiate every movement from the hips, not the knees."
According to Barrieu, kyphosis (rounded shoulders and forward lean) is a common condition for many soccer players. "This posture makes it difficult to fully extend the hips, because the shoulders are in front and the back is pushed back," he says. "So I try to get the guys in the habit of moving from the hips, getting full extension and being straight through the back."
Hurdle Lateral Shuffle with Sprint (see diagram)
Stand left of first row of mini-hurdles
Without crossing feet, shuffle laterally right over each hurdle, leading with right leg so each foot touches once between hurdles
When right leg steps over last hurdle, plant with right foot and explode into short sprint straight ahead to begin shuffling laterally left at next row
Repeat through entire pattern of hurdles
Hurdle Lateral Shuffle with Diagonal Sprint (see diagram)
Stand left of first row of mini-hurdles
Without crossing feet, shuffle laterally right over each hurdle, leading with right leg so each foot touches once between hurdles
When right leg steps over last hurdle, plant with right foot and explode into diagonal sprint to opposite end of next row
Begin shuffling laterally right at next row
Repeat through entire pattern of hurdles
Conditioning
"We run hard in practice so we can run past people in games," Barrieu says.
"That's what we're known for as a team-great runners. Improving running ability and capacity is quite easy to achieve, but it's physically and mentally demanding."
Barrieu's conditioning plan is based on decreasing the duration of runs while increasing the intensity over a period of time to improve the players' lactic threshold-the point at which lactic acid accumulates in the muscles and impairs movement. A higher threshold allows a player to run harder and longer.
Donovan says, "When Pierre first gets us back in camp, his big thing is increasing our lung capacity and getting us ready to play. He uses a lot of distance running and game-like recovery runs to get our hearts and lungs to handle more."
"We start with longer duration and lower intensity, because the guys are coming back from a long season," Barrieu says. "Starting their training with sprints would be counterproductive and increase the risk of injury. The running gets more intense and aggressive toward the end of our progression."
However, the team's early, less-intense work never includes jogging, which Barrieu likens to walking. They're always moving at a nice clip.
Barrieu highlights the effectiveness of his progression by means of a body-fat test. Simply put, the U.S. players are fit, with an average body-fat percentage of 6.9.
Conditioning Progression: Aerobic Phase
Duration
40-45 minutes
Intensity
75%
Breakdown
2x20 minutes or 3x15 minutes
Rest Between Sets
3 minutes
When the players can handle this tempo, Barrieu increases the intensity about two percent each workout throughout the phase.
Conditioning Progression: Intense Phase
Duration
5-7 minutes
Intensity
85%
Sets
4-5
Reps
5x15 seconds
Rest Between Reps
25 seconds
Rest Between Sets
3 minutes
PHOTO: Forward Landon Donovan is a native of Redlands, Calif., and is one of the United States' brightest young stars.
Originally published in STACK Magazine and on STACKMAG.com, May, 2006.