Eric Edmonds- Week 1 Reflection

During week one I was working on putting my routine into motion and figuring out how to tackle each day one day at a time. Every morning I’d wake up for the first three days I was working on how the timing was going to work and how to plan my workouts in a way that I was getting the most out of every session. I usually start with an hour and a half and sometimes two hours in the gym. I am lifting for usually an hour to an hour and a half and stretching from 15-30 minutes depending on how my body is feeling. I am focusing on what is tight and sore which is usually my hamstrings, calves and abductors. All around I am focusing on having a strong start to the day and getting ready to hit the field after lunch. I have been going to the field for around an hour and a half in the afternoon from 2:00-3:30. Then I finish off the day with some plyometrics and mobility/recovery so my body is ready to go again the next day. I do conditioning 3 days a week. Usually in the morning or after my ball work on the field. Cardio is obviously one of the most important areas in soccer. 

My lifting routine is based around improving strength, stability, and quickness. My upper workout is listed in my Day 2 and Day 5 blogs. The upper body routine is from a professional player that plays on Crystal Palace’s second team. It works on all the major upper body workouts to improve strength and holding players off the ball. My lower body workout is listed in days 1 and 4 on my blog. I got it from another youtube video that takes you through a workout made by a strength coach who works and a pro club. The routine is based around strength and explosiveness which are two aspects of my game that can always improve. My soccer work consists of a lot of ball mastery exercises.The exercises come from videos from trusted people or drills I have done in the past that have been beneficial. I go through about 15 minutes of warming up without the ball to lower the risk of injury and get the blood pumping. Then go into the drills, some consist of work on and off the ball. I try to make the first workouts more tiring and endurance based then my last one’s technique based to work on maintaining good technique with tired legs. I do a cooldown and stretch and then I head to the turf strip. I often perform some injury prevention movements and then a long stretch. I have been following a 30 minute yoga/mobility routine for soccer players and it has been making me feel refreshed to get after it the next day. 

Overall, I feel much lighter on my feet when I am running long distance, and explosive when doing shorter sprints. I haven’t really trained like this before. I have always lifted and played soccer but my listing routine was more bodybuilder based and I am finding these workouts to really make a difference in key areas of my game. Even after just two cycles of the routine. I am excited to continue with my project next week and discover more about exercise science.