Conditioning is as Simple as Walking, Jogging, Running, & Sprinting

*This is a guest blog by TeamBuildr contributor Ryan Williams*

Football season is just about to get into full swing and that means teams across America are ramping up their final preparations with practices and conditioning.

When it comes to conditioning, staples for all teams have long been 300 yard shuttles, 110 yard sprints, gassers, and long distance running.  While all of these means of conditioning can have their place, I argue they are not the best for achieving "game shape."

If you've watched or played football, you've undoubtedly seen the variance in the speed that the players move at throughout the game. In a nutshell, the players will:

1. Walk - back to the huddle, off and onto the field, and basically during the entire time between plays.

2. Jog (30-50% of maximal speed) - back to the huddle after a long distance play, off and onto the field, and sometimes during the time between plays.

3. Run (60-75% of maximal speed) - sometimes during the actual play, off and onto the field, and occasionally during the time between plays.

4. Sprint (>90% of maximal speed)- this is usually what the players are doing from the snap of the ball, to when the whistle blows signaling the end of a play.

To best prepare football players, one of the most effective and simplest means of conditioning is combining periods of walking, jogging, running, and sprinting.

A simple set up would look something like this:

• Start by sprinting for 3-8 seconds; this simulates a "play"
• The "rest period" between "plays" should be 20-40 seconds
• This is made up by combining periods of walking, jogging and running, with walking being the majority
• The total amount of plays in a series should be from 5-10
• After a series, give 3-5 minutes of rest, just like the time period between switching sides of the ball
• In total, complete 3-5 series to simulate a half

Tailor the total amount of series, the rest periods, amount of plays per series, rest period duration, rest period type, and play duration to as closely simulate your team's offensive or defensive scheme, tactics and technique.

Hopefully these football speed exercises will serve your team well and prepare them for their best season possible!

-Ryan Williams

www.willpreparefitness.com