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Train Like a German Soccer Star
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
JULY 16, 2014 12:01 AMJuly 16, 2014 12:01 am 39 Comments
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Mark Verstegen, pictured in red, says it's important to ease into exercise with an
orchestrated warm-up.Credit DFB
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PHYS ED
Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.
In the stirring World Cup final on Sunday between the national mens soccer teams from
Germany and Argentina, an American played a role on the field in Rio de Janeiro
despite the United States teams having been eliminated. Sitting and occasionally pacing
tensely along the German sideline was Mark Verstegen, the teams trainer.
Mr. Verstegen, the founder and president of EXOS, a Phoenix-based company that
trains professional and recreational athletes and corporate executives, was appointed in
2004 by Jurgen Klinsmann, then the coach of the German team and now the United
States coach. He was brought in to improve the players fitness, agility, nutrition and
resilience. At the time, the Germans were at a low ebb by their high standards, having
not won a World Cup since 1990 or a European championship since 1996. Mr. Verstegen
said his appointment was met with widespread incredulity among German fans, news
media and even some players.
They wondered what Americans could possibly teach the German squad, he said.
Then the Germans advanced to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup, performing better
than expected, and on Sunday, the team won this years edition, defeating Argentina, 10, in extra time after having routed the host Brazilian squad, 7-1, a few days earlier.
There arent many skeptics about Mr. Verstegens training methods now.
To learn more about how he trained the German team and how the rest of us might
adapt some of their routines at home, ,I spoke and emailed with Mr. Verstegen in the
days leading to and just after Germanys title victory. (His book, Every Day is Game
Day, was published in January.) What follows are excerpts from our conversations.
Q.
What were the logistics of training the German team at the World Cup, given that the
team was traveling from city to city?
A.
We have a pretty amazing mobile training camp. Its a 4,000- or 5,000-square foot
structure that we erect adjacent to the pitch. It holds the latest cardiovascular machines,
weights, fitness and recovery gear, treatment tables and so on.
Q.
What would a typical World Cup training session in that facility look like?
A.
It would depend on how close we were to the next game, but wed often divide the
structure into four stations, a mini-circuit, with a different exercise at each station. We
might have the players do things like a T-Hip rotation exercise at one station and a
miniband lateral walk at another. Thats where you strap a band across the thighs or
ankles and walk sideways. We were ridiculed in 2004 when we had players exercise that
way. But hip stability is essential for soccer performance and injury mitigation. People
dont laugh about it now.
After a session in the facility, then what?
Q.
A.
The team goes onto the field and does drills, lots of drills, working on agility and
acceleration and building power. We might have them do lateral and cross sprints, drop
squats, running with the parachute or the Bullet belt [a harness worn by the player and
attached to a long rope held by a coach]. After that, thered be technical and tactical
work with the ball.
Q.
How different are these sessions from the training that the German team did before you
arrived?
A.
There was more emphasis then on the technical and tactical elements. The physical
training was very general, with lots of long runs. Now the players still spend lots of time
working on technique and tactics, but their physical training is more focused and
individualized. We constantly assess players movement patterns, for instance, watching
as they perform every exercise. Precision is very important. If theyre slightly off in their
movements on any particular day, we correct things right away. Its like running an
antivirus program on a computer. You want to get rid of the junk and keep the
movements precise.
Just how fit is the German team?
Q.
A.
I can give you precise numbers on that. The German players covered 113.8 kilometers,
or about 71 miles, on average as a team per game in the group phase. Only the
Americans ran more as a team. In the quarterfinal round against France, German
players ran 7.5 kilometers, or about 4.6 miles, more as a team than did the French side.
That translates to about three-quarters of a player more on the pitch.
Q.
How can you tell how much players are running?
A.
All of the players wear monitors in their cleats that track their mileage, movements,
where they are on the field, when they stop and start, and all sorts of additional data. We
track every players every heartbeat and keep and compare data from practice to practice
and game to game. We repeat certain drills, and if someone is performing the same drill
with a lower heart rate or faster speed, we know hes improving. If hes slower or his
heart rate stays elevated, we monitor him to make sure thats hes not becoming overly
fatigued or ill, then get him to push himself a bit more.
Q.
Any suggestions on which aspects of the German teams training program those of us at
home might usefully incorporate into our exercise routines, even if we arent soccer
players?
A.
The broad elements of the training program apply to anyone. Concentrate on your
mind-set, nutrition, movement patterns and recovery. On a practical level, get plenty of
sleep, which is extremely important and often overlooked. Kick the electronics out of the
bedroom. At the other end of the day, when you first wake up, do a few push-ups or yoga
poses, anything that gets your body and mind primed for activity. Youll be more
receptive to activity throughout the day. Then try to do whatever exercise you do a bit
better every day. You dont have to be doing split squats with kettle bells, but do
something that pushes you a bit. The point is that the body and the brain respond
positively to having demands put on them. Thats really the key to fitness.
Q.
Are you happy with the outcome of that last World Cup game?
A.
Utter elation. We had put in 10 focused years of attention to details. There are no givens
in sports, but once that whistle blew, it was utter joy.
Roll Your Glutes Like Bastian Schweinsteiger
To lessen the chance of injury and improve performance, we all should ease into exercise
with an orchestrated warm-up, Mr. Verstegen said. These eight exercises approximate a
typical warm-up for the German national soccer team, so for many of us, they might be
a workout in itself at first, he said. But persevere, and the moves will become easier, he
said, and your subsequent workouts will be more productive. These exercises require a
foam roller and resistance band, which are available at many gyms or can be purchased
at sporting goods stores. They are best performed in the order listed.
Foam Roll Glutes
Benefits: Rolls away pain and tightness in your power muscles.
How: Settle your hip sideways on a foam roller. Roll back and forth, focusing on the
gluteus muscles in the buttocks.
Goal: Roll each side, pausing for 30 seconds on tight spots.
Foam Roll Quadriceps
Benefits: Release quadriceps tightness and reduce your risk for injury.
How: Make like a plank, facing the floor, elbows on the ground, with one leg straight
and the other bent to the side, and the roller beneath the upper thigh of the outstretched
leg. Roll back and forth.
Goal: Roll each side, pausing for 30 seconds on tight spots.
Mini Band Lateral Bent Leg Walk
Benefits: Activates your glute muscles and primes your hips for activity.
How: Encircle your upper thighs with a resistance band. Keeping your legs shoulderwidth apart, march purposefully from side to side.
Goal: 1 set of 8 steps on each side.
Inverted Hamstring Stretch
Benefits: Improves balance and reduces your risk of pulling a hamstring.
How: Like a bobbing bird toy, balance on one leg, arms outstretched and lean forward
until you are parallel with the ground. Return to the upright position as gracefully as
possible.
Goal: 1 set of 4 reps on each side
Lateral Lunge to Drop Lunge
Benefits: Stretches the hip and thigh muscles that tighten from cutting and planting.
How: Standing upright, stretch one leg to the side while keeping the other straight;
drop into a side lunge; then straighten and swing the outstretched leg back until it is
crossed behind you; straighten your pelvis; lower your entire body. But, really, watch
her.
Goal: 1 set of 4 reps on each side.
Reverse Lunge, Elbow to Instep With Rotation
Benefits: Stretches your groin, hip flexors, gluteus muscles, and hamstrings.
How: Watch this. Several times.
Goal: 1 set of 4 reps on each side.
Pillar Skip
Benefits: Improves dynamic hip flexibility for greater speed on the field.
How: Skip, keeping your back straight, chin up, knees high and arms swinging.
Goal: 2 sets of 10 yards.
3 Hurdle Drill to Sprint
Benefits: Improves agility and acceleration to win the ball.
How: Set up three low obstacles, spaced a foot or so apart (small hurdles, if available;
or perhaps hardback books, spine up). Skip sideways rapidly and nimbly over each
obstacle; skip back; sprint to the far wall.
Goal: 2 sets of 3.
