Many members of the soccer community joke that goalkeepers’ fitness is not important or that they are the least fit player on the team. This common soccer myth is mostly attributed to the type of fitness drills goalkeepers take part in with the rest of the team/fieldplayers, aerobic fitness. Aerobic fitness refers to endurance or the ability to sustain movement for prolonged periods of time. Oxygen is necessary to carry out the work by the person during the activity. We would hope a goalkeeper is not making too many back to back to back saves for fifteen minutes. Rather, goalkeepers should concentrate more on anaerobic fitness, short bursts of activity opposite of aerobic fitness in that oxygen is not necessarily needed. Listen to a goalkeeper’s breathing pattern as he/she is stopping shots and compare it to a field player’s breathing while he/she is making runs down the field – you’ll see that they are working just as hard.
So do goalkeepers need aerobic fitness – yes they do. The proper breakdown for a goalkeeper’s fitness should be 25% aerobic and 75% anaerobic. A goalkeeper’s most important moment could be after two overtimes during a penalty shootout; goalkeepers need that aerobic fitness to last and win the game for his/her team!
Stay tuned for anaerobic goalkeeper drills!
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July 23, 2010 at 2:13 pm (UTC 0 )
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Body Workout 101 says:
July 17, 2010 at 9:23 pm (UTC 0 )
Goalkeeper Fitness: Aerobic or Anaerobic Conditioning? | Shutout ……
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Making The Team, a handbook for footballers & coaches of all levels | ACAI Berry Best Products says:
July 23, 2010 at 11:02 am (UTC 0 )
[...] Goalkeeper Fitness: Aerobic or Anaerobic Conditioning? | Shutout … [...]