Teaching Football Skills Anaerobic Fitness for Football Players Anaerobic Fitness for Football Players Football demands both aerobic and anaerobic capacity. During games, football players must be able to sprint hard, recover quickly and then sprint hard again. Anaerobic training starts once your athletes have developed basic aerobic fitness, because recovery capacity is developed by increasing aerobic fitness. In football, the demand for anaerobic speed is relatively short. The important point here is the ability of the player to recover quickly from multiple speed bursts. Sample Anaerobic Fitness Activities Fartlek Runs Fartleks, also known as speed play, is another effective tool for football training because it can closely resemble the type of running during the course of a game – varied pace. Fartleks are easy to integrate in a workout. Players can jog one side of the field, sprint the other side. You can increase intensity and variety by jogging two sides and running one side or running two sides and jogging one side, etc. You can mix the jog-sprint sides according to the fitness and ability level of your players. Shuttle Runs Shuttle runs are a staple in football training. Essentially, shuttle runs are repetition or interval runs that involve numerous changes of direction. You can change the following sample shuttle run to meet the needs of your players. Just remember to keep the basics in mind when developing the run―athlete ability and fitness level. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Runs 5 yards and back Runs 10 yards and back Runs 15 yards and back Runs 20 yards and back Runs 25 yards and back Repeat 3-4 times 46 Special Olympics Football Coaching Guide Created: February 2004