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Train Like a German Soccer Star - NYTimes.com

Phys Ed NYT NOW

Train Like a German Soccer Star

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
July 16, 2014 12:01 am
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.

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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, 1-0, 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.

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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.
Q.

After a session in the facility, then what?

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

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junk and keep the movements precise.

Q.

Just how fit is the German team?

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?

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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.

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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

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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 shoulder-width apart, march purposefully
from side to side.
Goal: 1 set of 8 steps on each side.
Inverted Hamstring Stretch

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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