Health & Exercise Log: College Athlete Shape or Bust

[quickfetus]

What does it mean to not go to failure?!

[quickfetus]

Oh, and as far as being pretty weak for an athlete: You're right! My mom has muscular dystrophy (a hereditary condition which causes gradual atrophy of the muscles). I don't *have* in anything resembling its full effect, but it has given me very weak upper body muscles. I was never able to throw a baseball/football far, etc.

FWIW, I actually have pretty strong legs, which has always been my trump card as an athlete. (Quick acceleration on the pitch, beating forwards to loose balls, etc).

Could someone with stronger soccer background than myself (i.e, someone who played/coached college soccer) comment on the overall importance (or lack thereof) of upper body strength to point me in the right direction?

[theblackkeys]

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What does it mean to not go to failure?!

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_to_failure

[theblackkeys]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and as far as being pretty weak for an athlete: You're right! My mom has muscular dystrophy (a hereditary condition which causes gradual atrophy of the muscles). I don't *have* in anything resembling its full effect, but it has given me very weak upper body muscles. I was never able to throw a baseball/football far, etc.

FWIW, I actually have pretty strong legs, which has always been my trump card as an athlete. (Quick acceleration on the pitch, beating forwards to loose balls, etc).

Could someone with stronger soccer background than myself (i.e, someone who played/coached college soccer) comment on the overall importance (or lack thereof) of upper body strength to point me in the right direction?

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I have broad shoulders, but was decently strong for a soccer play in HS (plus I played hockey so I was a little rougher than most of those pansies). I think it did help me a little as far as battling for balls shoulder to shoulder. I wasn't suggesting an exclusively upper body routine. The focus of Rippetoe's Starting Strength is squats, not curls or bench press.

So, I would suggest trying it out. I wish I had known about it in high school.

[soccerboy9]

i played a year of college soccer before transferring to my present school. if you are like me at 5 ft 3 and 120 lbs strength played a big part. i started all or most of the games i played in except a few where i was hurt (pretty messed up groin)

the college soccer game especially at a high level is all about athleticism, most schools hardly play what i would call soccer.

as a center back you are going to want to be stronger and faster than the forwards you are going to have to mark and play against. if you lack the strength and speed you will have to make up for it with a high soccer IQ, that is how i survived...

[quickfetus]

Yeah, from my knowledge of college soccer in the United States (playing against a bunch of varsity players, for starters) the emphasis is on speed, rapid ball movement, and aggression in 50/50 battles.

[londomollari]

Playing centre back is all about reading the game which is why it's called the armchair position. You'll need speed if the holding midfielder or other centre back sucks though, and strong neck muscles for clearing headers. You need to be playing on grass if you're going to learn to tackle, I've seen people [censored] there knees up using the wrong technique to slide tackle on astroturf.

[mattnxtc]

Haha yall must be players from the north? I played most of my life in the south with a heavy hispanic influence on my game. The focus was on team play, finesse, and skill level.

I went up north on a scholarship and absolutely hated it. I felt like they destroyed the purity that can come when soccer is played right. We actually had set plays to play kickball from defense to the forwards.

Ironically when we played a hispanic dominate team, the players on my team were in awe and felt they couldnt hang with a team who passed and moved with finesse.