The fall soccer season will be starting up soon, and the soccer-enamored youth of the world have undoubtedly been glued to the screen watching the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team making waves. During the 2015 World Cup, the U.S. team has been described as “unstoppable”. They’ve plowed through the Japanese team during a championship game and slammed through the Costa Rican team during their victory tour. The women are powerhouses of technique, fitness, and strength, and it’s apparent to everyone that their wellness routine is one that everyone should be keeping an eye on.
The fitness and performance coach who’s behind it all is Dawn Scott. She has ten years of experience working with the professional men and women’s soccer teams in her native England, and has been working with the US Women’s National Team for six years. Dawn knows her stuff, and has some very wise words that will be of great help to the youth getting ready to train for the fall soccer season:
- Training between male and female soccer players will be different. The physiological truth is that women’s bodies are not going to be as muscular as a male’s, but the basic routines for both are the same (just shorten the lifting sessions a bit for the women). Women and men both need to work towards increasing endurance and strength, and there’s no doubt that woman can endure and be incredibly strong.
- Female soccer players should be especially conscious of their knees. Be sure to warm up and strengthen leg muscles around knees
- Make sure you focus on recovery. Constant training and strengthening will be moot if time isn’t dedicated to recovering. Starting the next session exhausted is dangerous and unbeneficial.
Here’s How To Recover:
- Cool Down – Jog gently to avoid blood pooling, stretch lightly, fill bathtubs with cold water and ice and sit for 10 minutes
- Use Foam Rollers – Make sure not to overdo it, but use them to find areas that are tight and/or sore
- Sleep – Create a healthy sleep environment by unplugging from phones, laptops, and tv.
To read the full interview with Dawn Scott, click here.
