KICK

AMERICAS
The U.S. may not have the best team at this summers World Cup, but they just might be the fittest By Shawn Donnelly
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TEAM
Photos By Michael Darter

ASS

Training
Ready for Some Football In an average 90-minute game, U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan runs more than 6 miles, periodically leaps 2 feet in the air for headballs, explodes into numerous 1040-yard sprints and changes speed or direction every five seconds as he fights for the ball. In a game of fitness freaks, Donovan may be the fittest of them all, and he looks forward to proving it on the sports biggest stage this June.

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This month in Germany, theres some-

thing happening called the FIFA World Cup, a soccer tournament between 32 countries that takes place just once every four years. Three million people will cram into 12 colossal stadiums to witness the spectacle in person. Thirty billion viewers will tune in for the games on TV, including 1 billion to watch the final on July 9. And entire cities south, east and west of here will shut down for a month to live and die with their national teams every touch of the ball. Its kind of a big deal.
And all the guys competing but especially the ones wearing red, white and blue are nothing if not freakishly fit. How do we know? For starters, they say things like this: I find that interval training is more conducive to a gamelike condition than going out for a 12or 13-mile runbut I do that, too. For another thing, take a moment to consider the ground these guys cover.
IMAGINE A BASKETBALL game in which both teams are picking up full-court. Now imagine that court is a grass grid the size of a football field, only a little wider.

>> Average miles

logged per game by a soccer player. At left: Fitness Coach Barrieu

And although weve expanded the field exponentially, lets only double the number of players from five to 10 per side, plus a goalkeeper, the only one allowed to use his hands to keep the ball out of a 24x8-foot goal. Now imagine instead of running up and down this field for 40 or even 48 minutes, as in basketball, these players do it for 90 minutes, plus a few extra ticks at the end of each half. Oh, and if you get really winded, youre out of luck, because there are no timeouts. And hardly any substitutions, because just like in baseball, once youre subbed out, you cant return. What youre imagining, depending on your outlook, is either hell on earth or what the rest of the world calls football. To Americans its soccer, and its one of the most physically demanding team sports known to man. Recent studies using global positioning systems showed that the average player in

a high-level soccer match runs about 6 miles, with midfielders traveling much farther. And thats only half the challenge: Players must leap 2 feet in the air to win headballs; they must explode forward in dozens of 1040yard bursts; they must lunge, stretch, shield, grab, push, pull, slideand, oh yeah, kick. In other words, constant, ever-changing movement. A soccer player changes speed or direction every five seconds. Quads burn, hamstrings strain, hip flexors ache. Like we said, freakishly fit. Which is why its all the more impressive that, of all the soccer teams in all the world, the one from America just might run longer and harder than anybody. I feel like in every game we play, were the fitter team,says U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan. This month in Germany, theyll try to outrun the world. WHEN YOURE TALKING about the fitness

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Landon Donovan
position: Midfielder Number: 10 Birthdate: March 4, 1982 hometown: Redlands, California Residence: Manhattan Beach, California Specs: 5'8", 158 pounds MLS team: Los Angeles Galaxy

PHOTOGRA pHER S NAME

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level of the U.S. mens soccer team, you have to talk about Froggy. Thats the nickname for Pierre Barrieu, the U.S. teams French-accented fitness coach. Raised in Paris, Barrieu was a fitness adviser for three European soccer clubs before furthering his studies at the University of Virginia. Although assigned to work with the soccer team at UVa, Barrieu began helping out with the more American games like basketball and football, taking what he learned from these sports and applying them back to soccer, a sport not traditionally synonymous with weight training. I looked around and kind of picked what I thought was beneficial from each sport, and I came up with one philosophy, says Barrieu. We do a lot of pushpressing, a lot of standing, multijoint movements. Its always dumbbells, never machines. These guys have to keep their balance on the field, so I think it should be the same in the weight room. Not only did Barrieus philosophy work, but it worked at UVa, the place where U.S. head coach Bruce Arena had built a soccer dynasty, winning five national championships. In 2002, Arena asked Barrieu to prep the U.S. team for that summers World Cup in South Korea/Japan. After the Americans exceeded nearly everyones expecta-

Training ground At the U.S. practice site in Carson, California, Frankie Hejduk (top left) stretches while Eddie Johnson (above)

If you get winded, youre out of luck, because there are no timeouts and few substitutions
tions in Asia by beating Portugal and Mexico and reaching the quarterfinals, Barrieu was kept around for good. To prepare for this years World Cup, Barrieu has been working with the team since January. At a typical training session, its not unusual to see the U.S. players resembling the Rockettes as they perform dozens of high leg kicks without the ball. Our guys have a lot of groin injuries, says Barrieau. The reason you have groin injuries is a lack of flexibility. So I have these guys doing leg swings on a daily basis. Leg swings are the easy part. To develop what Barrieu terms aerobic power, he puts them through grueling cardio routines, such as the Beep Test, in which players must dash back and forth across the field, keeping up with a series of beeps blasted from a boombox. As the time between beeps shortens, players must fight to stay on pace before eventually dropping to the turf in exhaustion. In another test, the Star Drill, players have 10 seconds to sprint from the center of the field to eight different points and back, repeating this eightpointed star four times. During drills like these, players wear heart monitors so Barrieu can gauge whether each is reaching his personal anaerobic threshold. Exertion is ultra-intense, but it doesnt drag; its usually over in 25 minutes. The same goes in the weight room.

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Workout
Day 1
EXercise

World Cup

Partner Hamstring
Lie faceup on the floor with one leg raised. Have a partner grasp your heel and provide resistance as you try to pull your leg down by contracting your hamstrings.

Want a killer core routine? Do this workout used by the U.S. mens national team

Bicycle
Lie faceup on the floor with your hands under your hips. Cycle your feet above your pelvis. (Yes, these are the old-school ones youre thinking of.) One full

Sets

Reps

revolution is one rep.

Clean and Jerk Dumbbell Push-Up Bent-Over Lateral Raise Dumbbell Curl Shrugs into Lateral Raise Bent-Over Row Back Extension Partner Hamstring Bicycle Pelvic Tilt Shoelace Bird Dog Russian Twist Scoop Circle V-Up Exercise-Ball Crunch Exercise-Ball Balance Exercise-Ball Kick Exercise-Ball Bird Dog

4 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

6 20 6 10 6 8 20 6 60 10 30 20 25 8 8 20 50 10 10 20

Pelvic Tilt
Lie faceup on the floor and tilt your pelvis to push your lower back into the floor. It almost ends up being an abbreviated crunch, because your chest is naturally going to rise off the floor. Hold each contraction for five seconds, then relax. Thats one rep.

Shoelace (or Straight-Leg Crunch)

Lie faceup on the floor with your legs perpendicular to the floor. Crunch up with your arms extended to touch your shoelaces with your fingertips. Keep your head stable by contracting your neck muscles.

Bird Dog
Get on your hands and knees on the floor, then slowly raise and straighten one leg behind you while slowly lifting and extending the opposite arm in front of you. Return and raise the opposite arm and leg. Thats one rep.

Russian Twist
Sit with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent around 90 degrees. Holding a 25-pound medicine ball close to your torso, move the ball from one side of your body to the other by twisting your torso. Both sides equals one rep.

Scoop
Sit on the edge of a bench and lie back to form a 30-degree angle with the bench. Bend your knees 90 degrees. Extend your legs out in front of you and bring them back in one continuous scooping motion.

Day 2
EXercise Sets Reps

Power Clean Bench Press Barbell Step-Up + Hop Bent-Over Row Glute-Ham Raise Pull-Up Squat Jump Jump Rope

6 6 3 3 2 3 1 4 minutes*

3 4 4 8 8 6 6

Circle
Lie faceup on the bench with your legs extended. Keeping your legs together, make circles in the air with your feet, keeping your torso stable. One revolution is one rep. Reverse direction and do eight more.

Various core exercises similar to Day 1

*One minute on just your right leg, one minute on just your left, one minute on both, and one minute alternating right and left.

Exercise-Ball Balance
Sit atop an exercise ball, then walk your feet forward and lean back till your back is about 45 degrees to the floor; balance yourself with legs extended and arms near your sides. Have a partner toss a medicine ball to you. Catch it and, while keeping your balance, toss it back.

Day 3
EXercise Sets Reps

Exercise-Ball Kick
Sit on the ball similar to the previous exercise. Keep your balance as a partner kicks the ball. Start off with light kicks and work up to harder kicks.

Push-Press High Pull Bench Press Bent-Over Lateral Raise Plyometric Box Jump Standing Barbell Curl Lateral Lunge Jump Rope Seated Cable Row Jump Rope Various core exercises similar to Day 1

4 4 5 4 2 3 1 4 minutes 3 4 minutes

6 6 5 6 5 10 8 8

Exercise-Ball Bird Dog

Same as the Bird Dog exercise, except you lie atop the ball on your chest and your feet are on the floor.

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Barrieu leads the players through fastpaced 45-minute workouts, emphasizing the core (see World Cup Workout) and conditioning the upper body with Olympic-style lifts and dumbbell bench presses off exercise balls. The players have bought in. I can tell a huge difference, says U.S. defender Eddie Pope. If I dont lift, Ill feel myself getting bumped around out there. But if Ive lifted, I can hold people off a lot easier. The bigger my upper body is, without getting top-heavy, the better I am as a player. Meanwhile, former players can only watch with envy. With the training they do now, a lot of us older guys might have been able to play a year or two more, says Marcelo Balboa, a for-

mer U.S. defender and now a commentator for ESPN.With Pierre, everythings calculated with the stopwatch, with the heart monitor. And you can see these guys theyre dead, but theyre okay to go the next day. Back in the old days, youd wake up the next day and youd be dead. Dead.
NO ONE SYMBOLIZES the Americans commitment to fitness or their brand of soccer in general more than the 24-year-old Donovan. At 5'8", 158 pounds, he could be called tiny, yet on the field hes anything but. Hes got the complete package, says Barrieu. Hes explosive. Hes fast. Hes not a burner, but hes got a very good first 20 yards. And his teams win. Donovan led the

San Jose Earthquakes to Major League Soccer titles in 2001 and 2003; then in 2005, unhappy with his limited playing time during a four-month cup of coffee at German club Bayer Leverkusen, Donovan returned to the States to captain the Los Angeles Galaxy to his third MLS title, scoring 15 goals. Whats more, hes no stranger to the gym. Arena, usually quick to downplay the importance of lifting, points to Donovan as one guy who greatly benefited from weights before the last World Cup. Landon, when hes strong and fit, feels real good about his game, says Arena. One of our goals this time around is to get him where he was in 2002. Donovan fondly remembers his fitness level of four years ago. I felt like a

WORLDCLASSMUSCLE
Here are five players to watch out for at this summers World Cup who eXude power and strength in the MUSCLE & FITNESS mold

With the ball at his feet, this 6'2", 195-pound forward often resembles a runaway train. The brawny left-footer was signed professionally at age 7. (Seven!) Now 24, his crashing, dashing style -and the fact he plays for soccer giant Brazil -- makes Adriano a favorite to be tournament scoring leader.

Captain for host country Germany, the versatile 6'3" midfielder packs a powerful shot with either foot and uses his upper-body strength to brush opponents aside. One of the worlds most lethal headers of the ball, Ballack found the net 29 times in his first 60 matches for his country.

At 6'4", 220 pounds, hes a true physical specimen by any standard. A strong, speedy defender, the Maryland native turns into an aerial weapon on corner kicks and other set pieces. Already a star for his pro team in Belgium, he could soon make the leap to one of Europes best clubs.

The England and Manchester United forward is only 5'10", 170 pounds, but he plays like hes the size of Jerome Bettis. Just 20 years old, he constantly outmuscles bigger, older opponents. One of the worlds leading young talents, Rooney has been nicknamed the white Pel.

With his powerful neck muscles making him a great ball-header, the stylish 6'4" forward delivers both incredible goals (like his heel shot vs. Italy in 2004) and lines. Asked to explain scratches on his face after a game, he told a reporter, Youll have to ask your wife.

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FROM LEf T: ANTONIO S CORZA /AFP; A LEXAnD ER HAS SEnSTEin/B OnGAR TS; MART in ROSE/B OnGART S; LAUR Enc E GR iffiT HS/GET TY IMA GES SpORT; NEW PRES S/STRinGER/GET TY IMAGES Sp OR T

Adriano, Brazil

Michael Ballack, Germany

Oguchi Onyewu, USA

Wayne Rooney, England

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden

machine, he says. I was strong, I was fast, I was fit. And I just felt like I could run through anybody. He and his teammates almost did. One win away from the final four in Asia, the U.S. lost 10 to Germany, a team Donovan contends was beyond fatigued by the end. They had clearly hit the wall after about 50, 60 minutes, says Donovan. We were far superior, fitness-wise.
The question this time around is, can the U.S. do more than just give the rest of the world a good scare? Maybe, but first theyll have to fight to make it out of their own group. The Americans drew perhaps the Cups toughest opening round, with games against the Czech Republic (June 12), Italy (June 17) and Ghana (June 22) teams recently ranked by FIFA as No. 2, 14 and 50 in the world, respectively. Of course, those same rankings tabbed the U.S. fourth, ahead of Mexico, Spain, England and even France, World Cup winners in 1998. The rating (the best ever for a U.S. team) comes after impressive wins in World Cup tune-up matches against Norway (50), Japan (32) and Poland (10). Despite the Americans lofty status, few would claim they possess even one player in the worlds top 100. How, then,

SLAM! U.S. players compete in a game of soccer-tennis

The bigger my upper body is, without getting top-heavy, the better I am as a player
Eddie Pope

do you explain their success? They work hard, they play together, and they use their fitness as a weapon: The Americans mount strong counterattacks, they pressure the ball at all times, and they turn their wing defenders into offensive threats down the line. In short, they run, run, run. Its a strategy, says Arena, built out of necessity.Were going to have to be fit to have a chance in Germany, he says. Were not going to match up to the likes of the Czech

Republic and Italy man for man. They have more experienced players and players of a better pedigree, so we have to be a better team, and part of that is having a fitness level to sustain what were trying to do over 90 minutes. Frankie Hejduk, a U.S. defender and the reigning Beep Test champion, takes the case for conditioning one step further. I think the main thing with our team is fitness,says Hejduk.Were blue collar. You know, we outwork teams.

And if we can advance out of that group and go further, I think wed prove to not only all of our critics but also to the world that were a team to be reckoned with. Brazil, consider yourself warned. M&F

For more info, go to soccerconditioning.net

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