would being on cross country team detract from or enhance an intense soccer fall season for U13/u14 11 v 11 top players practicing only 2x/week.
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XC isn't soccer-oriented fitness, but still more enhancing than detracting. If it's just a series of long jogs, less enhancing. If it includes workouts of shorter distances at challenging pace, more enhancing.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post -
My son runs middle school XC. One enhancing part is that he trains to run straight out for 2 - 3 miles. Red-lined for 12 - 15 minutes. He also has to do a fair amount of upper body workout and general flexibility and building of auxiliary muscles to run in the woods and uneven ground.
Compared to most soccer kids, he stamina is much higher.
The disadvantage is that he doesn't work on change of speed. And the change of direction is very limited in XC. And the practices and meets take away from soccer time.Comment
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Try it for a year. Make sure he communicates how he is feeling though. It can be a lot of running. You may find he likes cross-country better. My kid - Jr in high school - is playing soccer but he is probably a better cross-country runner. He likes soccer more, but he now likes running 10Ks in the summer too. (Incoming brag -- he ran a 4:46 1600 in tryouts - not going to win the state championship time, but still a good time.)Comment
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It's an take interesting, but I've actually seen evidence that completely contradicts this. I have seen kids who have greatly benefited in their soccer from the conditioning that XC provides. Of course this is at the middle school ages where the XC courses are a bit shorter, but based on my own experience, I have to say that this article is a little bit of hogwash.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Aerobic conditioning is a great base for any sport.
A good cross country coach will not just have the kids running distance but also have them doing anaerobic conditioning (speed work) too. Speed work teaches a runner to run while in oxygen debt so it's a valuable training tool
PS... There is a freshman on Penn State women's soccer team who placed in the CT State XC meet. She is also on the US U20 National team as the captain. Needless to say xC hasn't damaged her careerComment
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Boys soccer is about 5th on the depth chart for athletic kids to choose. Coaches can't afford any more sports to take their kids so they bash it.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Coach here. Seen x-country ruin two players. Acceleration, quickness, and foot speed/tempo (useful in timing steps when defending 1v1, and in 1v1 moves with the ball) all visibly declined. Mostly disappeared, actually. I applaud the desire to train, but interval and sprint work would have been better. Parents wouldn't listen. Oh well.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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It will devastate and overwork a soccer athlete when they are going through crucial growth phase.
Concurrent depleting sport like cross country will not help her muscular development and will be a tank you cannot fill leaving her vulnerable to injury, eating disorders etc.
Stop pushing her, and stick to the "intense" soccer schedule. Isn't it enough Dad?Comment
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I have several kids that do both. It helped all of them. The increased baseline fitness helped for when my kids team didn't have any sub's
To run long and hard continuous is not easy.Comment
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The mileage that is required for xc is way too high to be of any benefit. Boys running 80 miles per week in the summer in advance of the season. Girls running 10 miles in a day.
It is wasting. And it will get you diminishing results on the soccer field where short sprints are interspersed with jogs. Quickness and agility are more useful. Have him work on running a mile. One mile. And work on reducing his time, work on quickness and agility and don't forget resistance work. Because if all you do is depleting distance work his muscle size will be lacking and ability to sustain resistance to injury from a very physical game. Boys would be better in starting a lifting program quickness and agilityComment
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There are few high school program that run that many miles. Young runners can't handle that much mileage. The HS XC course is usually only a 5k so that mileage isn't necessaryOriginally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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It's called base building. Part of a periodized pre season xc training program. They run longer distances so that when the season comes around the 5k race is a piece of sweat.....
And it is depleting. Most of those xc boys are really lacking any muscular size...Comment
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Understood why they do itOriginally posted by Unregistered View Post
There are not HS programs running 80 mile weeksComment
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