I get winded too damn quickly : ( page

[mark2741]

I've been focused primarily on weightlifting the past couple of months, doing a Starting Strength program but only 2 times per week. Have seen great progress. I also have done a sprinting/interval workout once per week. It's been great but...

A couple of weeks ago, through sheer coincidence, I had the opportunity to join an indoor soccer league. Having never met any of the people on the team and having never played organized soccer, I was pretty damn nervous. And when I got to the facility (a world-class soccer training facility it turned out to be, where the local MLS team sometimes trains, etc.), I was even more nervous. Mostly because everyone else was in their 20's and had soccer experience (ex-college players, etc.), and it was really standard/outdoor soccer but just played indoors, large fields and all. But it turned out my team is the worst in the league, and I'm not the worst on it, and it's been a blast these first few games. The games are once per week.

Aside from my lack of soccer skill, the biggest problem/concern is that I get winded way too quickly. Almost within a minute or two I'm starting to huff and puff. Part of it is the nerves before even starting, but was wondering if there is a primal-compatible way to help with this? My immediate thought is to just jump on an elliptical/treadmill or go to the running track but that seems counter per the 'chronic cardio' concept. The once per week sprint sessions (which really, the soccer games themselves would count as) don't seem to be helping.

[Velocity J]

I was feeling the same way when I started playing weekly soccer pickup games. Like you said, I think a big part of it is the adrenaline and nerves at the start of the game. After about a month I was no longer getting as winded. Part of that was probably conditioning and part was just feeling more relaxed on the field. I would say make sure you're keeping the intensity high during your weekly sprint sessions to try to duplicate the cardio demands of playing (i.e alternating between sprinting, jogging, and walking) and then also stay calm and don't put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect while you're playing. Focus on having fun and I think the conditioning should take care of itself.

[mark2741]

Thanks Velocity J. I think you're right. This week's game is tonight and I just learned we got stuck on one of the outside fields. A 9pm start time for an outdoor soccer match in Pennsylvania this time of year ought to be interesting....glad I bought some cleats this week!

[dgreenwood]

Have you tried hill sprints? Regular sprinting feels a lot easier when you train with hill sprints.

I'm 40 and recently started playing full court basketball again after not playing any sports for about a year. Like you, I've concentrated on weight training recently and the only cardio I've been doing is hill sprints. I have no problems playing for 2+ hours and can keep up with the younger guys the whole time.

Hill sprints!

[RichMahogany]

Get strong first. Forget about conditioning until then. Strength is a general and persistent adaptation. Endurance only takes about 3 weeks to train or lose.

[Kingofturtles]

Get strong first. Forget about conditioning until then. Strength is a general and persistent adaptation. Endurance only takes about 3 weeks to train or lose.

I ve often wondered if it was just that I was lucky but, I can not run for months then randomly go and get pretty close to my old times. With a little effort I mite be able to make them (I have this persistent thought that every lb added to my bench slows my running game down)
Anyway. I agree with your 3 week statement

[Derpamix]

Increase carbon dioxide with sodium bicarbonate. Monitor your oxygen saturation. It's likely you're producing high levels of lactic acid, harming your levels of co2. Since using sodium bicarbonate daily, I no longer get breathless during cycling.

[Forever Young]

This is a case of skill specific training. Simply play the soccer and your conditioning will improve greatly. Its like anything. You wanna get good at (fill in the blank) then do that very thing. Resistance training should be your foundation. If done very intensely with little rest between sets, its a tremendous "cardio"workout.

[Leida]

It is not counter to chronic cardio concept. You need cardio endurance for your sport, so build cardio endurance for your sport. You do not need to run daily for 1 hour. All you need to do is to condition your body. Since you play soccer once a week, and do sprints 1ce a week, just add one run where you slowly build up to 20 min continous running. Just look up a beginner running program, that takes you though 1 min walking: 1 min running, then 2 min running, 1 min walking etc routine. Once you build up to 8-10 min continous running it goes super-easy from there. After that all you need to do is a maintenance run every week + sprint, which is not by any means chronic cardio.

[richard]

two things REALLY help.

1. nose breathe. Don't mouth breathe. This builds up CO2 and increases oxygenation.

2. minimize ejaculations if you're a guy. Not sure about women (well I'm not sure if orgasms affect their athletic performance at any rate) but for guys, there is a big effect on endurance and it ain't pretty.