Test yourself: are you as fit as a Premier League footballer?

The accusations of laziness hurled from the terraces at Premier League footballers are rarely true. Performance data shows that a top footballer can cover a distance of over 10k per game, perform up to 40 explosive sprints, and hit running speeds of over 30kph. But a player’s fitness has to be multilayered in order to meet the diverse demands of the modern game.

“The three energy systems footballers train are ‘aerobic’, ‘anaerobic immediate’ (phosphocreatine) and ‘anaerobic short-term’ (lactate),” explains Mathew Monte-Colombo, a strength and conditioning coach who used to work with West Ham United. ‘Aerobic’ is essentially a player’s ability to perform lower-intensity exercise over an extended period of time (e.g. for general covering work and positional runs during a game). ‘Anaerobic immediate’ signifies a player’s explosive power, when the body draws on stored chemicals such as phosphocreatine for short bursts of energy (e.g. for an explosive sprint towards goal). And ‘anaerobic short-term’ represents a player’s capacity to handle repeated high-intensity activity by quickly shifting lactic acid from the muscles (e.g. for repeated efforts during attacking or defensive periods of play).

"As a rough guide, aerobic training involves working at 50-70pc of your maximum speed, phosphocreatine training at over 85pc, and lactate training at 70-85pc."

Although footballers use different drills to train these three energy systems, the concepts behind the training methods are the same. “Overload and progression are the two key principles of training energy systems,” says Monte-Colombo. “Overload means working your body harder than it is used to, then allowing it time to recover in order to increase your fitness and set your physical limits higher. Progression means making the exercises harder each time you train. For example, progression could mean working for longer or harder each time you train, or decreasing your recovery times in between efforts.”

Try Monte-Colombo’s three running drills below to compare your current fitness levels to those of a Premier League footballer. Perform each drill once a week to develop your fitness and monitor your progress over time, then just post your best times below and wait for a call from Jose Mourinho.*

*Sorry chaps – not guaranteed.

The 4-Minute Drill (Aerobic)

WHAT TO DO:

Use cones to measure out a distance of 100m (the approximate length of a full-sized football pitch), with cones placed at regular 10m intervals. Run up and down the full 100m line as hard as you can for four minutes, and measure the total distance you cover. Rest for two minutes then repeat the exercise. Now work out your average distance per set by dividing your combined distance over the two sets in half, and check your times against the chart below.

HOW YOU RATE:

Sunday League footballer = 1000m

Good amateur footballer = 1100m

Championship footballer = 1200m

Premier League footballer = 1300m+

Horrible 100s (Anaerobic immediate / Phosphocreatine)

WHAT TO DO:

Measure out a distance of 100m (the approximate length of a full-sized football pitch) and sprint the distance as fast as you can. Repeat this 6-8 times in a set, with 40 secs rest in between each repetition. Measure your time for each rep, then add the times together and divide by however many reps you completed in order to work out your average time per 100m. If you choose to do a second set, allow 2-3 mins of recovery first.

HOW YOU RATE:

Sunday League footballer = 18 sec/100m

Good amateur footballer = 16 sec/100m

Championship footballer = 14 sec/100m

Premier League footballer = 12 sec/100m

Napalm Shuttle (Anaerobic short-term / Lactate)

WHAT TO DO:

Set up a 25m shuttle-run course with cones every 5m. Perform shuttle runs (run to the first cone and back, then run to the second cone and back etc) for 30 secs and record the total distance covered. Repeat the shuttle run six times with 30 secs recovery in between each set. Divide the total distance covered by the number of sets performed to work out your average distance covered.

HOW YOU RATE:

Sunday League footballer = 90m

Good amateur footballer = 100m

Championship footballer = 110m

Premier League footballer = 125m

Follow Mathew Monte-Colombo on Twitter: @Monte_the_bear