In-Season Soccer Training: A Speed-First, No-Fatigue System

Precision Performance Concepts
Dr. Chad Peters

Why In-Season Training Needs a Different Standard

In-season training for high school soccer players is often misunderstood.

Most programs try to:

Maintain strength
Avoid soreness
“Get a little work in”

A fourth goal is often added:

Conditioning outside of regular practice time

That is not what we want to do.

In soccer, conditioning is already built in:

Practices
Small-sided games
Tactical drills
Matches

Modern Performance ideas, especially with soccer leans toward, Players do not need extra conditioning layered on top of their load. The game itself has plenty of slow burn conditioning, adding more steals the athleticism you are looking for.

These workouts are not meant to be conditioning.
They are meant to support speed, sharpness, and readiness.

Once a session veers into conditioning:

Speed quality drops
Neurology shuts down
The session competes with practice instead of complementing it

That approach misses the point.

In-season training should not feel like survival.
It should feel excitatory, amplifying the athlete so they leave the session better than when they arrived.

The Central Goal: Preserve and Increase Speed

Speed and acceleration in all directions is what wins in soccer.

Acceleration, deceleration, re-acceleration, and elastic response decide:

First steps
Recovery runs
Separation
Late-game performance

This system is designed to preserve and even increase speed throughout the season, not simply hold on to it.

As true speed development is added consistently, specially neurological speed work, players should get faster as the season progresses, not slower or flat.

A Key Framework: Levels Matter

Every athlete operates at a level each day

There is a level for:

Half effort
Going through the motions
Rushed warm-ups
“Good enough”

That level exists.
It’s JV.

The same exercises, performed with different intent, do not produce the same outcome.

This matters most in speed training.

There is no such thing as “kind-of fast” training.

The Non-Negotiable Rule: No Fatigue Allowed

In-season sessions must follow one rule:

No fatigue allowed.

These workouts should feel:

Sharp
Alert
Energized
Excitatory

If an athlete leaves tired, the session missed the point.

Fatigue shuts down the nervous system.
Speed is neurological.

Once fatigue enters the room:

Speed quality drops
Elasticity disappears
The session becomes conditioning

Conditioning already happens in practice and games.

Mobility First (Not Flexibility)

Every session starts with mobility, not stretching.

Mobility is:

Active
Controlled
Sport-specific
Immediately usable

Focus areas:

Ankles
Hips
Shoulders

This prepares the body to express speed, not just feel loose.

Time: 6–10 minutes

Speed Prep + Atomic Work Is the Priority

This is the most important part of the entire session.

It is not a warm-up.
It is not filler.
It is not conditioning.

This block:

Is purely neurological and should be done daily, if not in a separate workout session – prior to practice.
Requires full intent
Often looks like more rest than work

That is by design.

If speed work is done at 85 percent:

It becomes a dynamic warm-up
Slightly better than nothing
Still JV-level training

Speed and atomic work must be full tilt.

Time: ~10 minutes

Strength Training: EMOM for In-Season Control

EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) is ideal in-season because it allows:

Full team participation
Auto-regulation
Clean movement
No grinders

Each athlete:

Grabs one dumbbell or kettlebell
Chooses load based on feel
Adjusts within the structure

Auto-regulation is simple:

Feeling great? Increase load on the last 2–3 rounds
Feeling beat up? Stay light and move clean

Everyone finishes together.
No one is exposed.
No one overreaches.

EMOM Structure

2–3 EMOM blocks
10 minutes each
2–3 minutes rest between rounds
Coaching and energy matter here

Target:

30–40 seconds of work (each player will set their own pace)
20 seconds of rest (what is left when you finish the prescribed reps)

This supports speed instead of stealing from it.

Sample EMOM Menu (Pick and Choose)

Lower + Shoulder

Weighted split lunges
(3 front + 3 back each leg)
Halos

Total Body

4 burpees
4 split squats
4 overhead press

Lateral Focus

4 lateral lunges
Around-the-worlds

Tendon + Balance

Lateral stops and balance holds
bicep curls

Single-Leg Control

Single-leg RDL
Shoulder raise or row

Pull + Ground Control

Alternating rows
Get-ups

Simple Conditioning Option (Use Sparingly)

5 burpees EMOM

These templates are intentionally flexible and easy to modify based on:

Position
Injury history
Individual weaknesses
This system is also easily adaptable to isometrics, – holding a position for 40 seconds with 20 seconds off.

Let’s say you wanted to have a left foot forward lunge.

Hold it for 40 seconds / 20 seconds off. The next rep you will do right foot forward.

This is fantastic for tendon and ligament strength, resilience and tissue tension and although it won’t feel like a workout to the athlete – for a soccer player, basketball player in-season athlete, whose primary objective is changes of position and reaction. Isometrics are a Fantastic Exercise to use

Full team EMOM Systems also easily allows individualized training inside a team environment.

(example: “Hey, Allie, I want you doing this exercise instead this block.”)

Speed Is More Than the Weight Room

Speed development in soccer does not have to live entirely in the weight room.

Acceleration, deceleration, and change-of-direction drills:

Pro-agility variations
Deceleration stops
Cut-and-go patterns
Short-burst directional drills

These can and should be built directly into the session.

Do not feel like:

If you’re not lifting, you’re missing the mark

In soccer, deceleration and change of direction may be the biggest difference-makers.

These drills:

Do not fit EMOM – these are separate workouts
Require short, fast bursts
Need more rest between reps

That’s normal.

In a 10-15 min. block, you can easily fit three to four high-quality drills.

There will be:

A lot of downtime
A lot of waiting

That is not laziness.
That is speed training.

The Effort Standard

Because there is so much rest, effort must be absolute when it’s time to go.

If I see:

Slacking during speed work
Half effort during explosive drills

I assume that’s how you play on the field.

The standard carries over.

Speed work demands:

100 percent intent
No drifting
No casual reps

That’s how athletes leave the session energized not drained.

What This System Produces

When done correctly, this approach:

Preserves and increases speed in-season
Protects joints and tendons
Avoids cumulative fatigue
Keeps athletes mentally sharp
Complements practice instead of competing with it

Most importantly, athletes leave sessions feeling better, not worn down.

Final Coaching Note

This system only works if the standard is clear.

Speed work must be full intent
Atomic work must be respected
Fatigue must be avoided

If that energy can’t come from in-house yet, bring me in.
I’ll model exactly what this block should sound like, feel like, and demand.

Once athletes experience it done correctly, the standard sticks.