Why does running scare soccer players?

CommunityPratiques

19/01/2026 07:38

Did you know? Soccer players run around ten kilometers per game. That’s quite a distance, but it goes unnoticed and is far from being considered a priority in this highly publicized sport. And yet, running is a key element of performance, even if it is often seen as a chore.

✓ Analysis based on the testimonies of two players and two coaches from the Paris region.

Players have a mixed relationship with running, even though they cover nearly 10 km per game within the same team. More specifically, figures from the CIES Football Observatory show that central defenders cover the least distance (9.2 km on average), while midfielders cover the most (10.6 km) . The study also highlights that players run more when their team has less possession of the ball. Regardless of the league, whether professional or amateur, the differences remain small and confirm one thing: running is intrinsically linked to this team sport. Despite its obvious benefits, it is still feared by players, who are nevertheless aware of its crucial role in their preparation.

Beyond physical preparation, soccer requires specific running efforts, combining endurance and intermittent training. The latter consists of a series of explosive, high-intensity sequences interspersed with recovery periods. “Soccer is a very comprehensive discipline in terms of running,” says Mourad, coach at CSM Bonneuil Football. The training formats that most closely resemble the effort required in a match are “5-25”: five seconds of intense effort, followed by 25 seconds of low intensity, between jogging and walking.

| Running at the heart of independent summer training

During breaks, especially the longest one in the summer, players are required to run independently several times a week, generally increasing the volume over the weeks. Running sessions are included in their program, which they may or may not follow, although it is strongly recommended that they stick to the schedule in order to be ready when training resumes. “We ask them to make an effort,” continues Mourad, aware that it’s not fun for everyone.

Baptiste, an R1 player at Val Yerres Crosne AF, is quite comfortable with this. “I often don’t really follow the program; I do it a little bit my own way. But I still try to use it as inspiration, mainly doing interval training. ” This freedom allows him to more easily integrate training into his vacation lifestyle. But this flexibility is relatively recent. In the 2000s, players were required to do two weeks of jogging, which was then considered effective training.

Today, training content has evolved. Exercises deemed more effective help develop what coaches call “endurance capacity.” The goal: to run as if you had the ball, but without the ball. Over the course of a week, players can run almost every day, covering between 5 and 8 kilometers. François, coach and player at JAM, agrees with the Val-de-Marne coach: “Preparation requires a lot of long-distance running to build up cardio, but it’s especially good to diversify with interval training, such as ‘10/10’ or ‘15/15’.” Hugo, a senior player, agrees with this second point: “We are often asked to run at a steady pace, with short bursts of speed, at around 80 to 85% of our maximum aerobic speed.”

Of course, the key to successful preparation is consistency. “It’s advisable to never take a break. For good preparation at the amateur level, you need to allow between three weeks and a month. You start with jogging, then gradually introduce power,” summarizes Mourad.

The conclusion is clear: “If you do good endurance work at the start, you can then move on more quickly to other areas of athletic training.” Interval training, footwork, muscle strengthening, core training… Comprehensive training also helps to limit injuries when you start back up again. “A player who hasn’t been running and then accelerates, if he tears a muscle, it’s simply because he wasn’t ready,” points out the Bonneuil coach.

| Interval training, the lifeblood of training

During training, soccer players are required to run, but mainly with the ball at their feet. However, part of the session may be devoted to interval training (15/15, 30/30), in 10- to 20-minute formats. The young JAM coach sometimes schedules these between the beginning and middle of the session: “If the session lasts two hours, we’ll do it at the 30- or 40-minute mark.” Depending on the situation, running can also serve another purpose: keeping certain players busy while others play friendly matches. “We play one half each and finish with interval training around the field,” Baptiste explains.

Some coaches take a different approach, sometimes lacking the necessary knowledge to supervise athletic training in an appropriate manner. “It’s a science,” says Mourad. “And today, in the amateur world, coaches don’t always have all the necessary skills.” Some are content to focus solely on endurance training. “Many players then arrive at the game completely exhausted, out of rhythm, because they haven’t accustomed their bodies to long and varied efforts,” he observes.

Hence the importance of balancing long-term and intermittent effort, two types of exertion that do not affect the body in the same way. In concrete terms, the season can begin with a phase focused mainly on jogging, lasting a week and a half to two weeks, often during the preparation period. Gradually, the work then moves closer to intermittent efforts, integrated into classic ball-playing sessions, requiring more rhythm from the players. These sessions take the form of well-known formats: 30/30 (30 seconds of effort, 30 seconds of recovery), 30/15, then, as they become more refined, 15/15, 10/10, 10/20, and even 5/25. “Intermittent training also depends on the results of the VMA test and the ability to sustain long periods of effort using oxygen,” explains Mourad. The goal is to adapt the workload and form coherent working groups based on each player’s profile and abilities.

Interval training can even, more rarely, give way to real jogging. Most often on your own. “During the season, it’s better to add a jog to your weekly routine,” says Hugo. Baptiste agrees, although he admits that incorporating it into his training schedule is not always easy. “Sometimes I go jogging, but it’s still pretty rare. I don’t necessarily have the desire or the time to go running outside.” Sometimes, jogging is done in a group. In Yerres, the players sometimes get together for a run in the forest. This is not a frequent practice, and it depends a lot on the coaches. Baptiste’s coach, for example, is not a big fan of running. “In general, my coach doesn’t really like to make us run. He prefers to incorporate it directly into ball training,” he insists.

« I give them a distance to cover as quickly as possible to show them that if they can’t run 5 km in 25 minutes, they are still a little way off the expected level. »

Mourad, coach at CSM Bonneuil Football

| When running makes the difference in performance

All this work, combining endurance and power, eventually pays off. Everyone agrees on one thing: good preparation makes you better. François qualifies this, however: “Running regularly improves your ‘athletic’ qualities, but it doesn’t make you better technically, whether it’s passing or shooting. “ The benefit lies elsewhere, in the ability to repeat long and intense efforts. ”If you run more than your opponent, if you perform better, are faster, attack spaces more quickly and are able to repeat these efforts, you become more dangerous than them,” emphasizes Mourad.

Good preparation means giving yourself the means to get ahead. Baptiste and Hugo see this in action on the field. “I often prepare myself pretty well before the season starts, and I feel like I have a bit of an advantage over some of the guys who haven’t done that,” says Baptiste. The second adds: “When I don’t prepare well, I feel it immediately. And conversely, when I come back in shape, you can feel it.” Mourad insists: “In theory, by being physically ready (having run more and therefore having greater endurance), you stay in shape, you are more competitive, and you limit muscle pain.” Running is therefore an important performance lever, both in individual preparation during the break, when players follow an individual schedule, and in group training sessions.

| And despite everything, soccer players hate it

Coaches can repeat it over and over again, explain in detail that running will improve their performance… but nothing works. It is extremely rare, if not impossible, to find a soccer player who really enjoys running without a ball. Whether it’s jogging or interval training, the desire remains limited. Hugo admits it straight away: “I do it when I have no choice.” Baptiste, who comes from a family of runners, qualifies this slightly: “I have a somewhat ambivalent relationship with running. I do it on my own, but it’s not exactly a pleasure either. I mainly do it to stay in shape.” “ He notes that there are often fewer of them when they run in the forest than during traditional training sessions. Both agree on one point: ”There’s grumbling every time,“ ”people complain” as soon as it comes to running.

The strategy for motivating the few players who are minimally open to racing may lie in competing against the clock or against each other. Baptiste clearly feels more stimulated when everyone starts together at an accessible pace, before speeding up at the end of the session. “We measure ourselves a little, it’s fun,” he admits.

To overcome their aversion to running, the “challenger” remains the key. “I give them a distance to cover as quickly as possible to show them that if they can’t run 5 km in 25 minutes, they’re still a little way off the expected level,” explains Mourad. Dialogue also plays an important role: explaining the reasons, showing the benefits of the exercise, and even reminding them of the work they need to do to get in shape.

But ultimately, what matters most are the coaches’ habits, which have naturally evolved. “We try to do integrated training, with lots of ball work, because the guys are tired of running without the ball.” Current practices therefore differ from those they followed when they were young players. “The guys don’t want to run. They find it boring and clearly don’t want to do it,” summarizes Mourad, hence the role of coaches, especially in amateur sports, to offer more stimulating alternatives.

The impact of running, whether as part of individual preparation or integrated into training, is real. And that’s the paradox: it’s an essential practice, often perceived as a constraint, even used as punishment, when it could be approached as a game. This perception reinforces the idea that running is painful… when there are other alternatives for punishing a player, such as banning them from discussing the next game.