TESTING

LET'S GET STARTED

FITNESS TESTING… It’s safe to say that any player that takes his/her game seriously
will do their best to stay in shape all year round.
Two words that stir up some uncomfortable emotions for any
footballer. Part of any professional footballer’s preseason All your hard training needs to pay off, and the best way to see if
schedule will involve going through the gruelling process of all those hard sessions have made you fitter and stronger is to
assessing speed, strength, agility, power and aerobic capacity. test the training process.

Our bodies are pushed to their limits to determine where our

WHICH TESTS TO
fitness levels are and how much of our off-season programme
we’ve adhered to.

Words like “body fat percentage”, “lactate threshold” and “beep

test” are the stuff of nightmares for some, but why do we need
to put ourselves through such gruelling physical tests and how
does it affect your training?
PERFORM
So, while we’ve mentioned why fitness testing is beneficial to you
Not too long ago, getting fit for football involved teams running as a player, we need to touch on a few ways to actually test how
up mountains and along muddy trails. Fortunately, those days are fit you are in relation to football.
gone and the science behind getting match fit has come a long
way. When testing your fitness levels, it’s important to remember a
few key rules:
Being able to assess your current fitness levels means you can
tailor your training scientifically to ensure you’re improving both Never do any fitness testing if you’re carrying an injury or
physically and mentally. you haven’t been cleared to do so by a medical professional
When testing alone, ensure someone is nearby in case of an
The football season is broken into three main segments: pre- emergency
season, in-season and off-season (with a few short breaks in Make sure you do a full and thorough warm up prior to
between). The length of these segments may vary according to starting all fitness tests
your national federation’s league, however the progression from SAFETY FIRST!
one segment to another is always the same.
Below is a list of tests you can perform to assess your fitness
How can does fitness testing fit into this? levels specifically in relation to football performance.

As players move from their in-season period into their off- Start with the “lighter” tests and end with the maximal tests to
season, they’re generally issued with some form of “maintenance avoid fatigue early on and ensure you’re able to achieve the best
programme” to make sure they stay fit and start to prepare result possible in each test. It's also advisable to split your tests
their bodies for the season to follow. into separate field testing and gym testing days.

Staying in shape means that you can literally hit the ground Please note: to test full body mobility and posture, we advise
running come the start of preseason. However, any club sport asking a trainer at your gym to video and assess your overhead
scientist worth his salt will want to know just how each player is squat technique.
when they return to pre-season training, and this is where the
fitness testing plays a vital role.

Fitness tests are aimed at assessing your strengths, weaknesses

and where you need to place additional training blocks to
improve on any weaker areas. Modern football requires players
to be more athletic in order to compete physically.
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 GYM BASED TESTS
You can perform both lower body tests below if you have access Hint: if you’re able to complete more than one repetition on a
to both pieces of equipment, or just select one. If you opt for given weight, it’s too light and you should increase the weight
doing both, do the trap bar deadlift first and the leg press as the safely.
last exercise in the schedule.

Please listen to this podcast explaining how to safely test your

1RM.

1 REP MAX LEG PRESS

With the same aim in mind, this test involves assessing maximum
lower body strength by trying to push the maximum amount of

1 REP MAX TRAP BAR

weight possible on a leg press machine.

To maximize results, try to hit your maximum weight in 3-5

attempts. Further attempts may result in muscle fatigue and

DEADLIFT therefore not achieving your true maximum for this test.

Hint: if you’re able to complete more than one repetition on a

ASSESSES: MAXIMUM LOWER BODY STRENGTH given weight, it’s too light and you should increase the weight
safely as outlined in the video at the start of this section.
Lower body strength is vital in areas such as speed, agility and
change of direction. Having a stronger lower body also means a
lower risk of injury. The aim of this test is the same as the 1RM
leg press test
(below), although the hip hinge is a little more dominant, there is
less emphasis on the knee bend (flexion), and there’s greater
activation of the stabilising muscles than in the leg press.

It’s testing your lower body strength from a slightly different

angle. The trap bar deadlift is seen as a safer option than the
traditional barbell deadlift for less experienced lifters. It’s also a
more comfortable and far more natural, functional position for
footballers to use.

To maximize results, try hit your maximum weight in 3-5

attempts. Further attempts may result in muscle fatigue and
therefore not achieving your true maximum for this test.

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PUSH UPS TO FAILURE
ASSESSES: UPPER BODY MUSCULAR ENDURANCE

Upper body strength is key in fending off opposition players in a

match. Assume the push up position (hands below shoulders,
elbows aimed at 45 degrees), and place a small, soft object the
size of your fist beneath your breast bone/sternum.

The aim is to perform as many push ups as you can until you
cannot perform a complete repetition.

Hint: a complete repetition is only counted if your chest touches

the object beneath your breast bone/sternum, and you push
yourself up until your arms are in full extension. Non-touch/non-
extension reps should not be counted.

MAX PLANK HOLD

ASSESSES: CORE STABILITY AND MUSCULAR ENDURANCE

A strong core is vital in injury prevention and force development.

Assume the plank position (forearm at 90 degrees to shoulders,
elbows below shoulders, palms flat on the ground, back flat) with
a clock/stop watch laid out in front of you.

Attempt to maintain the plank position for as long as possible.

Once you reach failure point (i.e. cannot maintain the plank any
longer) record the number of seconds/minutes you were able to
maintain the plank for.

Hint: Keep your feet shoulder width apart to ensure you’re not
making the test harder/easier.

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 PITCH BASED TESTS
BROAD JUMP
Stop the timer once you pass this marker and slowly decelerate
(don’t stop on the mark). This will assess your acceleration from
a standing start.

ASSESSES: HORIZONTAL LOWER BODY EXPLOSIVE POWER Hint: Sprinting mechanics are vital in ensuring an “explosive”
start and good acceleration. Aim to drive your arms and legs as
Place a measuring tape along the ground, position both feet hard and fast as possible to generate good power.
shoulder width apart and line your toes up with the 0-meter
mark on the tape measure. In a fast, controlled movement, dip
your hips down while swinging your arms backwards – then
swing your arms forward while jumping as far forward
(horizontally) as you can.

Focus on extending your body as much as possible in the jump.

Land with both feet in line and record the distance on the tape
measure that corresponds with the line of your heels/back of
your boots.

Hint: If you stumble on landing and are forced to take an extra

step to regain balance, perform the test again to ensure your

FLYING 30M SPRINT

landing “sticks”. You can also perform this test with a one-legged
jump (left leg jump, left leg landing) to compare explosive power
of both legs.

ASSESSES: MAXIMUM/TOP END SPEED

Top speed can be the difference between making a goal line

clearance and saving your team or losing a game in the dying
seconds. Mark off the 10 meter and 40-meter mark on the
measuring tape. From the 0-meter mark, sprint towards the 10-
meter cone and start your timer only when you pass this marker.

Continue your sprint until you pass the 40-meter marker, and
then stop the timer. This will assess your maximum/top end
speed over a 30-meter zone.

10M SPRINT Hint: ensure you’re travelling at a full sprint at the 10-meter
marker as this will ensure the best possible test result.

ASSESSES: ACCELERATION AND SPEED

Much like explosive power, acceleration is key to moving into an

advantageous position and outmanoeuvring opposition players.

With the same measuring tape, mark off a 10-meter distance.

With a stop watch in your hand, assume a “staggered start”
position at the 0-meter mark and when you’re ready sprint as
hard as possible until you reach the 10-meter mark.
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T TEST
ASSESSES: AGILITY

Agility in football means being able to move in multiple directions

at speed (such as pressing the opposition in a congested area).
Set up four markers in the shape of a “T” (shown below). At the
start marker (“D”), sprint 10 meters to the “B” marker, then side
shuffle 5 meters to “A”, and side shuffle again, all the way across
to “C”.

YO-YO INTERMITTENT
RECOVERY TEST LEVEL 2
(YO-YO IRTL2)
ASSESSES: AEROBIC FITNESS/ MAXIMAL AEROBIC SPEED

5-0-5 AGILITY TEST Stamina is the cornerstone of football fitness. It allows you to
cover more ground without feeling fatigued, as well as improving
your recovery time between sprints and matches. Using the Yo-
ASSESSES: AGILITY AND SPEED OF TURNING Yo IR Level 2 Test audio track, on the 1st audio trigger begin
running from the start line to the turnaround line.
The ability to turn quickly enables you to lose a tight marker,
move into free space quickly and become more mobile on the Control your running speed to ensure you turn precisely on the
pitch. Starting From “A”, sprint the 10 meters to the “B” line. 2nd audio trigger, and ensure you cross the finish line by the 3rd
Once here, start your timer and continue your sprint to “C” (turn trigger. Take 10 seconds to slowly walk the 5-meter recovery
line). distance and back (10 meters total) and return to the start line
for the next trigger (start from a static position).
Turn sideways and push off this line and sprint back to “B”. Once
across the “B” line, stop your timer and record. Keep running until you cannot make the required line in time and
miss an audio trigger, then record which level you successfully
Repeat this test after 2-3 minutes and be sure to also push off reached.
the opposite leg.
Hint: Remember to interchange the legs you turn on to prevent
Hint: Compare the time for the Left and Right turn to determine fatigue.
which side your turn is stronger on. Address your weaker side by
performing single-leg strength training. Tip: You can find this test on the 'Bleep Test Solo' app for IOS
and 'YoYo Test' app on Android.

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WHEN TO TEST
Now that we’ve outlined the tests, let’s discuss when you should
be performing testing. As we mentioned earlier, most fitness
testing happens in the pre-season period.

This will allow you/the coaching staff to gauge how hard to push
you in the coming weeks of training, as well as what areas
you/they should focus on improving. However, this isn’t the only
time to test your fitness levels.

You should aim test yourself multiple times within the football
calendar to establish where your fitness levels truly are. The pre-
season testing will establish your starting status, but you need to
assess whether your training is effective in improving your
physical capabilities or not. Therefore, it's important to do follow
up testing.

This is done for three main reasons:

1. Ensure your training program is working (improving weak

areas, maintaining strengths etc)
2. Gauge new areas of focus (switch training focus to improve
on new areas)
3. To have data to refer back to when returning from injury to
match fitness

You should complete a follow up test just before the start of

season (roughly 6 weeks after the start of the team preseason),
as well as during the mid-season break to see where your fitness
levels are.

Following this, you should perform a final test at the end of the
season for three reasons:

1. Gauge where you are physically

2. Establish an off-season training program from to maintain
your fitness levels

Ultimately fitness testing is designed to determine how fit you

are in multiple areas of football performance. Modern football
requires players to be fast, agile, explosive and have great work
capacity.

In order to be the best, you need to perform like the best. Test
yourself and seek constant improvement.

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TESTING ON OUR
PROGRAMME
If you are following our full season programme (The MESSI-N
Formula), you should schedule your testing throughout the
season as we have outlined above. However, if you are using one
of our individual training programmes, below we have outlined
which tests you should perform at the start and end of each
programme.

BODYWEIGHT CONDITIONING & FAT BURN PROGRAMME

MAX PUSH UPS

MAX PLANK HOLD
BROAD JUMP

STAMINA PROGRAMME

YO-YO INTERMITTENT RECOVERY TEST LEVEL 2

SPEED PROGRAMME

10M SPRINT
FLYING 30M SPRINT
T TEST
5-0-5 TEST

INJURY PREVENTTION PROGRAMME

1RM TRAP BAR DEADLIFT

1RM LEG PRESS
MAX PLANK HOLD

PRE-SEASON & IN-SEASON PROGRAMMES

1RM TRAP BAR DEADLIFT

1RM LEG PRESS
MAX PUSH UPS
MAX PLANK HOLD
BROAD JUMP
10M SPRINT
FLYING 30M SPRINT
T TEST
5-0-5 TEST
YO-YO INTERMITTENT RECOVERY TEST LEVEL 2

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TRACKING YOUR WORKLOAD
So now that you know why and when to test (and what tests to Select the number which you think best describes the intensity
do), it's important to also have a way of monitoring your training of the session you have just done, referring to the scale shown
(or workload) throughout the season. below.

Doing this will enable you to not only track your progress, but If you’ve done multiple sessions in one day, at the end of the day
also identify when you may need to: add together your separate RPE scores and then divide this
number by the number of sessions for that day. This will give you
• schedule more rest an average RPE score for that day.
• Are at a higher risk of injury
• Are overtraining *Make a note of your number as soon after completing the
• Need to add in some variation to avoid burnout session as possible, recording it on the printable table provided
at the end of this guide. *
Below we have outlined two very simple yet affective methods
which will provide you with an overall

METHOD 1: TRACK YOUR

UNITS & RPE
STEP 1: RECORD YOUR TRAINING MINUTES

This is pretty straight forward. If on a Monday you did a 45-

minute gym session and a 60-minute team training session, then
your score for that day would be: 45 + 60 = 105 minutes. Make a
note of this every single day on the printable table provided at
the end of this guide. Below we have provided an example.

STEP 2: RPE SCALE SYSTEM (RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION)

Use this scaling system after every training session (including

gym workouts) and match.
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 METHOD 2: POMS
STEP 3: CALCULATE YOUR TRAINING UNITS (WORKLOAD)
(PROFILE OF MOOD
Now you’re going to use your two answers above to calculate
your daily workload (this is not 100% accurate but gives a good
indication).
STATE)
In addition to method 1, you can also use method 2 – the POMS
First you need to calculate your total training units.
system. As soon as you wake up every morning you must answer
each of the questions in the table below using this 1-5 scale:
Calculating your training units is a simple case of multiplying your
training minutes by your RPE score.
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
So, for example on Monday:
3. Neutral
4. Agree
150 TOTAL MINUTES X 6 (RPE SCORE) = 900 TRAINING UNITS
5. Agree strongly
900 IS THEN YOUR TOTAL TRAINING UNITS NUMBER FOR THAT
For the muscle soreness question, answering with a 5 would
DAY.
mean that you have no soreness at all. See our example below:
Please see our example below.

STEP 4: WEEKLY & MONTHLY WORKLOAD

You can see from the scoring system that for each day the
To calculate your weekly workload, you must simply add together maximal/optimal score is 25. The higher the score, the better. A
your training unit scores from each day of the week as we have low score may indicate overtraining, that you need to make a
above. change, or you need to schedule more recovery time.

This figure is your total workload score from every training

session and match in that week. To find your monthly workload,
you must add together each of your weekly workload totals for
that month.

See the table below for our complete example for one week of
training and matches.

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COMBINING THE TWO
For example, if your workload score (from method 1) was
particularly high this week and your POMS score (method 2) was
very low, that would be a good indicator that you need to
schedule some rest time, focus more on recovery, or vary your

METHODS
training. You can find all printable tables at the end of this guide.

BELOW YOU WILL SEE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO COMBINE ALL

OF YOUR RESULTS INTO ONE TABLE.
You can use both methods as a way of estimating when you are
likely to become fatigued (and possibly at a high risk of injury) AT THE END OF THIS GUIDE WE HAVE PROVIDED ALL OF THE
and also seeing how your level of physical and mental fitness TEMPLATES ABOVE FOR YOU TO PRINT OUT AND FILL IN, SO
changes over time. THAT YOU CAN MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS AND RECORD YOUR
RESULTS.

YEARLY TRACKER EXAMPLE

10
TRAINING MINUTES PRINTOUT

11
RPE PRINTOUT

12
TRAINING UNITS PRINTOUT

13
 POMS SCORES PRINTOUT
As soon as you wake up every morning you must answer each of Please note: A ‘5’ means that you’re feeling excellent, highly
the questions in the table below using this 1-5 scale: energetic and in your best mood.

1. Strongly disagree For the muscle soreness question, answering with a 5 would
2. Disagree mean that you have no soreness at all.
3. Neutral
4. Agree
5. Agree strongly

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YEARLY TRACKER PRINTOUT

SEND US YOUR RESULTS!

We would love for you to keep us up to date with your progress!
Take a photo of your completed progress sheets and email them to [email protected]

You can also submit your fitness test results to us online by clicking the button below:

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT RESULTS

Please note: if you would like a way of digitally tracking all of your data into a spreadsheet which then automatically displays your data into
graphs so that you can see the relationship between your training, nutrition and recovery, this is possible with the “True Tracking System”
which is included in the full MESSI-N Pro Football Formula Programme.

15
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