She Kicks Fitness & Conditioning: Kicking Back After Lockdown

Glasgow City’s strength and conditioning coach was flying home from a Scotland camp on 11 March when the pandemic stopped everything, and this article is his account of what six months without football did to elite players. The concept at its centre is de-training: a published study of a Champions League squad found players lost fitness and strength and gained weight over a four-week off-season even while training twice a week, and off-season habits predict later injuries. Glasgow City’s players were furloughed and became accountable for their own training, then had four weeks of full sessions before facing Wolfsburg, with limited gym access. The result was an unusual spate of groin and hip problems. He closes with two exercises – a groin squeeze and a glute bridge – that any player can use returning to games.