The Pre Season Guide: Creating Robustness in July for Success in May
A successful pre-season can make or break your season.
If the lay the right foundations, then you can potentially set the team up for success later down the line.
With the increased demands on players (e.g. FIFA Club World Cup this summer), planning pre-season is becoming increasingly difficult.
It’s crucial that pre-season is carefully planned in advance and the coach is aligned with the performance staff around daily and weekly goals.
Here's what I've learned from working with professional clubs across Europe about how elite teams prepare.
The 4-Phase Physical Periodisation Model
Most physical coaches think pre-season is about running players into the ground. They're completely wrong.
The elite clubs I've worked with follow this systematic approach:
Phase 1: Restoration & Assessment (Weeks 1-2)
Comprehensive physical screening and injury risk assessment
Aerobic base building with low-intensity, high-volume work
Movement quality restoration after off-season deconditioning
Individual deficit identification and correction protocols
Phase 2: Development & Adaptation (Weeks 3-4)
Aerobic capacity development through threshold training
Strength and power foundation building
Injury prevention program implementation
Sport-specific movement pattern integration
Phase 3: Integration & Intensification (Weeks 5-6)
High-intensity interval training matching game demands
Plyometric and reactive strength development
Position-specific conditioning protocols
Competition simulation under fatigue
Phase 4: Peak & Taper (Week 7)
Training load reduction with intensity maintenance
Neuromuscular activation and speed work
Final physical testing and benchmarking
Competition readiness optimisation
The 3 Physical Non-Negotiables Every Pre-Season Must Include
After observing elite teams across Europe during pre-season, three elements stand out when planning and executing an effective pre-season plan.
1. Individual Load Management
Every player gets a personalised training prescription based on their physical profile, injury history, and positional demands. No cookie-cutter programs.
2. Injury Prevention Integration
Pre-habilitation isn't separate from conditioning – it's woven into every session. Glute activation before sprints. Hamstring eccentrics during strength work. Ankle mobility between drills.
3. Fatigue Monitoring Systems
Daily subjective wellness questionnaires combined with objective markers (heart rate variability, GPS load, sleep quality). When data shows a player is accumulating fatigue, we adjust immediately.
The Physical Periodisation Calendar That Actually Works
Here's the weekly microcycle structure I use across professional environments:
Monday: Recovery + Regeneration (soft tissue work, light movement)
Tuesday: Aerobic Development + Strength Foundation
Wednesday: Speed/Power + Position-Specific Conditioning
Thursday: High-Intensity Intervals + Injury Prevention
Friday: Activation + Competition Preparation
Saturday: Match Play or High-Intensity Training
Sunday: Complete Rest
The key insight? Training stress must be carefully orchestrated. You can't hammer players with high-intensity work every day and expect them to adapt – you'll break them down instead.
Bottom Line
If you're designing your pre-season physical program:
Test before you train – Establish individual baselines for every player
Periodise your stress – Map training loads against adaptation timelines
Monitor daily readiness – Adjust sessions based on fatigue markers
Integrate injury prevention – Make prehab part of every session, not an add-on
Remember: Physical preparation isn't about making players suffer.
It's about systematically building the physiological foundation that allows technical and tactical excellence to emerge under pressure.
That's all for today.
See you next Friday.
James 🫡
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