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Today in 5 minutes or less you’ll learn:

• Bryce Duke’s Ascent to the Pro Level

• Strength Training: IN-SEASON!

Q&A With Bryce Duke

I first met Bryce Duke in 2020 when he joined LAFC in pre-season. He was one of the youngest players and an absolute joy to have in the squad. I got to know him really well throughout the next few seasons as he committed to the process of being a pro. In a pro team you spend more time with players and staff than you do your own family, and Bryce was a big part of a friend group we had. He is a shining example for many young players who want to make the jump to the professional level, that perseverance and hard work are vital. Enjoy his Q&A below!

What are underrated tools that are indispensable for your job?

I think some underrated tools that are indispensable for me would be sleep, my sports psychologist, and Normatec boots. At any point in the season, these are staples that I stay consistent with to help me perform on the pitch.

What advice would you give to yourself (Bryce Duke) as a collegiate player or young pro, when you first started?

I would tell myself to never give up. Not everything is going to go your way and you have to be okay with that, it is what it is. I would also tell myself don’t let small things get to you, only control what you can control. And the biggest of them all would be to believe in yourself.

What are the biggest misconceptions about your job as a pro athlete?

People tend to think it’s a very easy thing to do, that it’s the perfect life to have. When in reality it’s super difficult. There is so much physical demand on the body, and mentally it can be draining. Especially when one day you have to pack your things and move to a different state or even a different country where you know nobody. Things tend to get lonely when you are all by yourself 24/7 apart from when your training. So you try to find things that make you happy and keep your mind off the things that are bothering you on or off the pitch.

How has your understanding of S&C changed since you first started to now in your career?

My understanding of the importance of strength and condition has changed my thought process in many ways. When I first started playing I hated the gym and all the exercises that came with it. Especially after a long training session where I’m sore and exhausted. Now I understand that as much as it sucks it’s for your benefit. To prevent injury, to stay in shape, to keep the muscles durable, it’s all really important to stay ready for the next game or the next training session.

Who or what was influential in your development as a young player, college?

As a young player I was drawn to watching players who were already pro who had the same attributes as me, and the player I watched the most was Iniesta. The way he moves, how he controls the ball, how he handles himself under pressure, is similar to how I want to play. So from a soccer standpoint that’s who I idolized growing up as well as the first year of my professional career. Off the pitch I was lucky enough to have a good group of guys around me, such as Tristan Blackmon, Danny Musovski, some of the younger homegrown guys that were similar age and as well as you Daniel Guzman. It was nice having a good support group and friends around me to help me grow.

What are early setbacks in your career that later gave you an advantage?

Early setbacks for me was probably not playing as much as I would like to my first 2 years as a professional. But I took the time to really watch and learn from the players around me. And figure out the difference of what it takes to just be on a top team and what it takes to play every game for a top team. So I would look at my first 2 years at LAFC as more of a learning process that propelled my development as a pro. I also feel like growing up I was always the smallest guy on the pitch, so I had to find ways to make that my advantage or find ways to be better than others. So I worked on my touch, passing and how to get out of tight situations by studying one of the best to do it (Iniesta).

When was your moment you hit the next level?

I still wouldn’t say i’ve hit that next level quite yet, but last year was a good step forward for me. I want to prove to people what I can do when a team, a coach, and an organization actually believes and trusts in my abilities. By continuing to make the most of my minutes I can continue to showcase my abilities. So ending last season with 1G & 7A was a good step forward in my career and I am hoping to build on that and take another big step this season.

Strength Training: IN-SEASON

Last year I was consulting with a college soccer program who wanted help reducing their injuries. They had a ton of non-contact hamstring and groin injuries. Their training intensity looked good, they had recovery strategies in place between Saturday - Tuesday matches and had begun the starting points of hydration prep throughout the week. But I noticed there was NO strength sessions. The coach told me he didn’t want the players to get sore during the week and thought their offseason strength program would last them through the season.

Today we are going to talk about the value of in-season strength training and why it should be a staple for every team, at every level, in every phase of the year. Let’s get started.

STRENGTH WILL LAST ALL SEASON, RIGHT?

Not quite. It’s interesting that this idea comes up every single year, especially with coaches and athletes who do not prefer lifting in-season. This is an opportunity to connect the end goal with an intelligent process. The coach wants their athletes to be fresh and ready to perform to their best ability for the match and towards the end of the season. In the scenario above, their process is that strength training will negatively effect the end goal of player health and performance. In some instances it can be ironic because coaches will push more conditioning and on field training, expecting that additional load to be tolerated better than strength work. In any situation, this is always a great opportunity to connect the field work to the gym work.

Studies have shown that strength capacities can maintain around 3-4 weeks of no exposure, and then will drop off from there. A college program that neglects strength training in-season, is creating less durable athletes as the season goes on. This does not align with the end goal of fresh players performing at their best in matches.

WHY DO WE NEED STRENGTH TRAINING IN SOCCER?

In order to improve fitness, we must train athletes to be prepared for the demands of the game. On the pitch, athletes are exposed to sprinting, shuffle cutting and crossover sprinting at various intensities, so we can make an argument for strength training in a multi-planar approach. The weight room is a place to improve capacities that might not be trained on the pitch. Higher force movements in the gym (strength training) can fill the “strength” bucket that the field work does not always provide. To create more durable muscles and joint structures, we can focus on movements that increase strength in specific ranges (squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, etc).

When I was working at LAFC and the LA Galaxy, I would have athletes for 10-11 months of the year. By committing to a minimum of two total body strength sessions a week, athletes would get stronger in-season and perceived recovery improved as well. Stronger athletes who recover quicker between matches… sounds like a recipe every coach would want.

WHAT MOVEMENTS SHOULD WE TRAIN IN THE GYM?

Hamstring muscle strains are the most common non-contact injury in the world. It would then make sense that we design a program to develop robust hamstring muscles. I will keep this very simple so that you can implement this in your weekly programming.

We want to find movements that are hip dominant and knee dominant when strengthening the hamstrings. By exposing that muscle group to strength work in the gym, combined with velocity work (sprints) on the pitch, we have a great foundation for hamstring robustness.

_{HIP Dominant Movements: Deadlift, Hip Thrust}

My recommendation is to focus on a variation of the Romanian Deadlift as a starting point. (Down the road, find opportunities to load additional movements as it makes sense). The variation you choose is dependent upon the experience and desired outcome for the athlete. A simple test is to find out if the athlete understands how to hinge at their hips. If the answer is yes, apply load in a stable movement and make decisions from there.

Exercise: 1 Arm 1 Leg RDL.

Cues: Reach your “off-ground” leg back and away from you. Suck your belly button tight to your spine, avoiding rounding your back.

Last week we spoke about reference points. This is a perfect example to use a reference point in the warm up through the Inverted Hamstring Stretch. We can use this warm up movement to refer back in the strength session and give the athlete a connection when adding load in the RDL.

Exercise: Inverted Hamstring Stretch

_{KNEE Dominant Movements: Leg Curl, Nordic Hamstring}

My recommendation is to focus on the Leg Curl as it is easier to control the intensity and will add a foundation of lower body strength before moving to a higher force movement (like a Nordic). You can also choose to focus on the eccentric portion of this movement to potentially regain or maintain fascicle length in the hamstrings. This is especially important for high speed athletes and those returning from hamstring muscle injuries.

Exercise: 2 Leg Hamstring Curl with sliders

Cues: Bridge hips by pushing through heels. Work to full knee extension.

Exercise: 1 Leg Eccentric Leg Curl

Cues: Bridge hips by pushing through heels. Slowly push your heels in the ground as you extend the knee.

REVIEW

After speaking with the college coach about the importance of strength training and connecting the dots of field work to weight room training, he made some changes to his preseason program. Of course there are a multitude of small changes we made to his preseason and in-season programming, but they had one of their lowest preseason incidence of injury across their team. Better yet, they continued to make time for in-season strength training and found huge strength gains over the course of the year.

Keep in mind that we mainly focused on hamstring strength movements today. A great S&C program will hit other important muscle groups and movements that incorporates the entire body. Soccer is a physical sport that can only benefit from strength gains and force producing capacities.

The important part of this story, which is not unique, is that intelligent programming is key. Unfortunately, you cannot simply throw together a strength plan and expect it to result in a success. Yes, it is a step in the right direction, but too much volume and player health can suffer, poor exercise selection and a similar path will occur. The solution is simple: hire a qualified strength & conditioning professional or consult with one. Also, you can continue reading this newsletter and upgrade your knowledge each week!

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But seriously, thank you for being a subscriber and taking the time to read my perspective. It means a lot to me that you find the content interesting and valuable. I am constantly striving to bring you the stories and strategies, with a dash of humor and empathy.

I appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you more front row insight into pro training. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please feel free to reach out to me. Thanks again, I’ll see you next week.

-Daniel Guzman-