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  For those of you who don’t know, this is the first edition of the GP Newsletter. Thank you for joining the process and supporting my vision: to bring everyone access to the training strategies pro soccer players use everyday, that actually get results.

Today in 5 minutes or less you’ll learn:

• Walker Zimmerman’s self-taught lessons from his career

• How to Design a Pro Team Warm Up (And the Pivots)

Q&A With Walker Zimmerman

I was really excited to chat with a close friend of mine, a two-time winner of MLS Defender of the year, USMNT starter and Nashville SC legend, Walker Zimmerman. I first met Walker in the USMNT 2017 January Camp. Humble, competitive and a friend to just about everyone on the team, Walker and I connected right away. It was a privilege to have him involved in this first edition of the GP Newsletter. He is a man who I have the utmost respect for and love watching him compete across the world. Check out his insight to a handful of questions I had for him.

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

I had a lot of injuries when I first came into the league. I was hurt when I entered the MLS draft. I entered my first preseason injured, then my first 3 years were riddled with muscle injuries and I couldn't get off to the start I wanted in my career. But I learned so much about my body, my diet, my water intake and things that would make me a better professional and prolong my career.

What is a perfect evening for you?

Going out to dinner, eating some good food and coming back home to watch a good movie, then getting 9 hours of sleep. My favorite spot in Nashville is The Food Company where I eat multiple times a week.

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

It has been a drastic shift in understanding. Early on you are relying on the people who are in place in those positions. Now, after 10 years I feel way more educated on strength training as well as what I need for myself. I feel in tune with my body and the ability to adapt throughout a season.

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

How easy it is off the field, people think we have a bunch of free time, but the reality is that our schedule is made for us and there is very little flexibility. We don’t have flexibility to go to weddings or family events and the rigidity of the schedule means every day is planned for me.

What advice would you give to Walker Zimmerman as a rookie, when you first started?

Always believe in who you are, your strengths, your qualities as a player. I have certain qualities about me that make me a special player. Find your strengths, hone in on those and consistently improve the weaknesses -- but be true to yourself.

What is your motto?

I always say "Embrace the Grind". I know it is a privilege to do what I do for a living, and a lot of that includes being uncomfortable with pain, working hard, suffering physically, and "embrace the grind" is something I say during training and in the gym to keep me going.

What are underrated tools that are indispensable for your job?

I think a support system off the field is key for me in my job. That support system off the field allows me to get grounded or centered. Whether that is family or faith, you need stability to handle the high stress moments.

DESIGNING A PRO TEAM WARM UP

Warm Up Smarter, Not Harder

A warm up needs to achieve 1 goal: prepare the athletes for the demands to come.

So, start by asking this 1 question: what is the desired physical outcome of the session?

By understanding the desired physical outputs of the session, you can work backwards to design your warmup. If the plan is to train in large spaces and play 11v11, then a warm up should prepare the players for high-speed running and greater max velocities.

Think about progressing the intensity of your warm up towards higher speed movements over a slightly larger distance. But be on guard, you do not want to over load the athletes with too much sprinting before a big session. Aim for 1-2 sprints over a 20-30 meter distance, at 70-80% max effort, to prep for the big field space.

Here is a framework to use when building a warm up:

1. General Movements: Think about the familiar soccer moves that you have grown up performing — jogging, shuffling, open the gate, close the gate, leg swings, etc. These give the athletes a bridge from general to specific movements.

2. Dynamic Flexibility: Now we move into multi-joint stretches or movements that increase range across multiple joints. Knee hugs, inverted hamstring stretch, ‘world’s greatest’ are a few staples I use every single session to hit specific joint areas and muscle groups.

3. Movement Specificity: When you understand what the goal of the session is (large spaces vs small spaces) you can begin to perform more focused movement prep. In the large space example, you might look to focus on speed because that will be a high-stress action the athlete will experience. This doesn’t mean you abandon other prep movements like acceleration, deceleration, change of direction, but it allows you to tie in a theme from the start of the day until the end of the session.

4. Individual or Competitive Activation: I find that ending with a decision-making skill or reactive game brings a ton of benefits. You naturally raise the intensity of the warm up and continue to move the athletes closer to the next portion of training. I will use simple actions like relay races or tag, as well as more complex actions such as a player defending a route runner 1v1 while he is trying to get open to catch a ball with his hands. The athletes have fun, naturally compete and get physically prepared for competitive play.

So how do I take this simple framework and apply the “pro” touch to get the best efforts from the players? I start with a conversation as soon as they enter the building. Seek first to understand their attitude and physical demeanor. Ask questions that demand an answer beyond ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and focus on eye contact, tone of voice and mannerisms. These all show signs of athlete readiness and intention for the day. Throughout the next few hours I apply these techniques at breakfast, in the prep rooms and in between team meetings.

The more touch points I can get across 26 players, the better I can apply the framework above. If the majority of the group seems in a good mood and ready to train, I will construct the warm up in smaller groups to limit long discussions so we can have a smooth flow.

During the General Movements phase, it is vital to identify the weak spots in the warm up which might look like: athletes not keeping the pace, a group with too much chattiness or even a slow area due to poor setup. If you find weak spots, the time to fix them is during the Dynamic Flexibility phase because the warm up will slow way down. In reality, you probably have 60 seconds to pivot. Act quick!

The Movement Specificity phase will demand the most technical coaching, which is why you want to eliminate the weak spots beforehand. Sometimes I have to spread the team out so each player is visible, while other times it might be adding in a few more controlled accelerations with short rest to increase the breathing rate (and decrease the talking rate). These are improvisations to gain control before the technique work.

By the time I hit the Activation phase I am making quick decisions in volume and intensity to make sure the athletes are ready for the next phase of training. Instead of thinking about the warm up as an ON/OFF switch, think about a dimmer control. Increase the dimmer to elicit more intensity and backoff if you go too far. Another reason why you program with pencil and not pen. Adapt!

A lot of work goes into preparing and executing a 20 minute warm up. If you do your job right, the athletes will experience a smooth flow and easy adjustments when you hit a speed bump (which will happen). Training is not perfect, it’s messy and ever-changing. Having composure in the highs and lows is paramount in the pro setting.

In summary, a successful pro team warm up requires: setting an intentional goal, designing with a purposeful framework, identifying readiness of players, finding weak spots and pivoting, and adapting the “dimmer switch” in real time to meet team needs.

We made it to the end! Congratulations, you're officially part of the exclusive club of people who read to the bottom of the newsletter.

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-