Get fit for football

Start your new season in match-fit condition, whether you're playing five-a-side or non-league football

Rebuild stamina You need plenty of stamina to keep up with play, yell at the ref and ideally last the full 90 minutes. "Running is a quick, effective way of building leg strength and developing stamina," suggests Dan Fivey, personal trainer with Fitness First. 

Start your pre-season sessions with a 20-minute run – three times a week. 
Maintain a jogging pace and add 5-10 minutes each week until you can run for 60 minutes. Remember, speed is not crucial - go as slower if you like, just don't stop.

Put in power work Leaping to meet a cross, jumping to catch one if you're in goal or simply skipping skyward as part of a show-off goal celebration all require power from your pins. "Plyometric exercises train your nerve and fast-muscle fibres for explosive bursts of pace and power," explains Tony Colbert, fitness trainer at Arsenal FC. 

Perform plyometric sprints at least once a week. In a match you rarely sprint over distances greater than 12m. So set up a mark 6m away from your start point, then another 6m from the first one. This is your sprint course designed to replicate the dashes you'll do during a game (though without the comic on the touchline shouting ‘Run, Forrest'). Start by lying flat on your stomach. Jump up and sprint forward to the 6m marker then back to the start. Turn and sprint to the 12m then return to the start. Repeat for 6 reps increasing each week.

Protect your weakest link We don't mean the tub-of-lard playing at right back. We mean the part of your Sunday soccer physique most prone to damage: your ankles. To strengthen your ankles against the ‘landmine' divots local authority pitches are host to by performing Heel Raises. Stand with the balls of your feet on a step. Rise up on your toes – hold for a count of 10 – then gently lower your heels as far as you can. Repeat this 8-10 times, three times a week. As you progress try incorporating weights into this exercise.

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Words by Rob Kemp

Deena Kastor blog

Really interesting blog on her life and training and particularly marathon training by top US athlete Deena kastor. It's encouraging to hear the pro's struggling and looking everywhere for inspiration as much as the rest of us do.

Celebrity fit club

They are some of the best-selling DVDs on the market, but beyond the vaguely famous faces and the thumping music, are celebrity home fitness regimes actually any good? The Guardian's writers to put them to the test.

Latinasize with Lilia Kopylova from Strictly Come Dancing, £17.99

Lilia promises that if you do her exercises you will "lose weight without realising it" so that you can wear "all those dresses with all those stones on them". It's an incentive. What follows, though, is a miserable experience. We begin with the least rigorous warm-up imaginable followed by 10 minutes each of salsa, rumba, cha-cha, samba and jive. It is very dull and my heart rate went up only briefly, doing the jive, which appeared to be the only dance that Lilia enjoyed. Lilia has no connection with the background dancers and there is no banter, just awkwardness. And the camera manages to cut away from her whenever she does a complicated step, so it is tricky to follow. If you love the TV programme, or want to learn basic steps, you might like a look. But if you want to get fit, have a dance down the disco instead. Katharine Viner

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Skywalk - Grand Canyon

Skywalk opens on March 28th and is a fully glassed walk way looking out over the Grand Canyon. It wonâ..t make you any fitter as it will save you walking down and back up again. But it is healthy because you would have been out in the countryside for a few days if you manage to get there; and it should get your heart beating.

The Best Fitness equipment

We all start the year vowing to change our lazy ways. But while the spirit is willing, the flesh is all-too-often weak. Don't give up. Strengthen your resolve with these short-cuts to the body beautiful. By Ian McCurrach

The Independent (13-19 Jan) lists the 50 Best of Fitness Equipment, here are their top 3.

1. The Lifeplan Workout- This is the same exercise and nutrition plan that Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus followed to help her shed over 10 stone. At its core is an easy-to-follow, hour-long workout as well as motivating advice, tips and trade secrets. Amazon £17.99

2. Ultratone Sports Range- The Ultratone kit tones you up, builds muscle strength, improves your stamina levels and boosts your lymphatic drainage system. An hour session on your stomach is the equivalent of 100 sit-ups. Ultratone £599

3. Nike+iPod Sport Kit with Nike + Footwear- Nike has introduced a range of footwear designed to talk to Apple's iPod nano, through the wireless Nike+iPod Sport Kit. With Nike+ footwear connected to iPod nano, information on distance, time and calories burned is stored on iPod and displayed on screen. Nike £85

Walking vs Running

Zest Magazine's Battle of the workouts looks at Walking vs Running.

Speed of results - The winner is Running - While neither will deliver instant toning results, running does have the upper hand.,

Calorie Burn - The winner is Running - Recent research has revealed that walking isn't as effective for weightloss and improving fitness levels as higher-intensity activities such as running.

Boredom Factor - The winner is Walking - Studies show that the dropout rate from walking programmes is 20%, compared with over 50% for running.

Benefit to problem areas - The winner is Running - Running has the edge here as there's more upperbody involvement, but both running and walking do wonders for the lower body.

Injury Potential - The winner is Walking - Because of the impact involved, you have more chance of injury from running.

Men's Health Five-a-side tricks from Wayne Rooney

Men's Health shows us Three of the best Five-a-side football tricks from the king, Wayne Rooney

The switch-and-pass

Great for buying a couple of seconds for the killer pass

How to do it: " When running forward with the ball and one defender is by your side, simply turn in a tight circle in the opposite direction," says Rooney. "If a defender is coming up fast on your left, turn to the right as tightly as possible. The defender will try to follow by going around your back which will give you a few seconds to shoot or pass to an open player."

The feint-and-shoot

Great for making the keeper feel like a total charlie.

How to do it: "During a break-away, turn to the far side of the goal just for an instant then turn back and shoot," says Rooney. "This will turn the keeper around, opening up the goal for a clearer shot." Get it right and he'll feel like Paul Robinson on a bad night in Zagreb.

The give-and-get

Great for Running rings round the defence

How to do it: "If you're playing indoors, then you can use the boards as a 6th man," explains Rooney. "When a defender runs towards you, knock the ball into the boards, run past the defender, and collect the ball as it rebounds back." Take care not to blast it 5 yards over, or all your hard work will have been in vain.

Words by Dan Jones

Getting fit for 2007

isporty shows you where to click for the best online fitness tests

Whether you are naturally fit or want to get fit after a long break from exercise one of the things we all need is to know is what our start point is.

You can perform some simple fitness tests at the gym or at home. Here is a selection of the best ones isporty has found online:

• Top End Sports - Fitness and Health Calculators
• Free Trainers - Free Cardio online test
• Netfit - a load of fitness tests