At the end of last year I left a football team and had a bit of a break from the game but now I am back with a new team and although we are not in a league yet we are currently playing friendlies which have helped me come up with today's post which are all the goals I am setting myself in anticipation for the new season. 

I want my first competitive season with my new team to be my best in a long time, I want to go into it confident in my body by being in much better shape than I am currently in. I also want to see a huge improvement within myself fitness wise as currently that is really slowing me down at the moment and I struggle quite early on in the game. I also want to be better within the technical aspect so my on the ball skill is better, I have more chance of scoring and more chance of assisting whilst overall being able to play for longer which is the big aim.   

At the moment we are currently playing friendlies when we can and I am using these games and the training sessions to set myself some benchmarks for where I am currently at fitness wise and where I would like to get to by the time the real competitive season rolls around. I am really hoping that I am going to start seeing progress towards these goals as we head into the real preseason & the start of the league later in the year. 

So here are some of the goals I have set myself...

Lose 15 kg

Improve my fitness

Improve my strength

Improve my touch on the ball and accuracy

As you can see there is going to be a lot of hard work involved in achieving these goals but here is the plan to help me work towards each goal and really see the benefits... 

Sort my nutrition out

It is about time I started eating properly and that starts now. Gone are the days of eating out as often as possible and those takeaways for convenience that soon start to add up and aren't filling or giving me the nutrition I require. I will be meal planning weekly and meal prepping at every given chance to make sure I am eating the food that fuels my body. I will also be sticking to a high water intake daily and starting the day with some vitamins (more on those in a post another day). 

2 Full body sessions a week

If I manage to stick to 2 of these sessions a week then I should not only see the weight drop off me but also see my strength on the rise. The full body sessions are a nice mix of workouts that will help me work on plenty of areas of my body, it will be interesting to see how the weights in these exercises change over time if I stick to all these scheduled sessions.

Complete the couch to 5K 

Now this one I am looking forward to as it is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am determined that by the time the season starts I can run a solid 5k and to do this I need to complete the couch to 5K. The running side of things will definitely help me in terms of fitness levels improving so I am looking forward to seeing how I get on with this one.

Weight lifting once a week where possible

I am really enjoying my lifting sessions even if my body aches for days after. I know they are benefiting my journey really well too and are aiding my weight loss and fitness journey as I am certainly getting stronger. I want to be hitting every session possible in the run up to the new season, the only way I will be missing them is if I am ill or the session is not on. No more picking trips out over the sessions it is full steam ahead.

Football training

The plan is to hit every training session possible in the run up to the season starting too however, I know there are a few sessions that I will be unable to attend due to family members birthdays or Bradford City games but in the grand scheme of things there are a lot of sessions I can 100% make it to and with the opportunity for 2 sessions a week I am sure most weeks I will be at the minimum of 1 session.

Play in friendlies

Up until the start of the new season we are going to be playing friendlies to make sure we are getting game time, previously I played in as little friendlies as possible however, this time around is going to be different as I am planning on hopefully playing in as many as I can. I am hoping that there aren't many that clash with any time away and let's hope those silly little injuries stay away too.

Train alone in the garden

The plan is to get the side garden all cut and ready for the lighter nights as this space is going to be my very own football training area. I have an agility ladder, cones, re-bounder and some goals for this area and it is somewhere I can take myself out to for 30 mins or even an hour and just work on some basics alone which I am actually quite looking forward to. 

Recover right

To make sure I am hitting the goals and being able to carry out all the bits above I need to make sure I am recovering properly to keep those little niggles away. The plan is to make sure I am stretching properly before every exercise I do plus stretching after to reduce the injury risk. I am sure the massage gun is also going to be my best friend, especially after the weight lifting sessions. The plan is also to get the ice bath set up ready to aid the recovery and also help with the mental side of things.

I am really looking forward to seeing just what difference there is in myself by the time the new season comes around, if I really stick to all the above there should be a big difference however, I guess only time will tell. I will be doing weekly updates on here every Monday with the sort of workouts I have done in that previous week and how the weight is looking, I am really looking forward to doing these updates too as it will show me the progress and what does or doesn't work for me.

The start weight today is 100.9 kg and the goal is to reach 85 kg by the time the new season begins in September / October (we will aim for September though as this is when we should be kicking off) so let's push on and see how much of a difference we can make...