Football Fitness

Football Endurance Blocks

Build the aerobic base a full match demands

Football Fitness

Speed & Agility

Football Endurance Blocks is a 16-minute football fitness drill for 4-22 players, suitable for Under 14 to Adults at beginner, intermediate, advanced level. You need cones, balls. Below you will find the objective, the set-up, how to run it, coaching points, common mistakes, progressions, regressions and variations.

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Football Fitness

Speed & Agility

Technical Practice

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Full Squad

Minimal Equipment

Adult Suitable

Endurance

Conditioning

Pre-Season

Fitness Type: Endurance

Duration

16 min

Players

4-22

Pitch size

Half pitch

Ability levels

Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced

Pitch diagram

Football Endurance Blocks — Finishing set-up — serve, receive, shoot · Half pitch

Step 1 of 3Complete the circuit at the pace each section demands.

1. Complete the circuit at the pace each section demands.
2. Four blocks of three minutes with 90 seconds walking recovery.
3. Finish each block with a pass and a strike at goal.

Cones mark the area
Full goal
S = server
Ball
Dotted arrow = rotation between repetitions
Shooter becomes the next server
Solid arrow = pass, thick = shot, dashed = run / dribble

Objectives

-Build the aerobic base a full match demands
-Keep the work football specific with a ball at the end of each block
-Give players a clear pre-season progression

Setup

1Mark a running circuit around half a pitch.
2Cones mark a jog section, a stride section and a sprint section.
3Balls and a goal at the end of the circuit.

Coaching instructions

1Complete the circuit at the pace each section demands.
2Four blocks of three minutes with 90 seconds walking recovery.
3Finish each block with a pass and a strike at goal.

Coaching points

-Relaxed shoulders through the jog sections
-Full effort in the sprint section only
-Technique on the finish even when tired

Common mistakes

-Running every section at the same pace
-Skipping the recovery walk
-Using this with under-12s — keep younger groups on games

Equipment needed

Cones

Balls

Age groups

Under 14

Under 15

Under 16

Adults

Progressions

+Progressive Tempo: add a fourth maximal round
+Ball For Every Player: shrink the working area
+Reaction Start: two cues, one a decoy
+Add a competitive scoreline for the last round

Regressions

-Progressive Tempo: stay at the first two tempos only
-Ball For Every Player: bigger area, share a ball between two
-Reaction Start: coach counts players in
-Simplify the area or the service until success returns

Variations

-Progressive Tempo — Three rounds: 60% pace, 80% pace, then match pace with full recovery between.
-Ball For Every Player — Every player works with their own ball so no one waits in a queue.
-Reaction Start — Every repetition begins from a visual or audio cue rather than a set count.
-Partner Race — Players work in matched pairs and race each repetition, best of five.
-Mobility Focus — Each round finishes with a controlled mobility hold for the hips, groin and ankles.
-Change Of Direction — Add a 90 or 180 degree turn into every repetition before the finish.
-Team Target — The whole group works to a shared score target and repeats the round if they miss it.
-Flip the practice to the opposite side of the pitch