# 6 or 7am college workouts? Why?



## oh canada (Mar 19, 2022)

Why do college coaches insist upon holding daily strength or soccer workouts at 6am or 7am? I read about players being tired all the time, taking naps just to make it through the day, and bombarding their system with an unhealthy amount of caffeine. Is it a facility access issue where football and basketball are given priority to the weightrooms so soccer has to come in at the crack of dawn? Is it just the coaches' preference so that they can have their days free? Something else? I understand academic classes for some might start at 8am, but it seems like athletes' schedules could be organized so that their classes start later--at least a few days per week.

I would think with the increased attention to mental and physical wellness of athletes (and all college students), having them get adequate sleep would be priority #1. And, that's not gonna happen if student-athletes are waking up at 5am every day and fighting off fatigue 24/7. College athlete parents here have any thoughts?


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## GT45 (Mar 19, 2022)

I think it is done then because it works around their class schedule (no one has conflicts at that hour), and because it keeps them from partying hard at night.


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## KJR (Mar 19, 2022)

GT45 said:


> I think it is done then because it works around their class schedule (no one has conflicts at that hour), and because it keeps them from partying hard at night.


Also, per the OP, if the school is in a cold weather area where access to an indoor bubble is being shared between, say, football, men's and women's soccer and lacrosse, then teams will often rotate in that 7am training slot.


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## timbuck (Mar 21, 2022)

Gets them ready for adult life. When your only option to workout is before work (and before your kids wake up).
College soccer (any sport) isn't for everyone.


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## oh canada (Mar 22, 2022)

timbuck said:


> Gets them ready for adult life. When your only option to workout is before work (and before your kids wake up).
> College soccer (any sport) isn't for everyone.


sorry, but this is old school thought. Your daily workouts consist of 90-minute weight sessions and beep-tests before work then 2hr soccer scrimmages later in the day? You awake at Midnight and setting the alarm at 5am every day too? 

This is the "work hard, play hard" mentality that is so wrong (thanks Nike) and leads to mental health breakdowns and physical injury. So much science-based research out now that shows rest, recovery, and sleep are crucial for healthy athletes, both physically and mentally. Learned coaches need to make changes and think forward, not do what they did as players 20-30 years ago.

Keep the workouts, just schedule them later in the day a few times per week so the kids can recover. Or, better yet, have a couple off days during the week during the off-season. We're seeing the effects of driving kids too hard - Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Matthew Wolf, etc.


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## Timextouches (Mar 24, 2022)

Teams go early due to facility access and to allow more time to get classes in since the fall semester is more restrictive in what you can take. 
Plus spring is a time of development, to get stronger, fitter and more skilled and that takes time. They only get 2 months of spring practice time so when else can you practice and lift without taking a huge chunk of their day? You have to break it up. 
Plus division 1 soccer is a grind. Choose accordingly. It may mean going to bed earlier, not partying every night, or other appropriate sacrifices. You don’t have to choose that.

mental health issues and burnout are real and prevalent. The answer to those things isn’t asking less of our student athletes but equipping them to handle expectations with tools.

I was a division 1 athlete and our off season strength and conditioning were early morning. It sucked but now being an adult it didn’t suck that bad. Lol. Real life is way worse. I had teammates who prioritized Their nutrition and sleep and fared way better than I did. Then by my sophomore year i handled it better and then junior year I figured it out.
I will say as a grown adult I would 100 percent trade the real world back for the life of a student athlete. And we didn’t have all the perks kids now have. At the time we complained about how hard it was but a year after graduation it’s like oh. That was a pretty awesome deal.

it’s not for everyone.Theres lots of levels with varying degrees of commitment levels. Choose one of those.


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## COSMOS (Mar 30, 2022)

GT45 said:


> I think it is done then because it works around their class schedule (no one has conflicts at that hour), and because it keeps them from partying hard at night.


The second part of this comment was the reason for us.  We were either on the track or in the weight room at 6am every Monday and Friday Morning during the off-season.  Did not stop the best of us, but did slow us down on Thursty Thursdays just a bit!  It also gets kids up and going so they don't miss 8am and 9am classes.  

I'd add that that is the only time some soccer programs can schedule the facilities and strength coaches if they are competing for time with larger revenue generating programs like Football or Basketball that sometimes take priority.


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## Simisoccerfan (Mar 30, 2022)

Schedules are arranged but when you have 30+ players taking different majors, different classes and in different grades you can imagine it is very difficult to block schedules.  Even when a school has dedicated training and lifting space for soccer.   Obviously the focus is to free up training time so lift and run has to happen early.


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## LASoccerMom (Mar 30, 2022)

It is not unique to soccer. The D1 football program at local university lifts at 6am, 6 days a week during the off season.


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## EvilGoalie 21 (Mar 30, 2022)

Another thing that feeds into this is that college courses are increasingly being scheduled starting earlier in the morning, later in the evening and on weekends.  This stretches the day out even further.  For those that have collegiate student/athletes, do you get priority enrollment?  Given their schedule constraints, it would seem almost necessary.  I'd also point out that even prior to college there are 6AM practices for high school and then evening practices for club.  It can be nuts.


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## Kicker 2.0 (Mar 30, 2022)

My oldest is a JR in HS, she takes 0 period which starts at 6:50am.  She’s home by 1pm most days, does her homework, takes a 20 minute nap, eats trains for a hour comes back works on some more homework then goes to Club training till 8:30/9pm.

We can’t protect the use young adults from everything. They need to face the realities of the world at some point and better sooner than later so they learn to adapt.


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## youthsportsuggghhhhgghh (Mar 30, 2022)

oh canada said:


> Why do college coaches insist upon holding daily strength or soccer workouts at 6am or 7am? I read about players being tired all the time, taking naps just to make it through the day, and bombarding their system with an unhealthy amount of caffeine. Is it a facility access issue where football and basketball are given priority to the weightrooms so soccer has to come in at the crack of dawn? Is it just the coaches' preference so that they can have their days free? Something else? I understand academic classes for some might start at 8am, but it seems like athletes' schedules could be organized so that their classes start later--at least a few days per week.
> 
> I would think with the increased attention to mental and physical wellness of athletes (and all college students), having them get adequate sleep would be priority #1. And, that's not gonna happen if student-athletes are waking up at 5am every day and fighting off fatigue 24/7. College athlete parents here have any thoughts?


Are you talking about the 6 or 7 am session along with an afternoon session or substituting the 6/7 am schedule for the afternoon session.  We used to 3x a week have a pool or weight session at 7am in addition to our afternoon workouts. There is plenty of time to get the rest needed and still participate in your chosen sport and do well in school. Time Management is really a thing!! There are also so many resources available now for the student athlete, they just have to take advantage of them.


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## crush (Mar 30, 2022)

To play soccer in America is a big sacrifice of your time and the management of your time, no joke.  My kid did it for 18 months when she was 13 and it was insane.  30 minute naps in college is all you have free time to do during the season and it seems some coaches want you up early. No room to fail either.  Only those who can mange their time, grades, behavior, don;t party and be super discipline, like a robot, will make it to the promise land and soccer glory.  I'm writing in satire too so go easy on me fellas.  I know the types that love this 6am training stuff....lol!  I'm sure most programs will let the recruits know what is expected of them besides getting a 4.0+ and 1400 SAT, besides training everyday.  I know a player who quit college ball because a new coach came in with VERY hard core early morning workouts ((weed out the flakes)) and the old coach was super laid back and not so demanding and this player was not a morning person so she quit, oh well.  She cared more about her mental well being them some coach who wanted his players up early, like at the crack of dawn, just like the real world.


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## Simisoccerfan (Mar 31, 2022)

EvilGoalie 21 said:


> Another thing that feeds into this is that college courses are increasingly being scheduled starting earlier in the morning, later in the evening and on weekends.  This stretches the day out even further.  For those that have collegiate student/athletes, do you get priority enrollment?  Given their schedule constraints, it would seem almost necessary.  I'd also point out that even prior to college there are 6AM practices for high school and then evening practices for club.  It can be nuts.


Yes at my dd's school they have priority enrollment and an academic aid that handles it for them.  I thing this is common.


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## soccermgr (Mar 31, 2022)

oh canada said:


> Why do college coaches insist upon holding daily strength or soccer workouts at 6am or 7am? I read about players being tired all the time, taking naps just to make it through the day, and bombarding their system with an unhealthy amount of caffeine. Is it a facility access issue where football and basketball are given priority to the weightrooms so soccer has to come in at the crack of dawn? Is it just the coaches' preference so that they can have their days free? Something else? I understand academic classes for some might start at 8am, but it seems like athletes' schedules could be organized so that their classes start later--at least a few days per week.
> 
> I would think with the increased attention to mental and physical wellness of athletes (and all college students), having them get adequate sleep would be priority #1. And, that's not gonna happen if student-athletes are waking up at 5am every day and fighting off fatigue 24/7. College athlete parents here have any thoughts?


My son plays college soccer (and the ground is often frosty or icy in the morning) and they have 5:45am lift/strength/conditioning workouts at least 2-3 days year-round, and then during the fall season and in spring, they add in late afternoon training 3 days a week. Often, the early morning training is scheduled that way since most classes don't start until 8am and the coach can ensure everyone is available and at training since schedules vary if you're not at a huge campus with 10K+ students with multiple courses per section available. With all that working out, my son lost at least 9 lbs. during the fall season, so they assigned him a fitness trainer and dietician to help him bulk up. The team also has a counselor who checks in and makes sure that the players are supported mentally, academically, and physically. But he's also at a private college, so there is more support (or so I learned after talking to people who play elsewhere). My kid naps frequently, and appears to always be eating while studying. But he chose this and wouldn't change it for a second.


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