I ran a FIFA Refereeing Fitness Test. I passed.

I just went to give the FIFA Women's Category 1 Fitness Test a shot. I really surprised myself!

The fitness test has always been my biggest hurdle as an athlete. But maybe that’s changing?

FIFA Refereeing Fitness Test (and audio files for training) | This is something we all have to pass at some point. Whether you need to start training now or feel like you have your fitness under control, it’s best to know what’s in store for our futures.

I went out today to give this a shot.

It’s what referees here in the US have to pass in order to earn their Regional badge.

I really meant for it to simply measure my fitness progress as I’ve been refereeing more and exercising more regularly to be the best match official I can be.

And guess what? I passed!

To be honest, it was easier than I thought it would be.

Here’s everything I did during training that I think made this all possible…

Everybody will train for this fitness test differently. Some people are natural runners and will pass easily without having to do much formal training. Others like me will have to work hard to get themselves in shape for it. Everybody has a different path; choose the one that’s best for you and get after it!

1. Get to an appropriate weight. I’m 6’2 and used to be a weight lifter. I maxed out around 235 pounds. Since having issues with my lower back and starting to referee, I’ve stopped lifting heavy and am down to ~200 pounds. This has made it much easier for me to run longer distances and in general move around for longer without tiring.

2. More often than not, stick to the right diet. I’m going to be honest; the hardest part about losing weight for me was restricting calories. And I’ll be honest, I’ve had good weeks where I stick to my plan and bad ones too where I went off the rails. To me, “eating clean” isn’t a switch I can just throw into the on position and do it forever. It’s a constant battle. But for me, if I could eat well even in short spurts, this helped me eventually push days into weeks and overall try to eat well more often than not. The 2 things that helped me accomplish this most were the Lose It! app (free version) and the Never Binge Again book.

3. Work weekend tournaments. This means days that you’re working multiple games back-to-back. This could start with 2 in a row. Then maybe 3 matches over 2 days. Eventually 3 in a row 2 days in a row! This doesn’t have to be all centers; a good mix of center and AR is optimal. When you’re really starting out, I think it’s important to only work the number of games your current fitness allows. But as you get your legs under you, working more games helped me push myself to make the runs and be well positioned in the last game which can prove difficult! Over time, it gave me a great foundation for fitness.

4. Regular spin classes. I know these are not for everybody but I think committing to 2-3 sessions per week was the best low-impact exercise to get me ready for the fitness test. Because the test is 40x hard runs and 40x rest periods, I thought it was important to train with some of the same on/off cadence workouts. Spin classes put me on a back and had me moving between low, medium and high resistance. My gym just started offering this really cool digitally immersive class that seems a lot cooler and less traditional spin so maybe something to check out.

5. Low-weight and body weight exercise. I do still go to the gym 1-2x per week to lift weights. But it’s a far different workout than some of the power lifting I used to do. Now I focus much more on body-weight exercises and maybe a few weighted ones with a priority on more reps and higher rep quality than amount of weight. I focused almost entirely on calves, hamstrings, quads, hips and abdominals. I do some upper body work but it’s mostly focused on upper back and shoulders; almost no focus on arms or chest.

6. Low-impact weighted walks. I had a good friend (thanks, E!) tell me he start “rucking” and I thought this would be good added exercise especially for off days. Now most of the time I take my dog for a walk, I throw on a weight vest for it. This helps me get some extra cardio in but even more, it helps me improve my core strength and stabilizing muscles that otherwise might not get a workout. This generally makes me feel like I have more functional strength and allows me to more easily avoid injuries, back problems, etc. Plus my wife doesn’t tell me to stop slouching anymore!

Know a soccer ref? Feel free to share this with them 💙