Antony Papadopoulos

Ever wondered what a proper week of training looks like for a pro footballer?

Most people only see the 90 minutes on matchday… but what happens during the week is what actually keeps players fit, sharp, and available all season.

Here’s a typical week 👇

Monday – Recovery-focused
Usually the second day of recovery after a weekend game.
This includes light runs, light technical team work, upper body gym (to let the legs recover), mobility, stretching, and treatment. The goal is to reset, not push.

Tuesday – Hardest day of the week
If there’s no midweek game, this is the toughest day.
Often a double session:
• Big team session (8–9km total distance)
• High-intensity work
• Lower body gym in the afternoon

This is where the main physical load happens.

Wednesday – Proper recovery day
This is about staying healthy and absorbing the work.
• Injury prevention (low sets, low reps)
• Mobility
• Sauna / steam room
• Ice baths
• Light movement

Thursday – Last tough day before the game
Still a strong session, but slightly less than Tuesday.
• 6–7km total distance
• Tactical work
• Upper body gym in the afternoon

After this, intensity drops.

Friday – Match Day -1
All about preparation.
• Tactical work
• Team meetings
• Opposition analysis
• Set pieces

Nutrition is huge here: carb loading, hydration, sleep.

Saturday – Match Day
Everything you’ve done all week leads to this.

Sunday – Full recovery
Complete rest or very light recovery work.

This is why random training doesn’t work. Everything is structured around performance, recovery, and staying available all season.

Antony.

2 days ago | [YT] | 45

Antony Papadopoulos

Let’s talk about the gym for footballers.

I’ve played with so many insanely talented players over the years… but a lot of them don’t truly understand how important the gym actually is.

And no, it’s not about getting massive, chasing muscles, or just looking big.

The real value of the gym is this:
It can be the difference between playing 10 games a season… and playing 40, 50+ games consistently.

Why? Injury prevention.

Football places huge demands on your body, sprinting, decelerating, changing direction, tackling, jumping, landing. If your muscles, tendons, and joints aren’t strong enough to handle that load, something will eventually give.

These are the muscles that protect your body when the game gets intense.

Then there’s power.

Football isn’t just endurance, it’s explosive.
Sprints. Jumps. Shots. Changes of direction.

Power training helps you:
• Accelerate quicker
• Jump higher
• Win duels
• Become more explosive
• Feel stronger on the pitch

And yes… let’s be honest , who doesn’t want to look good as well? That’s just a bonus 😅

If you’re a footballer and you’re not training properly in the gym, you’re leaving performance, durability, and consistency on the table.

This is exactly why I built my app — structured gym plans, football-specific sessions, injury prevention work, recovery, mobility, and everything a footballer actually needs.

If you want to train properly, not randomly, download the app. Link in bio.

Antony.

1 week ago | [YT] | 99

Antony Papadopoulos

6 years ago I made a decision that completely changed my football.

I’d always worked hard… but I properly locked in.

Not just extra training — but how I thought about the game, how I lived, how I recovered, how I fuelled. I started trying to absorb every bit of information I could.

- From coaches.
- From nutritionists.
- From sports scientists.
- From players ahead of me.

I stopped pretending I knew everything and started acting like a sponge.

- Ask questions.
- Listen properly.
- Apply what you’re taught.
- Stay curious.

And honestly, I’ve still got a lot to learn, that never stops.

But I’m now at a place where I understand the body, preparation and what actually improves performance much more than I did back then. That didn’t come from guessing… it came from learning from people who knew more than me.

My advice:

- Be coachable.
- Be open.
- Be willing to learn.
- Surround yourself with people who know more than you — and absorb it.

The quicker you drop your ego, the quicker you’ll improve.

Antony.

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 125

Antony Papadopoulos

Here’s my framework to improve as a footballer consistently:

Step 1:
Train with structure, not randomness.
Have clear football sessions planned: technical work, position-specific drills, decision-making and match realism. Stop just “kicking a ball about”.

Step 2:
Fuel properly.
Structure your day around breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Eat enough carbs for energy, protein for recovery, and hydrate properly.

Step 3:
Strength train 2–4× per week.
Focus on football-based strength: lower body, upper body, core and power.
Lift with intent — strong, fast footballers last longer and win more duels.

Step 4:
Add fitness the right way.
Use repeat sprints, intervals, pitch runs and conditioning sessions that actually translate to games, not just jogging laps.

Step 5:
Recover like a pro.
Mobility, sleep, hydration, recovery sessions, light days.
You get better from recovering from training, not just doing more of it.

Step 6:
Work on your mind.
Confidence, routines, handling pressure, dealing with bad games, mental strength separates players at the same ability level.

Step 7:
Be consistent, not perfect.
You don’t need to do everything every day, you just need a repeatable weekly structure. Show up, stack days, keep going.

“It can’t be that simple.”

It honestly is.

Train smart.
Fuel right.
Recover well.
Repeat.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 132

Antony Papadopoulos

For a long time, I used to think that more was always better.

More training. More sessions. Less rest. Saying no to everything else. I thought that was what being serious meant.

But I was wrong.

Over time, I realised that constantly locking yourself away and training non-stop can actually be a detriment. It catches up with you eventually, whether that’s mental fatigue, loss of motivation, or physical injury.

What’s made the biggest difference for me is finding the right balance. Training hard, recovering properly, and still allowing myself time to switch off, socialise with friends and family, and live a normal life outside of football.

That balance has made me:

More consistent

More focused

Less burnt out

And honestly, a better footballer

But this is important — balance doesn’t mean doing nothing.

You still need to work hard. You still need to train on recovery days, look after your body, and stick to a structured plan. You don’t skip the work. You earn the rest.

The difference now is that when I do relax, I actually let myself relax , because I know the work has been done.

Football is a long game. If you want longevity, you need to train smart, not just hard. Structure, recovery, and balance will take you further than burnout ever will.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 122

Antony Papadopoulos

What if improving as a footballer wasn’t just about training harder but understanding yourself better?

This past week gave me a moment to step back and reflect on what life as a professional footballer actually looks like beyond the 90 minutes.

The preparation.
The routines.
The recovery.

The mental battles that no one really talks about.

In my latest video, I take you through a week in my life as a pro footballer — from training and match preparation to recovery, mindset, and the work I’m doing off the pitch building my training platform for other players.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, or you’re a player trying to understand what it really takes to stay consistent and perform week after week, this one will resonate.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 8

Antony Papadopoulos

One of the questions I’ve been asked the most over the years is:
“If you’re a footballer, why do you post so much on social media?”

And honestly… the answer has always been the same: why not?

Football is my job, my passion, and always the priority. I’ve been playing professionally for years and that will always come first. But during lockdown, when football stopped, I picked up my phone, went into the garden, and started making content just for fun.

No plan, no strategy.
Just enjoying myself.

Fast forward five years and it’s become a massive part of my life. Creating content has opened doors, built relationships, and given me opportunities that simply wouldn’t have happened by “just playing football.”

Through the process I've learned about training properly, nutrition, mindset, and everything that goes into performing at a high level, from real experience with top coaches, physios, analysts, and players I've worked with.

So I started sharing it.

And that eventually led me to build my own football training app… something I’m genuinely proud of. It’s become a place where I can put all the things I wish I knew as a young player, gym work, drills, nutrition, game understanding, all in one spot for players who want to improve.

And yes — I still play professionally alongside it.
Yes — I still train every day.
Yes — football always comes first.
But I’ve realised something important:

You’re allowed more than one passion.
You’re allowed to try things outside your “main identity.”
You’re allowed to build something for yourself.

People will always have opinions, especially when you do something different.
Some will support it.
Some won’t understand it.

But the truth is: the people who tell you not to do something are usually not in a position you want to be in anyway.

So whether you play football, run a business, study, or create content...If you enjoy it, if it adds to your life, if it gives you purpose… keep going.
Don’t shrink your ambitions to make someone else comfortable.

I’m going to keep playing, keep creating, keep building my app, and keep enjoying the process. Because you never know where something can take you unless you give it a proper chance.

— Antony

1 month ago | [YT] | 74

Antony Papadopoulos

January 1st. Two days earlier I’d been recalled from my loan spell, buzzing with confidence after a good run of games.

I’d been told I was starting back in the league 1, first game - Charlton at home.

Nervous, but excited.
One of those moments every player dreams about.

I warmed up with the team, everything felt right… 10 minutes before kick-off the game gets postponed.

I remember standing there gutted, thinking, “Alright, cool. Next week then.”

One week later…
I’m not even in the 18-man squad.

That’s football.
It hits you fast.
Highs and lows you never see coming.

One minute you feel unstoppable, the next you’re questioning everything.

But here’s the thing, that’s exactly why you have to stay locked in, even when things flip on you.

Because the pain of not being ready, not pushing, not believing… hurts more than the disappointment itself.

Football will humble you.
Football will test you.
Football will pull opportunities away from you as quickly as it gives them.

But it will also reward you if you stay in the fight.

Most players hide when things don’t go their way.

They stop training properly.
Stop believing.
Start blaming.

But the real difference comes from staying sharp when it would be easier to switch off.

Ask for more.
Push for more.
Train when you don’t feel like it.
Keep going when you're not in the squad.
Prepare like you’re starting, even when you’re not playing.

You should be more scared of not trying than you are of failing.

Something to think about.

Antony.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 169

Antony Papadopoulos

Last week I spoke about opportunities — in football and in life.

How they come when you least expect them…

And the truth is, most people miss them because they hesitate, overthink, or wait for the “perfect time”.

But the players who stand out, the ones who progress, level up, and actually make things happen, are the ones who grab opportunities with both hands, even when they’re not 100% ready.

They back themselves. They take the risk. They move forward.

And that doesn’t just apply on the pitch. It applies to your development, your training, your discipline, and your future as a footballer.

So if you’ve been watching from the sidelines… waiting… telling yourself you’ll start “next week”…

Well, here’s your opportunity...

I’ve now been a professional footballer for over six years. During that time, I’ve learned so much about nutrition, gym training, recovery, and on-pitch development from top professionals.

That’s why I created my own training app.

It started as a small idea, but two years later it has grown into one of the biggest football platforms on the market. Everything I’ve learned is inside this app for you to follow.

And with Black Friday here, this couldn’t be a better time for you to be reading this.

I’m running an exclusive 30% off discount on the app. This is the cheapest it will ever be, and once you subscribe, your price is locked in forever.

I promise that if you follow the programmes and the guides consistently, you will see a huge improvement in your performance.

Click the link below to claim your discount and get started.

papstraining.passion.io/checkout/289622b4-0a45-431…

Antony.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 30

Antony Papadopoulos

"Best advice for feeling like you're not making progress?"

Trust me, I’ve been there.

Rejected so many times when I was younger. Signed for an academy at 15, almost released at 17, pushed my way to a pro contract, got released again… and three years later I was in League One.

Progress never feels like progress when you’re in it.

No one thinks it’s possible until you’re the one who does it.

Most players quit right before things start to turn. If you can keep going when it feels like nothing is happening, that’s where you separate yourself.

This is the part where almost everyone gives up.
Don’t be one of them. Keep going.

Antony.

2 months ago | [YT] | 117