How Do You Stay Match Fit When Football Keeps Getting Washed Out?
- Murray Leyland
- Jul 21
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Short answer: a washout isn't a free day off, it's banked fatigue — so keep running through it. Skip training when a game's called off and your body quietly detrains, then the makeup fixtures land back-to-back and hit a deconditioned body at peak demand.
The fix: a 30–60 minute run with sprint work mixed in through every washout weekend, so you stay match-shaped for whatever the rescheduled list throws at you. Funny thing: it's beautifully sunny as I write this. But you and I both know what this winter has actually looked like — rain, washed-out rounds across the Hunter, and fixture lists quietly filling with makeup games.
And that's the bit nobody's thinking about while they're enjoying an unexpected Saturday off.
Is a washed-out game really a free day off?
Here's the misconception. The rain rolls in, the text comes through, the game's off, and the reaction is universal: sweet, day off. Feet up.
But a washed-out round doesn't cancel football. It banks it.
Your body is conditioned to a certain weekly load of training and playing. Skip a week, then another, and you slowly detrain — the engine and the tissues wind back without you feeling a thing. Then the makeup fixtures land and suddenly it's game after game after game, sometimes midweek and weekend stacked together. Peak demand hitting a deconditioned body. That's exactly where we see injury rates spike.
What should footballers do on a washout weekend?
One thing above all: still go for a run.
You don't need to drum up a full game of football. Your body just needs a stimulus that keeps it match-shaped, and for a footballer that means two ingredients:
Miss either one and you're only half covered.
What does a washout running session look like?
Keep it simple. Go for a 30 to 60 minute run, depending on your level, and salt some sprints through it.
The format barely matters. Sprint from one house to three houses up the street, then jog for a couple of minutes, and repeat a handful of times. Or run a block hard, take a couple of easy blocks, then hard again. What you're really doing is replicating the rhythm of soccer itself: sprint, recover, sprint, recover. Ninety minutes of football is exactly that pattern in disguise, so that's the pattern you keep alive.
And if it's truly bucketing down? Take it to the gym. An easy hour on the treadmill with a few intervals dropped in does the job. In those intervals, aim to touch around 85% of your top speed, because that's the zone where the real protective effect kicks in. High-speed running is what prepares hamstrings, calves, and knees for what a game asks of them. An easy jog alone doesn't get you there.
What if I'm already niggly after the makeup games?
This is the part I need you to take seriously.
If you've just played your third or fourth makeup game after the washouts and that calf, hamstring, or knee is feeling niggly, you are at very high risk of an injury in the next 7 to 14 days. That's the window. The niggle is your body telling you the congestion maths isn't working.
Come in, get it assessed by one of our talented physios, and let's work out the smartest strategy for your situation — whether that's a modified week, a targeted loading plan, or treatment to settle it fast. The goal is simple: manage a niggle for days now, instead of an injury for four to six weeks in the middle of the run home.
What should I do next?
If your winter has been washouts, makeup games, and a body that's starting to grumble about it, don't wait for the niggle to make the decision for you.
Book in with our team at Valley Physiotherapy across Thornton, Kurri Kurri, and Maitland, and we'll get you through the congestion with as little missed football as possible. And if you've got questions, reply to this email and I'll happily give you a hand.
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