NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Season 6 Episode 13: Marcus Svensson

Hear an international perspective on the strength and conditioning field from Marcus Svensson, a Swedish National, who currently works in professional soccer with the Al Arabi Sports Club in the Qatar Stars League. This episode shares insights about access to NSCA resources from outside of North America, training strategies for soccer, and the importance of developing adaptability among strength and conditioning coaches. Tune in to expand your professional horizons as part of a global strength and conditioning community.  
 
You can also email Marcus at johanmarcussvensson@gmail.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

“So I thought if I can't make it as a player, I want to maximize and learn as much as I can about the science of soccer and everything else. And there I stayed for seven years. And a great mentor to me and who sadly passed away was Professor Tom Riley. He was probably the pioneer of science and soccer in terms of match analysis, in terms of the physiology of soccer and everything.” 3:23

“I think there's no one size fits all. I think it all depends on the context you work in and again going back to the category you work with. And in some cases it's on context. You need to push a lot more. And in some context you need to hold players back to say, OK, enough is enough. So I think adaptability is the biggest word” 10:18

“So I think I'm not saying we should sprint as fast as the players or run. But if we have, I don't know, if we have a running session, I like to be involved with the players. I like to lead the way to say, OK, we we're doing this. And I think if you come to a new place, that's the one thing you can bond with the players. I'm in the trenches with you together. I would do this with you together. It's going to hurt, yes, but we do it together.” 16:44

[00:00:00.00] [UPBEAT MUSIC]

[00:00:04.35] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast, season six, episode 13.

[00:00:10.20] And if we have a running session, I like to be involved with the players. I like to lead the way to say, OK, we're doing this. And I think if you continue plays, that's the one thing you can bond with the players. I'm in the trenches with you together. I would do this with you together. It's going to hurt, yes, but we do it together.

[00:00:27.60] [UPBEAT MUSIC]

[00:00:29.88] This is the NSCA's Coaching Podcast where we talk to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know but probably didn't learn in school. There's strength and conditioning, and then there's everything else.

[00:00:40.84] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon. And today we're joined by another international guest, Marcus Svensson, a Swedish national who's working in the Middle East, Qatar, with professional soccer. And really excited to get to know Marcus today. Marcus, welcome.

[00:00:59.91] Thank you very much, Eric. I'm honored to be invited. Thank you.

[00:01:04.11] Since COVID-19-- and we were just talking about this-- the podcast has open up and gone a little bit more international just because we are recording these sessions on Zoom. And just really great to have you with us. Your background-- you have a PhD basically in the sport of soccer. Really interesting background.

[00:01:26.64] You served in the military for Sweden. A lot of your career worked with a number of professional teams and developmental leagues in the UK. And now you're working in Qatar. Take us through that progression, that story, and just tell us how you found the field of strength and conditioning.

[00:01:46.02] Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I know. It's I guess a bit of a different background, and come from a very small place in the southeast of Sweden. And basically growing up obviously all my friends, we all played soccer and everything. And you grow up as everyone, you grow up with ambition to be as good as you can in soccer. But it's quite soon you realize you're not going to be good enough to make a living from it. So you're trying to find other means.

[00:02:13.77] And then basically, the way the Swedish system works, or used to work, was for all the male population, when you're 19 you go to a draft system for the military. And then you are placed in a different-- either the Army, the Air Force, or the Navy. And then you serve your national service from there.

[00:02:36.91] So that's what I did for eight months in an island in the Baltic Sea called Gotland. And after that you always come with a crossroads. You either go into full-time work, some people travel, or some people go for studies. And in my case, I choose to go to the UK to work. And eventually I moved into studies.

[00:03:02.46] Unfortunately my grades in Sweden were not good enough. So I had to compensate to go to high school in the UK to compensate for my poor grades. And then eventually I got accepted to Liverpool John Moores University which at the time was one of the first universities to have a degree specific for soccer.

[00:03:23.37] So I thought if I can't make it as a player, I want to maximize and learn as much as I can about the science of soccer and everything else. And there I stayed for seven years. And a great mentor to me and who sadly passed away was Professor Tom Riley. He was probably the pioneer of science and soccer in terms of match analysis, in terms of the physiology of soccer and everything.

[00:03:52.05] So he was probably the first person to really go deep into the science of soccer. So that experience there was invaluable. And I stayed there to do my master's and my PhD also. And not only does the university have a great program, they also open doors to professional clubs. And that's how I got my foot in the door to my first sort of internship at a club adjacent to working on my doctorate degree also.

[00:04:28.47] So and then I stayed on. Since then I graduated in 2007 with my doctorate and then I moved into my first full-time job in soccer two days after. So and again, I can't thank the university enough for opening these doors and everything else. So that was a great experience.

[00:04:49.24] And I stayed in-- totally I stayed in the UK for 17 years working every division in the professional system, so to speak. So that was a real fantastic experience, especially coming from Sweden. Growing up with the English soccer that was a dream come true, for sure.

[00:05:12.22] Let's dive into soccer for a second. We have competitive soccer here in the US. It's a little different in the European, the international scene. Obviously a huge aerobic component to the sport of soccer but also footwork skill component that is different than a lot of field sports that we have here in North America.

[00:05:35.08] How do you approach strength and conditioning for the sport of soccer? Just give us an overview of how you work with those athletes.

[00:05:44.92] Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I'd like to say it's totally different especially in the English system. You have the lower leagues. You can have-- the regular season can be 46 games. And obviously over 90 minutes, it's nothing obviously compared to ISIC or MLB of course. But as you say it's a totally different component.

[00:06:05.83] And I think strength and conditioning it certainly has evolved in terms of the approach to training the players. But I think a great part, like you say, the aerobic part is certainly stressed a lot. And then again working certainly in close conjunction with the medical team to come up with the injury prevention side of things is equally important as well.

[00:06:31.19] And for sure, I think going back maybe, only speaking for myself, going back maybe 15 years when I first started. The Olympic lifts or obviously the barbell work was very important-- put a great emphasis on this. This, I think as you progress, from my side of things has probably slowed down a bit and go into more the strength coordination route in that sense.

[00:06:57.56] So that's probably the biggest change in the approach certainly from my side. And again it's like many different coaches and many different ways and producing the same results. So I think it's very personal and very-- depending on what group of players you have.

[00:07:15.46] Of course youth development-- the approach there would be very different than maybe working with senior professionals. So that will be one of the biggest differences I would say, so depending on what context you work in and what age category you work in.

[00:07:30.73] So you took your career from the UK down to the Middle East working in Qatar. And that's a part of the world that we hear about a lot. Qatar is actually a pretty wealthy country. But when you're talking about the Middle East, heat and humidity is obviously a huge factor. How does that impact your training with professional soccer players?

[00:07:58.60] Yeah, I think, like you say, it's for sure it's a totally different challenge than Europe in that sense. And yeah, you have to be realistic in the output you can have from the players. And in terms of-- for example, they're certainly manipulating the work to rest ratios and all these things and certainly the time you train.

[00:08:21.59] During the worst heat in July, August, September, training time might be 8:00 PM, 9:00 PM, just to be able to maximize the physical output of the players for the particular training session. So and of course in a Muslim country you have one month of Ramadan also where the players are in a fasting state from sunrise to sunset. And therefore the training time would always be a little bit later also. So that's another effective.

[00:08:52.83] So me as a morning person, I had to take a few coffees to be able to be alert for the 10:00 PM kickoff time for the games in that time. But like anything, the human body is amazing. It adapts and move forward. So it's certainly, like you say, a different challenges but I think anything can be achieved. You just have to be realistic in the outputs you can expect.

[00:09:21.26] What have you seen-- and this is a question I like to ask all of our international guests-- what have you seen in your studies and just viewing the strength and conditioning profession from different parts of the world? What are our biggest strengths and what are our biggest challenges?

[00:09:42.28] I think, speaking for myself, I think the biggest thing I've learned is to be-- adaptability I would say is one of the key words. And certainly go with adapting to what the head coach wants and what the head coach training sessions are. And then depending on if you need to top players up in terms of high speed running or whatever it might be or in that sense emphasize more on the recovery.

[00:10:18.57] I think there's no one size fits all. I think it all depends on the context you work in and again going back to the category you work with. And in some cases it's on context. You need to push a lot more. And in some context you need to hold players back to say, OK, enough is enough.

[00:10:41.17] So I think adaptability is the biggest-- the one word, I would say to working in different contexts and different continents to that sense. So adapting to the situation you're in.

[00:10:58.44] Oh, that's really interesting. And working a lot in the UK, you have experienced a different education system than we have here in North America. Obviously the NSCA is based in the United States, the UKSCA, probably an organization you're familiar with, and then Australia, a major hub for strength and conditioning.

[00:11:25.49] I think as a global leader in strength and conditioning, we work with these organizations, and we try to create a global community. I think it's exciting that we can have certified professionals around the world like yourself. Talk a little bit about your NSCA experience and just how that reflects strength and conditioning around the globe.

[00:11:49.70] I think for starters I think I got certified in 2007 I believe with the CSCS. And since then I think your whole set up with the easy access to both-- I'm old school guy so I like the paperback journals when I got them sent in the mail in the UK. I was really excited to get the journal, strength in education, and the strength and conditioning journal.

[00:12:18.23] And to be honest, for me, that was the key with the CPD. Because obviously when you work in full-time sport, it's difficult to find the time to try to get all the CPD in. But I think with these journals, you have enough diversity and diversification in terms of the topics that you stay on track with the current trends.

[00:12:39.88] And of course speaking with other colleagues is by far equally important. And as well getting the access to the conferences and webcasts you guys have also it's was really helpful. And especially I think during the COVID time, you guys really pushed the field forward in terms of giving all the members access to all these materials.

[00:13:10.21] And for me that was excellent resource to have to be able to dive into. I can sit in on a clinic in Nevada, for example. I'm sitting in Qatar. This is amazing. Maybe 15 years ago that was impossible. So I think you guys certainly pushed the field forward during the very difficult time for everybody in the COVID-19 pandemic. So a lot of credit to that for them.

[00:13:40.24] I agree. The strength and conditioning community really came together the past few years. I remember the first year we were experiencing all the challenges with COVID, and you just saw so many virtual clinics popping up. And we had so many applications for CEU providers to offer events and clinics, continuing education. There was even some charity events to help people that were struggling during that time.

[00:14:12.46] And it was just so great to see a community rally. I think as a strength and conditioning community through COVID-19 we definitely got stronger. And from an NSCA standpoint, that paired really closely with our new strategic plan that came out in 2021. And we're really starting to work on those things in community diversity.

[00:14:36.46] There's so many different factors that we're thinking about now even more than we were before just because of the last few years that we've gone through and those experiences. And I think it really is valuable to realize that we are a global community. We're not just in our local community anymore with the athletes we have. What we do matters elsewhere.

[00:15:03.14] And the people we work with on a daily basis are going out, going out around the world, going out to different cities, traveling. One thing-- and I'll ask you to speak on this-- you've traveled quite a bit throughout your career. I think a lot of coaches even here in North America can connect with that is if you pursue this profession, there's a good chance you're going to be moving, moving your family, taking a job where you're not as familiar.

[00:15:37.37] Speak to that for you, just how it's pretty daring to go and take on different parts of the world when you don't have that experience. What was that like for you?

[00:15:49.70] That's exactly right. I think it's for sure. I think, like you said, one of the biggest challenges-- obviously English was not my first language. So moving to England to the UK to study English that was the biggest daunting task. And from there to moving and going to your first changing room in a professional soccer club, that's equally daunting task also when English is not your first language.

[00:16:19.31] And of course you make many mistakes along the way. I'm still do now. And it's how you learn from this. And, like you touched on it before, you work in a people business. And I believe building up personal relationships and showing that you have a passion for train also. And I'm a firm believer in this, that you practice what you preach in that sense.

[00:16:44.01] So I think I'm not saying we should sprint as fast as the players or run. But if we have, I don't know, if we have a running session, I like to be involved with the players. I like to lead the way to say, OK, we we're doing this. And I think if you come to a new place, that's the one thing you can bond with the players. I'm in the trenches with you together. I would do this with you together. It's going to hurt, yes, but we do it together.

[00:17:08.33] So I think that's-- I'll try to use that to break the ice so to speak, to say, OK, we-- I do it with you, as much as you can. So and sometimes of course, it's not easy to move to different countries. And of course, there will be challenges. There'll be clashes with cultural, with whatever.

[00:17:34.78] And again I go back to the previous question-- adaptability. You have to adapt in that environment because essentially I'm a guest in that country. For example, I'm a Swedish citizen, a guest in the UK at the time. Now I'm a Swedish citizen, a guest of Qatar. So we adapt and we try to maximize the performance in that context I think. It's only my personal, of course, my humble opinion.

[00:18:03.70] No, it's great. With your research background we've seen a lot of growth around technology, sports science. Maybe there's a little bit of a different perception around those terms when we're talking internationally versus how we typically talk about it here in the US. But sports science, the NSCA has a new credential.

[00:18:27.89] It's a hot topic. People are reaching out, asking questions. A lot of great work is being done. What's your experience about how training has evolved to include more technology and analytical or sports science processes?

[00:18:44.66] Yeah. I think going back to initially when you first start, to the interval work, you stand with a stopwatch. And if you're lucky we had the Polar heart rate system. So you can guide the training intensity that way. GPS was only-- my first introduction was probably 2010 with GPS, the global positioning system. And essentially even then it worked of course. You still did the training.

[00:19:12.47] And I think as a profession you have to be-- we have to be careful in one way that the new technology is not guiding to do less-- that everyone's overprotective. You still have to do the work. And I'll speak for myself. I've fallen into that trap myself that I was too cautious based on the data that the players we're not training enough in one particular instance.

[00:19:43.85] But like anything you live and learn. So I think using the technology for the right reasons and to push physical performance forward in the right direction then I think it's a fantastic tool to have. But still used up the coaches' intuition, the coaches' feeling also for ourselves to mix the nous with the backed up with the technical data if that makes sense.

[00:20:14.86] I like that. You've touched a little bit on the balance between training hard and recovering between different types of sessions in different environmental conditions. This is a topic that comes up quite a bit on the tactical military side. Reflect back on your military experience and then later your experience as a coach in sport. What have you learned that maybe would have helped the training you did with other soldiers?

[00:20:47.63] I think I was just a gun battery soldier with the artillery regiment in Sweden. So it was just a basic military training as such. It wasn't physical training as such. It was more like the basic marches you did or the-- it wasn't any specific strength and conditioning if I recall. This is going back to 1997 '96. So it's a long time ago.

[00:21:14.99] But for sure obviously it was physically demanding in terms of the lack of sleep and again carrying your equipment and weapons and so on. But I think maybe what I transfer from that into the field of professional sport is more the discipline and the attention to detail that's needed to be able to do your job on a daily basis effectively.

[00:21:45.09] I think that would be the one key thing that this national military service taught me. And that you have to be on the money, so to speak, every day, every single day of the week. Because otherwise, for example, you keep your equipment in order. If it's not in order, then there'll be consequences. So I think these things are probably the one thing that stood out as opposed to maybe something from a physical point of view.

[00:22:14.57] You've mentioned adaptability as maybe one of the major challenges we have as a profession, as professionals working with a wide range of coaches, athletes, et cetera. What do you love about strength and conditioning the most? What gets you up every morning and makes you excited for your day?

[00:22:32.93] I think it's just a privilege to be, in our case, to be able to be outside. And I know it's a very silly thing maybe but just to be able to outside and work with the athletes and to be able to run with them and to actually get paid for this. This is a privilege. If I wouldn't be doing this, I'll probably be working in one of the industries here in my local town.

[00:22:58.85] And I always have a mantra. I always, always plan for every session to be your last session because you never know what's going to happen. So always make sure if you have a line of cones, make sure the cones in a straight line. Make sure your setup is perfect. Don't give the athletes any excuse to complain that you're not prepared.

[00:23:22.46] For me that would be the-- and going back to the National Service also-- that would be the one thing that-- and then of course you enjoy it. But always plan that every session is maybe your last one because you never know what's around the corner. And enjoy every session for sure whether it's in the weight room or on the field. It's like this.

[00:23:45.77] Great advice for young coaches just being prepared, showing up every day, and making sure your athletes and everyone you work with knows that you're giving your best effort all the time. Marcus, what's the best way for our listeners to reach out and get in contact?

[00:24:05.00] I'm pretty old school guy so social media is-- I do have a LinkedIn account but that's it to be honest. And it's Marcus Svensson on LinkedIn and email. To be honest I'm still old school in that sense. I haven't gone with a wave on social media. So I keep it simple.

[00:24:25.97] Awesome. We will drop your email address in the show notes. Marcus, thank you so much for being with us today on the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Really great insight from a global perspective from Sweden to the UK to the Middle East. I think it's really exciting-- all the work that you're doing. So thanks for being with us.

[00:24:50.94] Thank you so much, Eric. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

[00:24:53.73] Everyone. Thanks for tuning in today. We'd also like to thank Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

[00:25:00.20] Hi. This is Ivan Lewis, head strength and conditioning coach, the Seattle Seahawks. Thanks for listening to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts to have the latest episodes delivered right to you. Also take your career forward by joining the NSCA's Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach program. Learn more about becoming an RSCC at NSCA.com/RSCC.

[00:25:23.30] [UPBEAT MUSIC]

[00:25:26.24] This was the NSCA's Coaching Podcast. The National Strength and Conditioning Association was founded in 1978 by strength and conditioning coaches to share information, resources, and help advance the profession. Serving coaches for over 40 years, the NSCA is the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

[00:25:44.78] [UPBEAT MUSIC]

Reporting Errors: To report errors in a podcast episode requiring correction or clarification, email the editor at publications@nsca.com or write to NSCA, attn: Publications Dept., 1885 Bob Johnson Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Your letter should be clearly marked as a letter of complaint. Please (a) identify in writing the precise factual errors in the published podcast episode (every false, factual assertion allegedly contained therein), (b) explain with specificity what the true facts are, and (c) include your full name and contact information.