The DANGER of Playing Soccer at 325 lbs 

You should watch some beginner training videos to help you on your technique. Something like how to run with the ball at your feet, super beginner stuff

I love watching you do this man.. awesome.

You mentioned shin splints. I recommend a video called "How to Fix Shin Splints (Yourself)" by The Run Experience youtube channel. I had a shin splint problem a while back and that video single-handedly relieved my pain. Idk if you static stretch after games but that always helps.

Keep it up! For soccer, I would highly recommend getting a pair of soccer shoes with either an indoor sole or a turf sole depending on whether you play indoors like in the video or on turf/dry grass/concrete. Running shoes are way higher off the ground are designed for high impact, linear movement and cushioning, not quick cuts and multi directional turns.

Don't kill your body bro! You want a good one to have left when you're 100 pounds lighter. At your size you could definitely lose weight just being super diciplined with your diet. Maybe take up something low impact like swimming to stay moving. I know you'll figure something out and we'll see you on the pitch next summer!

I would suggest biking, great training and doesn't put as much pressure on your legs and feet, personally for me it's the quick turns and each time I plant my feet down that causes issues

I don’t know how accessible grassy areas or grass fields are, but when you are working with the ball by yourself, such as dribbling or control it is best to do on grass as much as realistically possible.

Keep going Luke, we are here for it... We want to see the journey to the end.

First, the tennis shoes you showed are not for playing indoor football, there are special cleats for that, be it "Adidas", "Nike", "Puma"... any of those. Second, according to your weight, you should practice on a field with natural grass, on a court like basketball, if there is intensity, you will break the ligaments in your knees or sprain injury, sprain injury is very common to see it in synthetic grass if you are going at high speed and trying to make a change of pace. and Third, you have to train more to strengthen your legs and last longer in games, let's say 60 continuous minutes without stopping (This is normal in amateur soccer and the rental time in gyms and synthetic fields 5v5 or 7v7), along with the improvement in ball technique. Greetings bro, we always wish you the best.

Hi mate, played football up until semi pro level until I was like 16 and stopped, then I dived back into it in my 20’s and I experienced unbearable shin splints, I could not jog or do anything without agony for a good 5/6 years, it turns out shin splints are often because of your tense foot arch/calf muscle so if you really (and I mean REALLY) stretch your ankles, calves and hamstrings out beforehand it makes you feel so much better - my physio suggested this and I haven’t had shin splints since, regularly stretch your calves (I’ve since tore my ACL but that’s irrelevant🥲😂 definitely safe ways to improve x

Hey Luke! I am here from day 1 and I admire your love for the game. Also your determination to improve your health. You are improved a lot! Really.. Compare from first videos, now you are much lighter, easier to move and getting the feel of the ball. About the shin problem - I had it sometimes, when I was walking fast. I figured it was because I was trying to lift my feet upwards too much. I tought it was just mucule fatigue so just take one Aspirin and it was all gone.

The passes at 1:36 are really nice Luke. Great to see your progression👍

Keep it up man!

We get it Luke as an american-football player you are a warrior ;) But yeah managing your training time is deffinitely a sensible thing to do! And one more thing about the technique, try to keep the ball absolutely flat when passing it against the wall (even when you pass it with your first touch)

Using your foot ontop of the ball is not something you do in games so its not a thing you really need to practise. You dont want the ball to be still in football, you want it to constantly be moving. You never see players do that in games even when they take down crossballs. They use the broadside of the foot instead. What i would practise instead is standing still and move the ball from right inside to left inside back to right inside and so on. Then do it faster and faster. Then when you feel comfortable you can try doing a 2 foot dribble, that requires your to be able to pass from once foot, then bounce of that foot, and recieve it with the other foot. That is the dribble players use 90% of the time apart from bodyfeint but it required a bit of acceleration. Iniesta was a master of the 2 foot and 3 foot dribble.

Your shoes aren't ideal for football, having such a large padded sole, but I understand that they reduce the impact of running on a hard surface. That aside, I can see you're improving quite quickly luke, keep it up.

The best thing for shin splints is losing weight, no questions asked, next in line is ice, anti inflammatory medicine, stretches, strengthening of your lower limbs, and specific football running technique. You can absolutely play on a court, grass is softer but super easy to injury people that don't know how to run on grass specially carrying a ball, and even people that do, since it isn't as smooth of a surface, there are benefits in playing in a hard court for sure, not having to pay attention to see if there's a hole on the ground or an elevation on the grass is super underrated.

Probably not what you wanna hear right after buying but shoes w too much cushion will actually increase your chances of rolling your ankle. Theyre good for impact thats just straight up and down but since soccer involves a lot of sharp turns and cutting youd actually want a shoe thats closer to the ground like a futsal shoe. Think of a lifted truck taking a corner at high speed versus a lowered sports car, the truck is more prone to flipping over. As for the shin splints, id recommend looking up ankle exercises w a resistance band to strengthen the muscles around your calves/ankles. Keep up the great work 👍👍 love ur reaction channel and soccer journey

Train more but softer. Nothing on hard surfaces until your shin heels. Shin splints can become stress fractures and then you are toast.

A couple things. I'm sure you have already, but if you haven't, consider a semaglutide like Ozempic, it would 100% enhance the work you're already doing. It really is a miracle drug. 2. Make sure that you focus on stretches and hip flexibility specifically, it could legitimately save you a hip replacement 30 years from now. Keep it up brother. We love seeing these updates.

Make sure to warm up and warm down and get in a nice ice bath for recovery.

Put ice in a Dixie cup and freeze it. Tear the cup away and rub the ice on your shin. There is no better way to reduce the inflammation and pain

U can play for 20mins and after that just walk around or warm down.

Could you try and reduce your upper body weight... That way you will have better body balance... And lesser strain to your legs because your legs look a bit lean to be carrying your upper body weight... And also do some weight work to help substitute it...

Try using your left foot 😂😂

oleee ole ole oleeee go luuuuke go luuuuke ...

I'm half your weight and I get shin splints xd

I think its mostly your weight AND beeing untrained. I havent trained for years and i also get immense pain in the frontside of my shins. ...I really need to start working out aswell. Maybe it would be nice to focus some strenght training on your shins, like standing on your heels then up on your toes. Or the the classical "step up on bench" exercise.

My wife and I are soccer experts and fitness experts. Want us to put together a plan with you? Let me know and I can give you our credentials in private.