The position of soccer goalkeeper requires peak physical fitness. The soccer goalie is a specialist position and therefore the keeper needs to be as fit if not fitter than every other player on the field. The following should be used as a guide to developing a conditioning program for soccer goalies.

• Warming up and stretching is vital for the soccer goalkeeper to avoid injury. Before a training session and before each game, ensure that you go through a set routine of stretching and warm up exercises. Agility and the ability to move quickly from side to side or jump to knock a ball over the crossbar, all these movements require your muscles to be relaxed. A good stretching regime prior to training and a game will facilitate this. It is a good idea to get someone to assist you in this and make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to warm up properly. Ideally, after a warm up, you should have at least some sweat on the brow before you take the field.

• Endurance training should still be an integral part of any soccer goalies training regime. During a game, a keeper is required to undertake short bursts of explosive effort and the ability to recover from this quickly is a crucial element in the success of a soccer goalie. There is no reason why soccer goalies should not be included in the rest of the team’s endurance sessions.

• Training phase: As a component of the maintenance phase of training during the season, focus is on maintaining the keeper's ability to recover quickly from repeated high intensity bouts, while ensuring that the keeper is able to perform maximally on match day.
• Goalkeeper specific: The work and movements should be specific to the actions which comprise the match and stress the keeper specifically for the game. 
• Work intervals: Work should be 7-20s in duration, with the duration largely dependent on the amount of time prior to the next match; as the training day moves closer to the match work duration must decrease.
• Rest intervals: Rest should begin to decrease and press the keeper's ability to recover quickly and maintain maximal effort bouts. Work to rest ratio is typically 1:2, working towards 1:1 as fitness level increases.
• The total number of bouts should be 10-15 dependent on the keeper, as well as the demands of the movements, and saves being executed.

The prioritization of both fitness and athleticism for the goalkeeper is dependent on the individual keeper's physical attributes, as well as their level of play. The integration of training for fitness and athleticism must be determined by the goalkeeper coach over consistent observation of the keeper during both matches and training. The integration of fitness and athletic components in training allows for the maximization of the keeper's training experience, athletic development, injury resistance and resiliency, and ultimately performance.

• Strength training is a core component of a goalkeepers conditioning regime. The goalie needs to be strong in the air, their clearing kicks both dead ball and out of the hands need to be strong and consistent and they need to be able to release the ball quickly with a strong and accurate throw. The type of strength training will of course be dependant upon the age and development of the goalie. For example it is not recommended that a young player undertake intensive weight training sessions. This is an area where the requirements of a goalie differ from those of a field player. The soccer goalie needs to have both upper and lower body strength while the field player will generally focus more on lower body strength with lesser emphasis on upper body. The soccer goalie can therefore join in lower body strength training with their teammates, however they will need to develop their own program for upper body strengthening.

• Sprint training and exercises to improve reflexes are also an important component of a soccer goalies conditioning program. Short sprint work will be more beneficial and this can also be performed with the rest of the team at training. Quick reflexes with the hands and the feet are equally important. With the keeper playing more and more as a defensive player behind the backline, the ability to react to situations is crucial. There are a number of simple exercises that can be performed individually to improve reflexes, however if a training partner is available, a more intensive workout can be achieved.

• Training the physical speed for the keeper consists of developing starting speed, acceleration speed, reaction speed, and running mechanics. In training these movements there are a number of components which the goalkeeping coach must focus:

• Starting posture: The keeper's starting posture is determined via tactical components. The key factor in determining the keeper's posture is the playing possibilities of the attacking player. If he can shoot, the keeper must be in a set position, in such a case, if the player elects to play the ball into the space in front of the keeper, the keeper must respond from the set position. If the player cannot shoot and the primary danger is a ball played in behind, the keeper should take up a staggered or sprinter position ready to attack a ball played into the space in front.
• First step direction: Regardless of posture, the direction of the keeper's first step must be forward and in the direction of the play.
• Stride length: The keeper's initial stride length maximizes starting speed and should increase with each stride in a short to long manner.

• Stride length: The keeper's stride length should increase over the initial several strides. Stride length is decided to a great extent by the distance which needs to be covered in order to make the save, with the keeper looking to maximize acceleration via increasing stride length with each subsequent stride.
• Running posture: The goal is for the keeper's posture to allow for maximum acceleration into the save. If the keeper is standing too high, then acceleration is sacrificed, and too low, then the keeper will be unbalanced. Keep in mind, if the keeper is coming to make a play on a through ball as opposed to a ball in the air, there are technical implications of the type of save which will impact running posture.

Deceleration Speed

• Running posture: The primary mechanism for deceleration is the movement of the body's center of gravity backwards as the upper body becomes more erect. This presents a challenge for a keeper who must quickly gain balance in order to react as needed. \
• Gaining composure: In approaching the targeted end point of deceleration, the body's weight must return forward, with smaller steps being taken as the keeper decelerates. The end goal is a balanced position, with weight distributed evenly over both feet to allow for movement off of either foot.

Reaction Speed

• Response: The keeper's reflexive response must take them in the appropriate direction and at the appropriate angle allowing them to make the save efficiently.
• First step: The keeper's first step must lead them immediately into the type of save to be made and for the appropriate technique to be selected and used.

Running Mechanics 

• Of all the components of speed, running mechanics is the most general in nature, with the primary focus of training being to increase the keeper's movement efficiency.
• Running posture: Head should stay looking forward in neutral and with little movement. Chest up and steady in line with hips with little rotation.
• Coordination of upper and lower body: Opposite arm and leg movement should be coordinated with movement occurring in a linear manner with little twisting, or movement across the body.
• Triple extension: The hip, knee, and ankle work in a coordinated fashion in order to maximize power of the push-off phase and thereby speed.