The Future of High-Performance in U.S. Soccer: Integrating Sports Science, Coaching, and Context

Gavin Benjafield of LAFC, Dave Tenney of Atlanta United and Adam Grainger of Chicago Fire FC Academy explain how MLS performance staff plan the week around travel, heat and game density, and how they read heart rate data player by player.

About this webinar

Sports scientist James Malone talks with three MLS performance leads at the end of the 2025 season: Gavin Benjafield, performance director at LAFC; Dave Tenney, high performance director at Atlanta United; and Adam Grainger, head of physical performance and player wellness at Chicago Fire FC Academy. Malone shows Firstbeat data on individual training impulse (TRIMP) ranges and a slide on weekly red-zone minutes above 90% HRmax. The panel covers periodization with LAFC’s 50-plus games a season, travel and heat, academy players stepping up to the first team, and readiness testing. The session runs about one hour and was recorded on 17 Dec 2025.

What you will learn

• Why LAFC teaches players three-day, two-day and one-day game preparations for a stretch of 13 games in 35 days
• How Tenney sets a training effect target of around 4 for Wednesday sessions, and why fit players reach 4.6–5 in summer heat
• Why a TRIMP of 100 can be very high for one player and not high at all for another
• How to get red-zone minutes into non-starting center backs, even if it is only 15 minutes a week
• How LAFC handles 5–7 second-team players who train with the first team for up to 4–5 weeks of preseason

Practical examples from the recording

1. Preparing for 13 games in 35 days. LAFC has started seasons with one game a week for 12 weeks, and others with 13 games in 35 days. Benjafield built two periodization calendars while waiting to learn whether the club would qualify for the Champions Cup. In the dense version, the usual 4–5 day lead-in does not fit, so staff teach themselves and the players to prepare in three days, two days or even one. In eight years at LAFC he has written eight different plans for preseason and the first 12 weeks and plots each one from competitions and travel.

2. Travel decides the day off. For Atlanta, an away game means getting home at 1 or 2 a.m., and at 3 or 4 a.m. from another time zone. Tenney’s preference after a Saturday game is Sunday off and a five-day build with Thursday as a strong unload. In practice the week depends on home or away, the travel and the date of the next game. After a late return, Sunday is off and players come in on Monday.

3. Reading internal load in the heat. A Wednesday session of 6,000 m with around 500 m of high-speed running is much harder in June or July than in March. Tenney uses the training effect score on Wednesdays and aims to get every player to around 4. In summer he has seen players he considers fit reach 4.6–5, partly from the heat or a lack of acclimatization. His conclusion: manage for freshness through the summer months, even at the expense of training load on some days, and stop calibrating coaches only around 5,500–6,000 m sessions.

4. Second-team players in the first-team preseason. LAFC often has 5–7 second-team players in preseason for up to 4–5 weeks. From week one, Benjafield assigns a first-team strength and conditioning coach to the group. He also starts recovery methods and check-ins in week one because these players face a big jump in internal and external load. One session mid-season needs no special handling, in his view, but three or four weeks needs a plan.

Questions answered in the Q&A

Which day of the week is best for red-zone minutes? At LAFC it is game day -3, within a four-day lead-in, and the players know it is the big day. Subs get a small-sided game and conditioning on game day +1. Benjafield sometimes splits high-speed running over two days, but not every week.

How many red-zone minutes do soccer players need each week? Malone cited a recent article that puts it at about 30 minutes a week above 90% HRmax to maintain aerobic fitness. Some LAFC players reach 25 minutes or more in one session, while some center backs get none in training, so Benjafield adds conditioning runs, even if they only reach 15 minutes a week.

How can you monitor high school players without technology? Through relationships and communication. Grainger connects with each player on arrival and collects simple subjective data with his own systems. He does not see budget or technology as a limiting factor.

Is HRV useful as a readiness marker? Benjafield’s staff do a lot of heart rate variability (HRV) testing at LAFC and use it as a readiness score. Tenney used HRV heavily before switching to biomarkers and force plates in 2025, and he missed it, partly for individualizing recovery methods.

Which biomarkers are worth tracking in MLS? Atlanta tracked C-reactive protein and oxidative stress markers in 2025 to compare game responses with each player’s baseline. Tenney says it takes a lot of data points and consistent sampling times, because CRP varies with when it is taken, and he would not draw conclusions from one season.

Who this webinar is for

Heads of performance, sports scientists and strength and conditioning coaches in MLS and other professional soccer who plan load around a congested, travel-heavy schedule, and academy staff moving players up to the first team.