Physical Training in Football

Competitive football season happens from August to May of every year. Preparing for the football competition must be done prior to it in order for all the team players to be up and about when the competition begins. It is important for each team player to come to the start of the season with a base of conditioning under his belt, prepared to begin the season playing instead of begin the season becoming conditioned.In fact, in the competitive atmosphere of both high school and college sports, an athlete who arrives on the first day without conditioning will find themselves sitting on the bench if not in the stands.

Thus, training for running and strength normally happens during the summer months in preparation for the winter campaign. Accordingly, scientific investigation strongly corroborates that strength training is indeed beneficial among athletes. De Profit compared the work of Belgian professionals who performed extra weight training during the season with those who didn’t and found those that did had stronger kicking power and leg strength.

Another researcher from Hungary, Peter Apor, concurs that strength training is beneficial to football players stating that strong hamstrings and quadriceps protect the knee from injury and strong abdominal muscles prevent hernias.Additionally, the focus of strength must be on improving the muscle strength of the trunk, legs and neck. These exercises can include leg curls, bench press, lat pull downs, leg press, abdominal crunches, leg extension and pull ups. Most of these strength training moves can be accomplished using multi-purpose gym equipment from the local Y to the team gym.

However, extra care should still be given on cardiac conditioning and speed work to give the athlete the speed training they need for the short bursts and fortitude to maintain play throughout the whole game.

Players can intertwine both the road work and strength training to produce a well-rounded conditioning program. There are several rules about weight training to help improve the benefits for the players. Use weight training only every other day. In other words, if the player uses weights on Monday morning they shouldn’t use weights again until Wednesday morning. This gives the muscles time to rebuild stronger than they were before.

Players should also intersperse speed work with endurance runs. So while players should run between 5 and 6 days a week they should do no more than 3 days of speed work and 3 days of endurance runs. Provision of rest periods in between in between training days is necessary for the body to recover and energize. It is recommended for the players to have a day and possibly two if they start the conditioning program in poor shape.

In addition, warm up exercises should be always a startup every time an athlete has a training day. This will loosen up the muscles and decrease the risk for injuries. Endurance runs can be between 3 and 4 miles depending upon the athlete. Sprint work outs should include 10 X 10 yard sprints, 10 x 20 yard sprints, and 10 x 40 yard sprints with a warm up and cool down jogs before and after.

Physical training in football is an important part of helping players to become more competitive and garner a spot on the team of their choice. With the help of a good coach and perseverance players are able to improve the general conditioning and strength making them better candidates for the team and less likely to be injured during the season.

RESOURCES

National Council on Strength and Fitness

Fit Day: 5 Effective Football Fitness Training Drills

Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness: Physical Training of Football Players Based on Their Positional Rules in the Team

Top End Sports: Fitness for Football

Answers: What are the Components of Physical Fitness Requirements for Football

Journal of Strength and Conditioning research: Physical Fitness Qualities of Professional Rugby League Football Players

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Influence of Physical Fitness, Age, Experience and Weekly Training Load on Match Performance in Elite Australian Football

Michigan Governor\’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports: Prevention of Injuries in Amateur Football

Net Fit: Football Training and Drills