Those who wish to play American football must incorporate conditioning into their daily lives, as the best-conditioned athletes often have the most success. You should stay in good shape all year-round to get an advantage over other players who are not as fit. Coaches expect their players to perform at a high level starting with the first practice, so maintaining your conditioning levels will keep your coaches happy and could increase your playing time.
Sprints
Football players must improve their speed continuously, and better-conditioned athletes usually end up running faster. According to the University of Central Missouri, you should practice sprints at every distance between 20 and 800 meters, as this will help your burst over a short distance and your endurance over a longer distance. Repeating these sprinting drills will improve your overall conditioning, which ensures that you always have some additional stamina during a game.
Starts
Since football players must start and stop repeatedly, you should get used to this motion to improve your conditioning. Denison University reports that you should practice your starts from a variety of different positions, such as two-point stance and three-point stance, as this will help you during a game. You should sprint for five yards after each start and then immediately return to the start line for another round of this drill.
Ladder Shuttles
Ladder shuttles incorporate starting, running, stopping and changing direction into the same drill. According to Denison University, the coach will assign a starting line and other lines to which you must run. After reaching each line, you will return to the starting line, touch it with your hand and then run to the next line in the sequence. You continue until you have completed the entire course as coaches time your progress.
Cone Jumps
Cone jumps will increase your endurance and help you build explosive power in your legs through repetitive jumping motions. The University of Central Missouri suggests that you jump repeatedly over 12-inch cones, boxes or bags in a rhythmic motion for a set period of time in between intervals of rest. You can change the height of the cone and your rest intervals according to your current level of conditioning and the position that you play, as linemen will not have the same level of fitness as those playing skill positions.
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