Speed and strength are both essential to having success in the game of football, no matter what position you play. In football, speed represents more than just linear speed --- it also describes lateral speed, quickness and explosion, whether off the line of scrimmage for a lineman, through a hole for a running back or in and out of breaks for wide receivers. All of these motions require strength and speed in the lower body.
Strength Training
Speed and strength can go hand in hand, but focusing too much on one can be detrimental to the other. But you can have both, according to Bodybuilding.com. The website uses NFL Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders as an example of a player who was very strong and powerful below the waist but also one of the most agile and fast players to ever play the game. The key is full and deep range of motion in the lower body, and there are exercises to help you achieve this. They include deep squats, box squats, lunges, side lunges, glute-ham raises, reverse hypers and good mornings. These exercises, according to Bodybuilding.com, will help you build lower body strength but also help with lateral and linear speed and agility.
Reactive Strength
This term is used to describe the teaching of the muscles and tendons to absorb and use energy better. Bodybuilding.com claims that reactive strength training can help increase your vertical jumping ability, speed, agility and acceleration. The best way to build reactive strength is to work through the full range of motion for the muscle group you are working out. Good examples include shuttle runs, box squats, speed squats, bouncing in a squat position with or without a weight, and agility drills such as the sprint lateral shuffle, box drill and three-cone drill, to name a few.
Plyometrics
Plyometric exercises can help increase power and explosiveness in the lower body, which in turn will improve vertical jumping, long jumping and sprinting, according to Sports Fitness Advisor. The goal is to replicate motions that your body will perform during a football game while also teaching your muscles to exert maximum power in the shortest possible time. Examples of plyometric exercises include depth jumps, counter-movement jumps and bounds. Also, plyometrics can be integrated with strength training. Sports Fitness Advisor offers this example: On your upper body weight training day, include a session of plyometric exercise on your lower body, and vice versa.
Resistance Training
This term is used to describe a technique that helps strengthen muscles by applying a force that the muscles must work against. Resistance training helps muscles build elasticity. One especially popular resistance training exercise for football players is the speed chute, a specially made, miniature parachute that attaches to your body. You run sprints with the speed chute, which provides wind resistance during your run. According to the website Speed Training Review, one group of coaches saw a speed increase of 1 to 3 percent in players using the speed chute for two months. Other resistance training exercises to improve speed include running in a pool and running or jumping using a large elastic band.
References
- Athletic Quickness: Are You Missing Game-breaking Opportunities Because You Were Not Fast Enough?
- Sports Fitness Advisor: Sample Agility Exercises
- High Speed Athlete: Increase Acceleration through Resistance
- Speed Training Review: Cautions to Using the Speed Chute
- Sports Fitness Advisor: The Physiology of Plyometrics
- Sports Fitness Advisor: Speed Training for Football
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