Football players and coaches have searched for decades for the most effective workout. Today, if you visit 10 different college and professional football strength coaches and ask them what the best workout is, you would likely hear several different answers, but each coach would include in his workout similar features that have been proved throughout the years to be effective in preparing football players for a long season.
Large Muscle Movements
Full-body workouts are lengthy because every muscle group must be addressed. Exercising large muscle groups simultaneously can help to limit the time each workout requires. Bench presses and squats are the two most-used large muscle exercises. Bench presses not only stress the chest as a primary mover, but also the shoulders and triceps. Squats stress every lower body muscle except the calves. Three sets of six to 10 reps is the standard workout, but if only a few auxiliary movements are used, a fourth set can be added.
Isolation Movements
Once you have addressed the large muscle movements, isolate the muscles most used in football. Pullups or pullovers isolate the latissimus dorsi muscles along your sides, and three sets of eight to 12 will be enough to develop the muscle. A movement for both the triceps and the biceps can be performed in a superset for three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. Perform a set of both exercises without pausing before resting for 60 seconds. Repeat this process three times. Lower body exercises such as lunges and leg extensions isolate the glutes, hamstrings, and the quadriceps respectively. For these movements, three sets of eight to 10 should suffice.
Injury Prevention Exercises
Catastrophic injuries are almost impossible to prevent, but common injuries such as shoulder dislocations and pulled hamstrings can be limited by strength training. The shoudler joint is weak, but can be strengthened by strengthening the muscles around it. Dumbbell raises can be performed to the front, laterally, and to the rear. Supersetting the three different raises for three sets of 10 to 12 will improve stabilization of the joint. Leg curls isolate the hamstrings and strengthen the muscle throughout the full range of motion. Romanian deadlifts, also known as stiff-legged deadlifts, also stretch and strengthen the hamstrings. This combination of flexibility and strength can prevent muscle pulls and strains that can linger for several weeks.
Core Exercises
Your abdominals and lower back are muscle groups like any other and must be treated as such. Movements such as hyperextensions, in which you raise your upper body from a bent position past 180-degrees, isolate the lumbar muscles in the lower back. Abdominal exercises such as crunches, toe touches, leg raises, and twisting movements all strengthen the core muscles. These muscles stabilize almost every movement you make on the football field.
References
- "Complete Conditioning for Football"; Michael Arthur, Bryan Bailey, Tom Osborne; 1998
- "52 Week Football Training"; Ben Cook; 1999.
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