Soccer is an extremely athletic sport which requires a unique blend of speed, quickness, power, balance and muscular strength. Training for optimal soccer fitness includes training different types of muscular strengths which use different muscle fibers and energy systems. Training all four types of strength will get players fit for the toughest of soccer seasons.
Limit Strength Exercises
Limit strength refers to the maximum you can do with a muscle. Lifting your maximum weight one time in a deadlift would be an example of a limit strength exercise. A split squat is one of the most common limit strength exercises. To perform a split squat, start with a barbell with as much weight as you can handle without a spotter, placed on your shoulders with your hands holding the bar slightly farther apart than shoulder width. Experiment with hand placement to make sure that you can keep your balance. Take a stride forward, about one large step that lets you easily keep your balance. From that position, lower yourself with your front leg bearing the weight, as low as you can comfortably go without losing your balance. Your rear heel will come off the floor as you bend down. Keep your torso straight during the exercise. Raise yourself up. Repeat six to eight times, then repeat with the other leg.
Explosive Strength Exercises
You call on explosive strength to make powerful movements in one quick burst, such as a sprinter exploding out of the starting blocks at the beginning of a race.
A box squat is a great exercise for training explosive strength. Find a box that is sturdy and wide enough for you to sit on without worrying about falling off. The box should be about even with the middle of your lower leg. Stand in front of the box, with your back to the box, using a similar barbell set up used in the split squat. Slowly lower yourself onto the box by moving your buttocks outward, until you are seated on the box. After several seconds, raise yourself off the box in one, quick motion, using your legs. In order to prevent back strain, practice the exercise with no weights on the barbell to gauge the height of the box. If it is too low, causing you to land with a thud, or requires you to wriggle your back to get up, you'll need to find a higher box. Remember, you move upward with your legs to prevent back strain.
Relative Strength Exercises
Relative strength is how much strength you have per unit of bodyweight. Examples of relative strength exercises are bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, weightless squats and lunges.
To increase relative strength in your legs, practice lunges without weights. To do lunges, start with your feet about shoulder width apart and your hands on your hips. Take a large stride forward, then lower yourself with your upper leg bearing the weight. Lower yourself as far as you comfortably can, then raise yourself with the upper leg muscles of your front leg, bringing your front foot back to the starting position after you have raised yourself. Repeat six to eight times, then change legs. You can vary this exercise by lowering and raising yourself with your back leg, and by stepping outward at a 45 degree angle.
Reactive Strength Exercises
Reactive strength, also known as plyometric strength, requires two muscles to work together to produce an explosive movement, such as the downward knee bend before and upward push in a tennis serve or slam dunk in basketball.
A down-up jump can help you improve your reactive strength. Stand on a knee-high box, stable bench or the first row of a bleacher. Jump off the box, bending your knees as your feet touch the ground and springing upward as high as you can as quickly as you can. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
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