Physical Training In Football – Part 1

Preparation for football season is an important part of training that happens before the football season. With a competitive season that lasts from August thru May it’s difficult for any athlete to peak for each competitive challenge – a managers nightmare! Instead it’s 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 the competitive atmosphere of both high school and college sports an athlete who arrives the first day without conditioning will find themselves sitting on the bench if not in the stands.

Most of the running and strength training happens during the summer months in preparation for the winter campaign. The benefits of strength training is well supported by research. 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.

Strength training that helps players receive the most benefit are those that improve the 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.

Resources:

National Council on Strength and Fitness

http://www.ncsf.org/

FitDay: 5 Effective Football Fitness Training Drills

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/exercises/5-effective-football-fitness-training-drills.html

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

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9973771

TopEndSports: FItness for Football

http://www.topendsports.com/sport/soccer/fitness.htm

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

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/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

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11726256

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

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22820206

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

http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/pha/vipf2/football.htm

NetFit: Football Training and Drills

http://www.netfit.co.uk/football-program-webwen.htm