Hamstrings and Posterior Chain development for footy
Hamstring strains and tears (or even just tightness) are the scourge of many a footy player. The dynamic nature of footy ensures that your hamstrings will be severely tested throughout a match, and especially over the space of a season when residual fatigue in your muscles starts to kick in. However, the dynamic and challenging nature of footy on these muscles is only 1 part of the problem – the other is the lack of adequate training done to effectively prepare the hamstrings (and posterior chain in general) for the demands of a game of footy.
So not only is conditioning the hamstrings crucial to the performance of various movements that the hamstrings play a big role in – such as jumping, accelerating (in particular the first 5-6 explosive steps to initiate the movement), decelerating as well as in kicking (both legs, not just the leg that’s kicking, but also providing stability on the other side) – but crucial to injury reduction when called into action to perform these tasks.
Read MoreHow truly Functional for Football are the Squat and Deadlift?
The word ‘functional’ is such an overused ‘buzzword’ in todays fitness world, and has taken over from other such buzzwords like ‘core’ and ‘fat-burning zone’, and whilst the movement of the exercise and fitness industry away from Frankenstein-style muscle isolation and machine training towards a more ‘functional’ approach is certainly not a bad thing, the problem lies in the interpretation of what exactly a ‘functional’ exercise is. Now I’m not here to debate and point out the shortcomings in the fitness industry at large, but rather am interested in how this relates to footy training. We cover various aspects of ‘functionality’ and what exactly it means, especially in terms of footy, elsewhere, and so will not go over it again here. But here I would like to take the opportunity to use a couple of exercises as an example of my point here on functionality, to really get you thinking about it, and using these 2 key exercises, will hopefully make a lot of the jargon and ‘mumbo-jumbo’ associated with the word ‘functional’ make more sense, or certainly be easier to see through (in terms of seeing through all the bullshit basically.)
Read MoreHow do I improve my vertical leap via strength training?
The vertical leap is a very important ability in footy, due to the amount of aerial contests or movements in the game. Contrary to popular belief, this is an ability that every player can benefit from improving – however this is obviously an ability that is vital to taller and key position players like ruckmen and key forwards and defenders, and therefore should be a central pillar to the strength-training program of these types of players.
It is also widely and well known that proper strength training is a key ingredient to improving this ability, and as a result, many junior and amateur level footballers are now looking to strength training to improve their vertical leap. But the question I often get is how? And which exercises are the best?
The truth about the leg press if you’re a footy player
Especially if it is your vertical leap that you are most wanting to work on…..
If you’re a footy player, and aiming to improve your vertical leap, you may have considered performing leg presses in order to enhance your leg strength, and hence create more potential within your legs to jump higher. However, this would be a big mistake, and not only will the leg press do absolutely nothing to improve your vertical leap, it will also often contribute to decreasing your vertical leap ability. Here are the key reasons why.
1. The old trap of thinking of muscles, not movements
We have covered this topic repeatedly in other articles and particularly in Functional Strength Training for Australian Rules, so you already have had it drummed into your head that strength training for footy is about training certain movements and movement qualities via the nervous system, rather than just blasting certain muscles. Simply hammering your quads on the leg press, where you are either lying or seated, and fully supported by the machine, does not mean that your quads will then transfer this strength over to a standing position, where you now must also use your hips to initiate a jump. Make no mistake, a leg press is nothing like a jump movement, it just uses similar muscles. But we are about movement quality, not muscles.