The most important point to Strength Training for Football
I will keep this to a very short and sharp point here, and give a few very important reasons for this point too.
The most important point is that no individual exercise in and of itself is all that brilliant or all that important to strength training for footy – what is far more important is how that exercise is incorporated into an overall program, and how that exercise is adapted and abbreviated to stimulate a response. In other words no individual exercise should ever be looked at as being super important – without consideration for the overall picture of what you are trying to achieve, and the other things that you must do to achieve that. Please read on to ensure that you grasp this all important key point and what we are trying to say, as well as why.
Read MoreThe Olympic Lifts
And why there is more to power development for Footy
Power is expressed in many forms in football – vertical leap and explosive acceleration the 2 that instantly jump into most peoples minds (although footy requires many more varied expressions of power than just these 2). And for many years now athletes of different types have jumped on the Olympic lifts as a way of developing explosive power. Specifically the clean – or even more common in sports training, the power clean – is becoming more and more common in the programs of professional and semi professional athletes of different types. As with many things at the elite level, these techniques are filtering down to grassroots level and are becoming more and more common place in your average gym. But are they really all that beneficial to footy, and specifically to a non-full time player?
Don’t lose sight of the goal – Lifting maximal weight isn’t it
A very important thing to remember at all times with your strength training as a football player is to not lose sight of the context of your strength training in terms of its place in your overall program (along with running, club training and match days.) Many young players when they first get into a form of strength training lose sight of this, and become far too preoccupied with the weights training as an end in itself. This often usually leads them down the path of performing far too many bodybuilding type routines – and we have covered the deep floors in bodybuilding style training for footballers elsewhere. But this point about keeping the strength training in context raises a couple more important points, which I would like to briefly cover here.
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?