Most football players understand the importance of strength training. After all, getting bigger, faster, and stronger can only help them on the field. However, many players don't know how to train for football properly. As a result, they either don't do it or focus on the wrong things.
If you're serious about becoming a better football player, you need to follow a specially designed, full-body football workout program that helps you build strength and stamina specifically for the sport. This type of workout should include exercises that target all major muscle groups used in football.
Here is a sample 3-day full-body football workout routine for intermediate level players:
Benefits of Strength Training for Football Players
Football is a physically demanding sport that requires players to be intense, quick, and explosive while maintaining stability. Your body will be under immense pressure because the sport is fast and furious, and you should have the right combination of forces to handle the pressure and speed of the game.
You do not just need physical strength, but mental strength and the ability to bear pressure are also necessary to be a successful player in the sport.
1. Strength Training Adds to Your Strength
Strength training helps in this regard. It increases muscle mass, making you sturdy and solid so you will have more endurance and power to prove yourself in the game. Lifting weights and engaging muscles also improve your overall fitness level, reduce stress, uplift your mood, and help you be at your best.
These things, when combined, help you to be mentally strong and resilient, giving you a unique edge on the ground.
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2. Strength Training Helps Prevent Injuries
Strength training can help prevent injuries by making muscles and joints stronger and more resistant to impact. Bone density also increases, which means you have solid, more resilient bones that can bear a few falls here and there without crumbling.
3. Strength Training Improves Performance
Stronger football players are typically more successful on the field. They can generate more force, run faster, and jump higher than their weaker counterparts. Do you expect a weakling, a mass of fat doing wonders on the football field? Obviously no! So the opposite is true. A strong, muscular and fit player is what matches the demands of the game.
Related Article: Tips for Stronger & Defined Legs
Workout Summary
|
Main Goal |
Increase Strength |
|
Workout Type |
Full Body |
|
Training Level |
Intermediate |
|
Program Duration |
12 Weeks |
|
Days Per Week |
3 |
|
Time Per Workout |
60-75 Minutes |
|
Equipment Required |
Barbell, Bodyweight, Cables, Dumbbells, EZ Bar, Machines |
|
Target Gender |
Male & Female |
Workout Description
As a football player, you have to be strong and agile at the same time. You need to have a rock-solid core to maintain stability and avoid injuries, along with flexibility, speed and strength to beat the challenge on the ground.
This workout includes special exercises that build muscles and strength all over the body. It does not give you just strong legs or sturdy arms: it aims to make you solid head to toe. Your entire body should be one block of strength that's not just formidable but impossible to break under any circumstances.
You will be engaging and challenging muscles in every inch of the body to increase muscular strength and stability. You will be repeating exercises that tone your legs to help you run faster and build a strong core, so you are not an easy target in the field.
You will lift some serious weights while performing these speed and agility-boosting exercises. The aim should be to repeat and train so that you reach muscle failure.
Training for muscle failure will gradually and massively increase strength and muscle mass, making you solid and sturdy. It will also increase endurance and that's absolutely necessary for a high-intensity interval sport like football.
Warm-Up
A strict 5 minutes warm-up is a must for this workout routine. You must get your body ready for the exercises. It is very common to play down the importance of a nice warm up before exerting physically but beat the habit and do the drill. Perform some stretching for 10 minutes after the 5 minutes of warm-up.
Related Article: How to Warm-Up for a HIIT?
Workout Frequency
It's a 12-week program with the aim of 3 workout days. You will be hitting the gym three times while letting the body rest and heal for three days of the week. The exercises included in the workout plan will target the whole body for a balanced and thorough effect.
Daily Workout Schedule
Monday: Workout
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Workout
Saturday/Sunday: Rest
Monday - Full Body Routine
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
4 |
12, 10, 8, 8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
|
|
4 |
12, 10, 10, 8 |
|
|
3 |
6-8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
8, 8, 6 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
Wednesday - Full Body Routine
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
4 |
12, 10, 8, 8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
|
|
4 |
12, 10, 10, 8 |
|
|
3 |
6-8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
8, 8, 6 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
Friday - Full Body Routine
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
4 |
12, 10, 8, 8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
|
|
4 |
12, 10, 10, 8 |
|
|
3 |
6-8 |
|
|
3 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
8, 8, 6 |
|
|
3 |
Max |
Conclusion
Football is a demanding game that requires speed, agility, strength and power to perform on the ground. Strength training is a must to build strength and speed, but a blind shot at strength training will not do. Specific moves that target all major muscles while promoting speed and agility are the ones that will do the magic. This workout plan is based on a perfect collection of exercises required to build the right kind of body as a footballer.
