The most exciting and nail-biting World Cup of my lifetime and probably most people’s lifetime is now over. Congratulations to Les Bleus for winning it all. Football isn’t coming home to England but a semi-finals appearance is enough to shout about! Football has always been THE sport in the UK. As a country we very much enjoy both watching and playing the sport, though some are very clearly better than others. Football is unequivocally a talent sport, an initial intrinsic talent is necessary to carry the career on professionally, however, there is no doubt that hard work is also a crucial element necessary for a successful career in football. For today’s post, we’ve decided to reveal five exercises which we believe are highly effective in the betterment of a footballer’s performance. So if you’re a personal trainer looking for sport specific exercises for clients or a player in the game yourself, please enjoy and let us know what you think on our Facebook page or send us an email at info@focusfitnessuk.com.
1. Trapbar Bulgarian split squats
A slightly advanced exercise, but broken down simply you must adopt a slight lean forward when performing the exercise to allow the trap bar to pass smoothly through the movement without being interrupted by your rear knee. Leaning slightly forward also promotes proper hip alignment throughout the movement which is partly the purpose of performing the exercise, to correct hip hinge mechanics. The exercise also puts the working stress predominantly on the legs forcing the lower body to train strength and balance simultaneously, two attributes which are very important in football.
2. Explosive split squats (with Pilates box)
Using a Pilates box under the rear knee, perform a regular split squat with a slow eccentric phase on the way down, then an isometric pause at the bottom and an explosive concentric movement on the way up. This movement will help train your lower body explosiveness and quadriceps strength as you progressively overload the exercise. For a more advanced variation of the movement, elevate the front (leading) leg.
3. Ladder drills
A must for agility, coordination and speed. We don’t have any specific drill types to suggest because generally, they all share equal effect when performed correctly. However, we do suggest that when you perform the exercise you begin by starting out slowly as to train your brain patterns first, then perform with your eyes closed as to train your nervous system, the speed will come after. We believe once you can master these techniques when performing ladder drills, you will be an immovable force on the field because you will have control over your body and mind.
4. T-test
More of a performance test than an exercise but can also be used as an exercise to directly improve overall agility. If you or your client can focus intensely on bettering the performance in this test, the level of agility in your game will subsequently improve and as a result, so will your full body motor skill patterns.
5. Treadmill sprints
Our last pick is cardiovascular routine designed to better your sudden ability to sprint quickly at interval timings.
- 60s sprint at 10-15mph, followed by 150s rest.
Repeat for six or more rounds.
Perform his exercise with maximal effort and the results will surely translate onto the pitch. Alternatively, perform the exercise on an incline depending on your fitness level and/or outdoors for a more realistic effect.
We hope you have enjoyed this post, please feel free to let us know what you think of the exercises and what benefit you have seen from them or any other exercises you have incorporated into your routines. Remember as with any exercise, according to current literature, skill translation is very minimal and if you want to perform a specific skill at a higher level, train that skill directly more often. However complementing that skill training with some of these exercises, for example, will help contribute to an overall improved performance.
If you found this post insightful, why not check out some of our previous posts on our blog page or if you are interested in becoming a qualified personal trainer check out our main page for course information.
Written by Daniyal Siddiqui.