Illinois Javon Charleston says that its a way too many football players and strength coaches develop favorite lifts. It mean the actual same football workout! Same exercises, sets, reps and sometimes, sadly, weights. While we need to rotate exercises constantly to avoid accommodation, we can’t just add any-old exercise and hope for the best.
1.Deadlifts – Deadlifts are the King Maker. They might be more responsible for building football speed and strength than any other exercise. Deadlifts are ultra-important for several reasons:
l They build tremendous starting strength. Many football players are woefully lacking in the ability to get explosive and apply strength quickly.
l Deads strengthen the Posterior Chain; building power and strength in the hamstrings, glutes, calfs, and the entire back (the muscles responsible for getting you faster for football).
l Deadlifts, like Squats, build insane strength in the hips; the seat of power for football.
l They build slabs of muscle. Nothing will make you grow from your calfs to your traps like heavy Deadlifts.
l The Deadlift can be extremely useful for injury prevention. Some believe that the moderate to high hamstring activity elicited during the deadlift may help to protect the Anterior Cruciate Ligament during rehab.
2.Box Squats – Box Squats and Box Front Squats are essential for building tremendous leg strength and explosiveness while taking almost all stress off the knees. They are the cornerstones of any football strength training program that can make a player stronger and faster for football. Advantages of Box Squatting include:
l Less soreness than traditional squats, allowing you to recover faster and train more often
l No guessing on depth. Set the box to where you want to go and simply sit back on it.
l Box Squats can increase real-world flexibility. If you widen the stance, push the knees out, and descend under control, you will develop excellent mobility and flexibility in the legs and hips.
l Build tons of strength in the glutes and hips – critical to blocking and tackling.
3. Clean & Jerk – A few years back Olympic Lift-only training programs were all the rage. Then, they fell out of favor and on came the anti-Olympic lifting brigade. As usual, and over-reaction short term and an under reaction long term. O-lifts are still extremely helpful for football players and should be included in your football strength workouts. It’s a lift that builds toughness, identifies weaknesses, and requires strength, power and determination. This kind of lifting can be used to build brute strength and also excellent conditioning and mental toughness.
4.Box Front Squats – With the O-lifts, people went crazy with the training of the posterior chain. Yes, it’s supremely important, but many athletes and coaches went overboard, completely disregarding the front of the body. An athlete needs strong quads for sprinting, jumping, and driving another human out of their way. Many feared training the quads at all would lead to them overpowering the hamstrings. They push the knees way over the toes, don’t sit back, and fall forward. Enter the Box Front Squat. Using boxes at different heights, and a soft box, allows the athlete to sit back, stay fairly upright and drive through the floor, rather than just squatting up and down. It does place some of the stress on the glutes and hams, but leaves plenty of work for the quads as well.
5.RDL – Romanian Deadlifts are an excellent assistance exercise for Deadlifts and Squats. They build muscle and power in the hamstrings and glutes and also hit the lower back quite well. The romanian Deadlift is such an excellent to get you faster for football that it should be included in the majority of your football workouts.
6. Rows – Too many football players and lifters focus way too much on the pressing exercises and neglect the muscles of the back. This will lead to injuries like rotator cuff tears, pec tears, and shoulder impingements. Worst than that it will also lead to a crappy bench press.
7. Side Lunges – Most of us simply do not do enough training on lateral movements, which I find odd because so much of sports is played while moving from side-to-side. There are several reasons why most athletes avoid movements like Side Lunges:
l Ego: Less weight (much less!) will have to be used, especially at first.
l Pain: Side Lunges, even with light weight, have the potential to leave you with damn-near injury-like soreness, especially if you aren’t used to doing them.
l Ego, again: You’ll never be able to slap on endless 45’s on this exercise, so most people will just avoid the hit to their pride.
l Lateral movements are key to building football game speed.
8. Dumbbell Incline – I’m hated for saying this, but I believe the Dumbbell Incline is a much better movement for athletes than the Bench. Obviously, the bench press is a great exercise, but when it comes to athletes, not Powerlifters, the Incline rules.
9. Sandbags – Lifting and carrying sandbags are excellent ways to “bridge” the gap between the weightroom and the playing field. Sandbags are excellent strength and conditioning tools for wrestlers, football players, and fighters. They will also help with just about any other sport that requires strength, speed, and stamina.
10. Prowler – The Prowler owns all when it comes to conditioning for football. It can be pushed and pulled for time, distance or speed. It can be loaded heavy or light.
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