There are many reasons for the fact that every football team has a workout room. Football is a game that requires superior physical conditioning on every level, just because of the fact that it is much more physically demanding than most other sports.
The 5 Best Exercises For Football Players
With points and pride on the line, you need to make sure that you are peak physical condition every time you step onto the field. With that in mind, we present our picks for the top five best exercises for football players.
1. Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are a very simple exercise. You have almost certainly done squats before, so this should be no problem. You just do a squat as you normally would, and add a jump at the top of the cycle. Go down, come up, and then jump.
The most common mistake is to avoid extending your body all the way upward. Some people try to stay low, and this causes a funny-looking sort of hop. It almost makes you look like a wounded animal, and can eventually turn you into a wounded human. Make sure you do both a good squat and a good jump.
2. Jump Rope
Jumping rope is one of those conditioning exercises that is almost universal. You see it in every sport, from football to basketball to boxing. That’s how you know it works! The main purpose of this exercise is to build endurance and agility.
Here are a couple of little points of form that you should remember: First, make sure that the spacing of your feet is correct. They should not be touching, but they should not be wider than your shoulders either. Keeping your feet right at shoulder-width is ideal, but a lot of people go slightly narrower to make the jump easier.
Second, keep your hands at the level of your hips. When moving the rope, it can often be tempting to let your hands move as well. The motion of the rope should come from the wrists and forearms so that your hands don’t have to move very much.
3. 3-Hurdle Drill
This is a very simple exercise that has been used by football coaches for decades. You set up three low hurdles in a line, and practice laterally hustling over them. This is a great way to develop speed. To be more specific, it develops the kind of speed that can be maintained while avoiding obstacles. Obviously, that is a great help when you’ve got a whole team of people trying to tackle you.
To do this, stand beside the hurdles so that your feet are in line with the front of the first hurdle. Now do a lateral shuffle, lifting your foot to clear the hurdle and step down on the other side. Bring the trailing foot over the first hurdle as well, and then repeat the motion over the next two hurdles. Obviously, there is a risk of tripping and falling while doing this exercise. Therefore, you should start at a slow speed until you get used to the movement.
4. Box Blast
Whether you’re running or jumping, there are many times in which a football player needs to push against the ground with their feet for a little more power. The box blast is meant to develop the explosive motion that is used to push off from the ground for a higher jump or an increase in running speed.
To do this, stand with one foot on a box. The box should be about knee-high. Stand on the edge of the box, so that one foot is on the floor and the other is elevated. Now, push off with the elevated foot, getting as high a jump as you can. Land on the edge of the box with the same foot and let the rear foot fall back to its original position in a smooth and controlled way.
5. Ladder Drills
This is another drill that is found in a wide variety of sports training. Once again, that tells us that it is effective. Ladder drills are so named because they involve placing a ladder on the ground and using it as a basis for footwork drills. No, it’s not an actual ladder…its more like a grid of ropes in the shape of a ladder. You could use a rope ladder for this if you just happen to have one.
There are so many ways to use this thing that it would be a waste of time to name them all. The link in the heading will give you a good start. Footwork is very important in football, as it provides more efficient movement. Of course, all that footwork has to be done at high speed with people trying to stop you. Thus, having fast and precise feet can be a very great asset, indeed.
The Importance Of Stretching
Because football is a high-impact contact sport, it is very important that you don’t neglect the importance of stretching. It is worth noting that people have used stretching to prevent injuries for hundreds of years, and yet science has had a difficult time proving these benefits.
We’re just going to solve the mystery for you right now: The scientists are confused here because the benefits of stretching are indirect. You see, there is plenty of research to show that stretching improves flexibility. If you want to know how that can make a difference in terms of injury prevention, do the following: Take a dry piece of grass and a green piece of grass. See which one is easier to break. Flexibility allows you to bend rather than break, just as spring steel is harder to break than stiff iron.
Conclusion
We have tried to give you the five best exercises, but you should not stop with these. There are many other options out there, and it pays to give some of them a try. Without a little bit of experimentation, an athlete cannot grow and improve. If we have helped you to grow and improve your game, we hope you will show your gratitude by following us on Facebook using the button below.
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