A complete football training program takes just a little planning. But the benefits are well worth the effort...
Football players are amongst some of the finest athletes in the world and that's a testament to their gruelling regime.
If you want to perform at YOUR best - whatever level that might be - you can learn a lot from the way the pros train.
First and foremost though, a football training program has to meet your own specific needs...
Training time for most players is limited. You might not have the resources (or the inclination) to train 6 days a week.
And you don't have to.
Your only goal should be to maximise the time you DO have at your disposal. Do that and you cannot fail to improve.
Any effective training regime should be built on the back of a solid fitness assessment. And it becomes exceptionally important in sports conditioning...
Without objective testing you simply cannot know how effective your time and energy has been.
And if you're shooting in the dark, there's no way to tweak and adjust sessions to get where you want to be.
Visit the fitness testing section of the site. You'll find all kinds of tests you can perform with little or no special equipment. Spend one afternoon developing a profile of your athletic abilities and record the results.
As a football player you'll want focus on tests that measure strength, power and speed. For example
• One repetition max bench press and leg press
• 30 meter sprint
• 30 meter sprint fatigue
• Standing vertical jump
• Standing broad jump
• Sit and reach test
Split Your Football Training Program Into 3 Phases
A football training program lasts 12 months - even if the competitive in-season only spans from September to December. And that applies to any football player at any level...
Even if you only have a couple of days a week spare for football conditioning, you should still adapt and vary those sessions over the course of a year.
For the