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If the sole training you’re doing for soccer season is on the sector, odds are that you’ll soon be benched. Rather head to at least one of the Gyms near your pitch and make your game stronger by making your body stronger.
If you don’t trust the advice of somebody who can scarcely get foot to ball, check out Sergio Rumes’ gym workouts for beginner or be enthused by Real Madrid champions. The beautiful game requires a beautiful athlete, and supplementing your outdoor field time with indoor gym time helps to build muscle and train your heart and lungs for the “high intensity, start-and-stop demands of soccer”. As this is covid time period the whole world is in lockdown, therefore, you can also go for online gym during lockdown.
Here are some of the areas to focus on when you’re indoors at your local gym or at home online:
- Baby, you’re a firework
Explosive strength is during a ll|one amongst one in every of one among key factors in a successful athlete, to place on those bursts of speed needed to urge ball in goal or make one sharp movement as goalie to block it. Two exercises that help build dynamite legs are box squats and leg presses. You could also try jumping onto a box or bench and immediately off again like a kangaroo – and you know their legs can kick!
- Let your legs be towers of strength
The need for lower body strength is fairly obvious as soccer may be a game where the importance of rock bottom half is tops. Target your quads, calves, hammiest and hip flexors with squats, hamstring curls and leg presses designed to build legs of granite. It’s a good idea to start with lower weights (60% to 70% of your capability) and higher reps (this can also form part of your muscular endurance training). As time goes on, and your legs become like iron, man, you can increase the weights and lower the reps. Check out some variations to the standard exercises, and check out some Turkish get-ups which not only build lower body strength but also increase shoulder mobility and core strength to help with speed, agility and power.
You could also include single leg balances or linear and lateral hops into one or two of your week’s workouts, as most of the game is spent on one leg or the other. For more details on how to do these exercises, check out this article or ask one of expert trainers.
- Let those towers stand the test of time
Muscular endurance training is also important, as 90 minutes (one way) is an awfully long time for any man to last. As well as lower weights and higher reps, you might want to consider adding some circuit training into your weekly programme as this will target all large muscle groups with both resistance and aerobic intensity.
- Jack-in-the-box
Jumping up to head a ball or lunging to block a shot requires the coordination of more than one muscle – something known as reactive power or plyometric strength. Exercises which help coordinate variety of muscles build this strength, like skipping, sprinting or taking giant steps.
Here, a class that mixes aerobics and coordination might help – like step (or even Zumba if you’re within the mood for a few South American flavour off the field). You can check out more options to find a class that benefits your game.
- Getting to the core of it all
It’s not all in the legs – a strong core improves balance, posture, power, and overall functionality as well as agility, endurance and speed. “The stronger you are, the faster you’ll be—core strength is a big part of that,” says Paul Caffrey, fitness coach and director of sports performance for Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo. Read more what Paul has got to say on this text.
Some dedicated activities to build core strength include front and side pillars (variations on the plank position), but weight-bearing exercises such as goblet squats and kettlebell swings also help harden that central even while structure lower body and shoulder forte. You might also try a Pilates or Bootcamp class which incorporate a number of cores strengthening activities.
- Swap the downers for uppers
It’s easy to believe that your upper body bears no weight in this game, but a strong chest and shoulders can be vital for pressing through defence. Spend at least one workout day a week on building some strength in your upper body with weight-training such as bench press and one-arm dumbbell rows.
- Run, Forest, run
Cardio fitness is vital. If you took the time to watch the videos above, you will have seen world-class soccer players spending a big proportion of their gym time either on the treadmill or cycling, or doing other cardio training. 90 minutes is a long time, and 100 metres is a long field to run up and down on.
You need a high level of fitness, with special emphasis on interval training. Whether on the treadmill, elliptical, exercise bike or rowing machine – set it to high intensity for a minute then slow for two minutes. This mimics the start-and-stop nature of the game and also helps to build that explosive strength.
- Bend it like Beckham
Often, flexibility is forgotten in favour of speed and strength – but soccer requires not only all-round fitness, but a certain elasticity as well. Being supple not only allows a player to reach for the ball but can help to prevent injury. Always contain stretching as part of your routine, but you could also amp up elasticity (as well as hardening your core) by joining a yoga class.