Probability you might not believe this, but just hear me out on this. While coaching players on games that involves great strength, and, or explosive power weight training soccer is very useful. Strong abdominal and lower back muscles are also essential for players for whom strength and power is not the main issue.
Here are the basic principles of weight training for soccer displaying simple activities to describe those principles.
One of the key principles of soccer strength training is, Specificity. The idea is that to train your players to practice in a manner which is similar to that when they play on the fields. For instance: Runners run and swimmers swim.
With a view to develop power, the speed of the training or exercise is vital. Weight training programs should be prepared explicitly for individuals taking into consideration their role in team sports, their age, physical and mental capacity to take stress, and the level at which they are to play.
When this kind of information is available to a coach while planning a fitness training program, it ensures a good start.
For over all physical conditioning you should arrange those exercises which develop specific training. For instance, to improve the aerobic and strength and power fitness, swimmers also run and perform weight lifting.
Injury prevention is also something which is commonly overlooked although it is an important part of weight training soccer. The effects of injury prevention are not evident directly but they are essential in player’s performance and confirm that the player is fit to play at the most important occasions of the calendar.
The movements executed in soccer are running, sprinting, turning and twisting, side-stepping, preparing for a goal. To develop strength, stability and power the chain of muscles titled as the “anterior and posterior chain,” involved in these activities should be given attention.
The most useful workouts are the core lifts, like squats and deadlifts for forming these muscles. The normal soccer fitness program should useful if special importance is given to these two core lifts that are crucial for leg, hip, back and abdominal strength.
Swimming can also help to add strength to shoulders, arms and back muscles.
Strength programs normally consist of heavy loads and a small number of repetitions. You should be knowing by now that unlike other sports requiring bulk and weight soccer is a sport that requires strength with mobility, speed and stamina.
Strengthening highly vulnerable muscle groups could also add to the performance benefits in the absence of primary strength, power or endurance gains. These muscle groups are the lower back and hamstrings, and the quadriceps muscles that direct knee joint function.
This is it. Please try to consider these areas while weight training soccer as you know now that football unlike other sports do not require weights essentially. You are invited to become a member of our youth soccer coaching society that has a plethora of informative articles, weekly newsletters, and videos to help you better understand the concepts of youth coaching.
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Practice Tips.
Tags: fitness training, soccer fitness, soccer strength training, Weight training soccer