In soccer training weight training soccer plays an important role in creating tougher and quicker muscles, this you might have heard a lot of times. Your players will have a chance to play at a higher level if they develop themselves using this soccer fitness plan discussed as follows.
During soccer weight training the aim is to improve the strength, speed and stamina of the muscles instead of just increasing the muscle weight. Though the importance of upper body weight training for soccer is not as much as the legs, we still go on with it for general conditioning and strength.
I think fitness training should start with the legs. It should be started with the crouching exercises first. After a light warm-up set, load the bar to a weight you think your players can get 20 reps with. Let’s say they are pretty strong, so tell them to begin with 220 pounds. They have to get under the bar, with it resting across their upper back, and stand up with it.
Instruct them to step back out of the racks and stand with their feet, shoulder width apart or wider. After that they must lower their body while holding on to the bar till their hips are a little bit below the top of their knee. When they reach this level in weight training soccer, they should stand up quickly and exhale. Tell them to continue this practice for at least 20 reps even when they are completely exhausted.
Next is working on hamstrings, but before that have a 5-10 minutes break. 4 sets of 15 reps each should be completed by them. During each set of Leg Curls, Stiff-Legged Dead lift should be performed with 4 sets of 15 reps. Hamstrings are vital for players speed, thus we would want them to be strong enough.
Finish the leg workouts on Standing calf-raise machine and doing 3 sets of 25 reps
The Incline bench press would be used to start the upper body exercises.
After a warm up exercise, guide players to add enough weight so that the next set of 10 reps gets difficult. They should continue with that weight for 5 sets of 10 repetitions total, while stretching their chest and shoulders, and resting for around 2 minutes between each set.
The second exercise for this portion of the soccer strength training is pull-ups. This exercise should be done with the palms facing their body so that their biceps and back can become strong. The final part of the upper body work out involves working on abdominals and doing 5 sets of 20 or more reps of leg raises. The final exercise is sit-ups, complete 5 sets of 50 or more.
As a final point weight training soccer is only a minor portion of the comprehensive training program required. You should consider joining our youth soccer coaching society to know more about various weight training exercises relevant to the game of soccer; the community also provides videos, articles, pod casts, and newsletters available for you.
Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Soccer Practice.
Tags: fitness training, soccer fitness, soccer strength training, Weight training soccer