How to Increase Football Speed and Get Stronger: 6 Must Do Exercises
How to Increase Football Speed and Get Stronger: 6 Must Do Exercises
The problem is, even if an athlete stumbles on a good weight room program, they are still leaving so much on the table. There's certain movements that help bridge the gap between the weight room and the field. Here are 4 movements that are guaranteed to improve your strength, speed, athletic ability, and conditioning:
Carry objects:
It's almost a lost art form. Simply picking up something fairly heavy and walking with it. This builds real-world stamina and excellent football conditioning.
Think "World's Strongest Man" contest%u2026picking up and carrying Sandbags, Rocks, Barrels Filled with water, doing a Farmer's Walk with heavy dumbbells%u2026use your imagination and the possibilities are endless. Sandbags are the safest option because if you drop them on your foot, no damage done. These are all excellent football exercises!
Carrying objects allows you to move in all directions, rather than be limited to the mostly up and down motion of lifting weights. This change of direction compliments weight training very well and is an essential part of any good football training program.
Carrying sandbags will build your core better than any Swiss ball bullcrap ever could! Just holding onto the damn bag is a workout in itself. Then running with the thing absolutely hammers your lower back and abs, two areas that must be developed to the maximum if you want to be a superior athlete.
Hill Sprints
This is pretty simple. Find a small hill and sprint up the side.
This has tremendous conditioning and fat loss potential because running hills is very demanding, metabolically.
Another great reason to hill sprint: even an football player with horrendous running form will be safe running hills. This is simply because the hill does NOT allow the athlete to over-stride nor does it allow them to reach top speed, both major factors in hamstring injuries.
A word of caution about running hills: you DO NOT need many of these to get the job done%u2026five sprints up a small hill should be sufficient. Proceed with caution!
If you want to crank up the intensity on Hill Sprints, wear a weighted vest. I don't normally recommend running with vests, but again, because of the hill's incline, your will not be slamming your feet into the ground with each stride.
One Arm and One Leg Lifts
Most of the old timers used one armed lifts in one form or another. Just a basic one armed Dumbbell Press would work wonders on your shoulders, obliques, abs, and lower back.
%u2022 Another way to go? A One Dumbbell Bench Press.
You notice that you need all of those muscles in your core to stabilize your body or that dumbbell is NOT coming off of your chest.
%u2022 One Leg Squats, Lunges, and One Leg Deadlifts are also favorites. These lifts are great for strengthening any strength imbalances in your legs. They are, however, a bit of an ego killer! It won't take much weight to make you EXTREMELY SORE with these lifts so please leave your ego at the door!
If you'd really like to test your athletic ability, try the One Arm Overhead Squat. Use a dumbbell or kettlebell and squat as low as you can. This will let you know very quickly if your hip-flexors are too tight. One Arm and One Leg Lifts should be included in your football training program several times per year.
AB work:
If you are an athlete, AB work has to go well beyond a few sets of crunches at the end of your training. This is true for non-athletes as well%u2026a strong mid-section is crucial for lower back health, and overall strength. If you plan on lifting heavy, and most of your football exercises should be done with heavy weights, you will not do it without plenty of hard abdominal work.
Weighted Sit-Ups, Janda Sit-Ups, Saxon Side Bends, Kneeling Cable Crunches, and any style of one arm "suitcase" style of Deadlifting will work wonders on your abs and help stabilize you while lifting and on the field.
Back Work:
I really believe one can never do enough back work. You need to work your lower back with the same intensity you would put into your chest, quads, or arms. A weak lower back will not only cause you injury at some point, but it will severely hinder your progress in the weightroom and on the field.
Hyper Extensions, Glute Ham Raises, Good Mornings, and Pull Throughs will help make your lower back strong and stable. You must also work the middle and upper back.
Want a big bench press? Most guys do. Then you MUST train your back with Rows, Chins, and Pulling exercises. Not only will it stabilize you on the bench, but building a bigger back will decrease the amount of distance you have to push the bar. Less distance = MORE weight! Powerlifters have known this trick for decades, and no one benches more than them.
Push Cars and Drag/Push Sleds:
A great option for pushing/pulling a sled is "The Prowler". It's a weighted sled that can be pulled or pushed. It's an amazing tool for conditioning and fat loss. It's also an excellent alternative to boring cardio.
Using the Prowler is simple you load some weight on and push or pull. Fast, slow, medium%u2026in short bursts or for time, all will benefit you. This is a great alternative for anyone who doesn't like running or walking. The Prowler will absolutely melt the body fat right off of you.
Incorporate these 4 exercises into your training and watch your ability explode!
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