Strength training in football - how to improve your athleticism | Strength training in football - how to improve your athleticism

Strength training in football - how to improve your athleticism

Football is a very demanding sport when it comes to reaching the top level. It is usually not so much technique that makes the leap to the top of the world, but athleticism. Those who sprint faster, jump higher and are more robust in duels usually score the points. Strength is crucial for this. Strength training is therefore all the more important in football. We show you clearly what is important.

spized | Training tips

December 1, 2023 |

Whats’ on this page

1. Each position has a different strength requirement profile

2. Performance diagnostics as a prerequisite for effective strength training for footballers

3. Strength training football: exercises with 3 case studies for individual training focal points

3.1 Strength training football type "Niklas Süle":

4. Strength training football type "Jamal Musiala"

5. Strength training football for "beginners"

5.1 Fitness training for footballers: taking the off-season and current season into account

Each position has a different strength requirement profile

We use the following player types to show you which aspects are particularly important in training:

Goalkeeper: A modern goalkeeper, such as Manuel Neuer, must have various strength skills. He must be quick and powerful, be able to jump high and wide and be able to assert himself in the penalty area in set pieces.
Defenders: Robust defenders for quick transitional play are guys like Upamecano. They need to be assertive and rather bulky. A high sprinting speed is also important. For a positional advantage, top speed is more important than acceleration. This is because defenders usually have a head start at the beginning of the running duel.
Attacking players: Goal-scoring attacking players such as Christiano Ronaldo are not only quick and powerful, they also have a great jumping height in the penalty area, have a high sprinting speed and are also assertive. Depending on the type, different priorities can be set here.

Gareth Bale shows you the difference athleticism and strength can make in an impressive sprint to goal:

We have not yet mentioned terms such as speed, maximum strength or strength endurance. But that's what we're talking about when we talk about athletic ability. Do you already know what it's all about? Then you can read on right now.

If you want to know more about these athletic abilities, click here for our articles on speed strength, maximum strength and strength endurance.

Performance diagnostics as a prerequisite for effective strength training for footballers

How and why should performance diagnostics be carried out before strength training for footballers? Quite simply, the more professional your level is, the less you should leave to chance when training. Performance diagnostics show your current condition and at the same time a profile of your strengths and weaknesses. Strength diagnostics will then help you to compare your athletic abilities with the defined requirements for your playing profile. The exact tests that are carried out can vary greatly. There is no uniform standard here. The following tests can also be carried out without extensive technical equipment to create a strength diagnostic:

Dynamic maximum strength tests in terms of the 1RM for the basic exercises squat, deadlift, bench press, rowing and shoulder press. You should answer the following question: How many kg can I move once in the exercises?
Jump height from 3 different jump variations: Drop Jump, Counter Movement Jump and Squat Jump (link article)
Strength endurance test: single-leg knee extension machine with a defined load and reps/min until exhaustion (=when the movement frequency becomes too slow). In addition to reps/min, you can also standardise the movement frequency somewhat more simply by specifying seconds per rep.

All of these methods can also be easily performed by amateurs. The important thing here is that you are given very clear guidelines for the execution. If, for example, the range of motion changes and you squat slightly lower in the post-test than in the pre-test, the diagnostics will not provide a clear result. This is because any improvement observed can be explained solely by the change in posture during the squat and not by more strength.

If you have access to good technical equipment at a training institute, there are further possibilities:

Jump from the force plate
Isometric maximum strength test with leg press, deadlift, etc. with recording of maximum strength
Dynamic strength test with defined resistance (80% 1RM) with force recording

These more specialised tests produce a force-time curve from which the rate of increase in force (corresponding to the speed force) and the maximum force can be precisely read.

What is still possible are sprint tests with a light barrier. The shorter the distance, the more important the light barrier, as otherwise the measurement error when stopping by hand is too great and the results are not meaningful due to a lack of accuracy.

What do I need to consider before football strength training during performance diagnostics and what are the takeaways?

It is best to carry out diagnostics at the start of the off-season to determine the status quo. This allows you to control the training load and check the effect of the training you have done. The diagnostics should be repeated at least 1-2 times during the off-season under conditions that are as identical as possible, ideally much more frequently. The more often you test, the less fluctuations due to daily form or similar will play a role.
Don't test just to test. All diagnostic tests should provide you with an insight that has a direct influence on your strength training decisions. If this is not the case, you don't need any tests.
It is best to compare the results with other performance analyses of players in your position.
Based on the requirements that you have precisely defined in advance for the performance diagnostics, you can later prioritise your training and work on weaknesses.

Strength training football: exercises with 3 case studies for individual training focal points

Strength training football type "Niklas Süle":

You have a super 1RM in the squat, but you are too slow in the 10m and 20m sprints and your jump height could also be better.

You have good maximum strength, but little power. You are not able to apply your maximum strength quickly, keyword: rate of force/development/rate of force increase/fast strength

The solution is then: focus on ballistic training as well as jumps and kicks

You can then use the following 3 exercises for strength training in football to train your speed strength, among other things.

Important: Warm up well, but try to avoid pre-fatigue! Maximum speed of movement is required for these exercises!

Loaded Jumps: Take a barbell and load it with approx. 30% of your 1RM. Do 3 sets of 10 reps, pausing for 3-5 minutes. You should always be well recovered.

Jump as high as you can with the barbell and cushion the landing well with your legs. Start with a "no counter movement jump" or "squat jump". Get into a controlled low position from which you start the jump.

Then as a progression: "Counter Movement Jump". The starting position is now the upright standing position, the downward movement is as fast as possible and a lunging movement for the maximum high jump.

Drop jumps: Start by jumping down from a 45-60cm box and cushioning the landing. Start with a low box and then increase the height. First you jump with both legs, then with one leg.

Target exercise: From the landing, catapult yourself upwards with as little contact time with the ground as possible. The important thing here is to pull your toes in as you fall and stretch your toes and foot towards the back of your foot (dorsiflexion) to create tension in the calf muscles. The impulse comes from plantar flexion in the ankle joint. This means that you make a downward movement with your toes and foot by bending them towards the sole of your foot. You should keep the knee flexion to a minimum, as otherwise you will "sink" and the ground contact time will be too long. 3 sets of 10 repetitions, pause for 3-5 minutes for full recovery.

Resistance sprints: Practise the start and acceleration phase in particular, i.e. the sprint should not be too long, maximum 30m. Increase the resistance with a sled or winches, depending on what equipment is available. The simple version: A training partner holds on to an elasticated band. Rule of thumb: 1 minute rest for every 10m sprint. 2x5x30m (10min break between the two series).

Strength training football type "Jamal Musiala"

You're quick and agile, but not assertive in duels, your shooting hardness could be better and your maximum sprint speed also needs to be increased.

Your potential then lies in improving your maximum strength. Your muscles are fast, but high resistance is so demanding and so close to your maximum strength that you can still only move them slowly. Increasing your maximum strength not only makes you stronger, you can also move weights faster that you were previously only able to lift slowly despite your basic speed, and you will also become more robust in duels.

The solution: full-body strength training with a focus on maximum strength

Exercises that form the basis are the 5 basic exercises. The compound lifts are important, i.e. complex exercises that train more than just one muscle group. These are

Squat, deadlift, rowing, bench press, shoulder press

You can build on this basis with further exercises that specifically target other muscles, e.g. to compensate for imbalances or simply to make the training more varied. Possible exercises include lunges, leg presses, pull-ups or dips.

This is how you start: Warm up well and start the exercises with 2-3 warm-up sets to gradually increase the weight, then 3-5 work sets with 1-5 reps, 90-100% 1RM, 3-5 min rest.

Important: This training primarily has neuronal effects that increase strength. If you also want to increase your body weight, you can add a 3-6 week hypertrophy block before the maximum strength training, with 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps, 70-80%, 2 min rest.

In addition to intramuscular coordination, the muscle cross-sectional area is also a performance-limiting factor!

Strength training football for "beginners"

You're generally not particularly good at athletics - either because you've just come out of youth or because you've always been conspicuous by your absence in the gym. Now you want to progress in football and take your athleticism to a new level. However, the performance diagnostics have ruthlessly exposed your weaknesses. How do you tackle this now? Here are some key points:

You're a beginner in the gym, so the first thing you need to do is learn the technique! Since you are fit and have a solid sense of movement from your sport, your goal is to learn complex free weight exercises ("compound lifts"): Squat, deadlift, rowing, bench press, shoulder press.

Start with very little weight and learn the movement patterns with a coach or team colleague who can already do it all. Stay patient. If you don't master the technique and put on too much too soon, you risk injury!

You've got the technique down? Good! Then start with strength endurance training, i.e. 50-60% of the 1RM and 15-20 reps.

After 3-4 weeks, increase the intensity and train in the hypertrophy range, i.e. 70-80% 1 RM, 8-12 reps, 2 min rest.

You should continue this training for a few months. You can increase the volume and intensity as you progress.

To maximise the training effect, the basic lifts you always perform should vary.

What else is important: Every 3-4 weeks, take a deload week (= significantly reduce the volume and intensity) to give your body time to rest and adapt. But be careful: this does not mean that you do nothing more during this time, but that you simply do less.

Fitness training for footballers: taking the off-season and current season into account

In the off-season, you build up your athletic abilities. During this time, you can set intensive and tiring stimuli and have plenty of time available for this in training. All weaknesses identified by the performance diagnostics are tackled from the ground up and specifically trained.

With the start of the season, the time budget in training changes: there is a lot of team tactical content, there are video analyses to prepare for and follow up games. You also have 1-2 games a week and have to invest time in travelling to away games. That's why the season is all about maintaining your athletic level and being fresh for the game at the weekend.

After the games, the focus is on regeneration and then the match preparation begins relatively quickly. This means that there is not much time for strength training. You should therefore carry out the sessions in moderation and focus on maximum and speed strength. To keep fatigue within limits, you can work with "reps in reserve" in the individual sets. This means that you do not work until you are completely fatigued.

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