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Football strength is a training regime, considered the most complex physical quality to be developed by an athlete. [1] The training regime, exercises used, how the exercises are performed, and the types of equipment all play important roles in achieving desired results. [2]
The role of strength preparation is highly valued in American football. However, it is usually performed for character development, rather than for the specific work of the intramuscular system required in football. The role of strength preparation is crucial not only for increasing muscular strength, which by itself provides an advantage, but also for developing the specific training effects of strength exercises. [3] From the adaptation of the neuromuscular system, to the stress of high eccentric and explosive demands required in football, more specific and intense exercises are needed over of the general exercises commonly used to produce football strength, such as jump training and Olympic-style lifts.
If strength exercises are not used effectively, there will be a disparity between the functional levels of the skeletal muscle system and the capabilities of the neuromuscular system. [4] Specialized strength work produces a strong training effect on the intramuscular system.
Specialized exercises are used to develop the physical and psychological qualities that apply directly to football. [5] For example, using his hip flexors, a player can pull his leg from behind his body to underneath his hips forcefully, duplicating the knee drive action used in running and sprinting. [6] By varying the repetitions and speed of execution, the exercises can either be explosive (high intensity), allow the athlete to develop muscular endurance, or fall somewhere in between, all predicated on what the football player is trying to improve.
Developing physical abilities specific to running, cutting, and jumping technique will have profound results in football-related strength and game performance. In addition, execution of certain specialized exercises requires concentration to develop the neuromuscular pathway needed. [7] A strength exercise which duplicates a particular portion of a skill requires ultimate concentration and perseverance to repeat exactly the same movement time after time. This does not mean that general exercises are of no benefit. They play a very important role in the initial stages of improving a player’s performance. The general exercises precede the specialized exercises to develop a base upon which the special exercises can be performed most effectively. [8] All the advantages of specialized strength work can be realized only with its effective organization. [9]
An exercise does not have the same effect, nor does it improve sports performance to the same degree for athletes at different levels of development. The impact of an exercise depends on whether or not it has a direct effect on the sport's required skills. For example: running is directly related to football, so running exercise has a very good impact on football skill development.
General strength exercises are those exercises that are used in overall body conditioning. They are not directly related to the specific actions required by the sports, or football skill. The overhead press exercise for running can be used to illustrate this concept. [10] It is a common exercise in which the arms move sideways directly upward from the shoulders. In running, however, the arms move in a forward-backward motion in relation to the trunk. Thus, while the overhead press is a good exercise for strengthening the shoulders and arms, which are used in running, it does not duplicate the arm and shoulder movements in the exact actions used in running and, thus, does little to improve that sports skill. [11] General exercises, however, serve as a base upon which a player can add specialized exercises.
General exercises play a very important role in the initial stages of improving a player’s performance. They precede the specialized exercises to develop a base upon which the specialized exercises can be performed most effectively. [12]
When the movement pattern in the exercise duplicates what occurs during a run (or other sports skill), it is known as a specialized exercise. For a runner, an example of a specialized exercise for the shoulders and arms is driving the arm from behind the body to the front of the body in the same pathway and in the same range of motion as in the running stride. [13]
Specialized strength exercises are designed and selected so that their movements and actions most closely match those required for the execution of the sport's specific skills. They also promote psychological traits such as decisiveness, willpower, perseverance and confidence to achieve specific goals. They require similar concentration and psychological qualities as those required for competition on the football field. For example, execution of certain specialized exercises requires concentration to develop the neuromuscular pathways needed. Any strength exercise that duplicates one aspect of a skill requires ultimate concentration and perseverance to repeat exactly the same movement time after time to develop the necessary muscle feel and activate the neuromuscular pathways. For the specialized exercises to have maximum positive transfer, the athlete must be decisive in his or her movements and actions to develop the confidence to repeat the action during play. [14]
Free weights are recommended over machine weights for almost all athletes. [15] When one uses free weights (barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, rubber tubing, etc.), the resistance can be moved in a manner more suited to the sports skill’s intramuscular pattern. With free weights, the athlete must guide and control the movement throughout the execution. In the process, balance and stability are developed because the entire body participates in every exercise, especially when relatively heavy weights are used. [16]
When the "marshmallow" machine weights are used, one must do what the machine dictates. The athlete is guided by the machine, rather than by what the body or limbs are intended to do. [17] The machine isolates specific muscles and helps make them stronger, but that muscle hypertrophy will not necessarily be practical for any particular sport. Therefore, machine exercises are useful for general conditioning purposes, not specificity.
Medicine balls are used in many different exercises to develop muscular strength and endurance, total body power, and flexibility, but their greatest value lies in explosive midsection and arm training. [18] The sudden forces experienced upon catching a weighted ball also imitate what occurs during play in football when contact is made with another player.
Rubber tubing (as opposed to dumbbells, barbells, or exercise machines) allows the athlete to duplicate movement patterns seen in the execution of football skills. [19] With rubber tubing, the athlete can create resistance in any and all directions so that replication of the sports skill movement pattern is possible. The rubber tubing must have specific tensions and accessories so it can be attached to different parts of the body, as well as to different objects on the field, in the gym or at home.
Calisthenics or callisthenics (/ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪk/) is a form of strength training that utilizes an individual's body weight as resistance to perform multi-joint, compound movements with little or no equipment.
Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations, and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest along with a formal recovery plan.
The push-up is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with ancillary benefits to the rest of the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis and the midsection as a whole. Push-ups are a basic exercise used in civilian athletic training or physical education and commonly in military physical training. They are also a common form of punishment used in the military, school sport, and some martial arts disciplines. Variations of push-ups, such as wide-arm push-ups, diamond push-ups target specific muscle groups and provide further challenges.
Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training techniques such as bodyweight exercises, isometrics, and plyometrics.
Plyometrics, also known as jump training or plyos, are exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time, with the goal of increasing power (speed-strength). This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extension to a contraction in a rapid or "explosive" manner, such as in specialized repeated jumping. Plyometrics are primarily used by athletes, especially martial artists, sprinters and high jumpers, to improve performance, and are used in the fitness field to a much lesser degree.
Indian clubs, or meels, are a type of exercise equipment used to present resistance in movement to develop strength and mobility. They consist of juggling-club shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part of a strength exercise program. They can range in weight from a few pounds each to special clubs that can weigh as much as up to 100 pounds. They were used in carefully choreographed routines in which the clubs were swung in unison by a group of exercisers, led by an instructor, the way it is still practiced in Varzesh-e Bastani in Iran and similar to 21st-century aerobics or zumba classes. The routines would vary according to the group's ability along with the weights of the clubs being used. When the 19th-century British colonists came across exercising clubs in India, they named them Indian clubs.
Complex training, also known as contrast training or post-activation potentiation training, involves the integration of strength training and plyometrics in a training system designed to improve explosive power. According to Jace Derwin:
Strength training and plyometric training are both effective measures for increasing athletic performance independent of each other, but a true program designed for power-based athletes needs to incorporate both disciplines. A study done in 2000 in the NSCA's Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research measured three different training protocols: strength training, plyometric training, and a combination of both. The group that used combined methods was the only group that showed significant increases in BOTH strength and power.
Active stretching eliminates force and its adverse effects from stretching procedures or it can also be defined as a stretch that requires you to retain a posture without any help other than the strength of your agonist's muscles is known as an active stretch. Active stretching stimulates and prepares muscles for use during exercise. Active stretches not only stretch the muscles and tissues, but prepares the muscles for the action by activating and warming them up or a stretch that requires you to retain a posture without any help other than the strength of your agonist's muscles is known as an active stretch..
General Physical Preparation, also known as GPP, lays the groundwork for later Specific Physical Preparation, or SPP. In the GPP phase, athletes work on general conditioning to improve strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, structure and skill. GPP is generally performed in the off-season, with a lower level of GPP-maintenance during the season, when SPP is being pursued. GPP helps prevent imbalances and boredom with both specific and non-specific exercises by conditioning the body to work.
Progressive overload is a method of strength training and hypertrophy training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system. The principle of progressive overload suggests that the continual increase in the total workload during training sessions will stimulate muscle growth and strength gain by muscle hypertrophy. This improvement in overall performance will, in turn, allow an athlete to keep increasing the intensity of their training sessions.
Endurance training is the act of exercising to increase endurance. The term endurance training generally refers to training the aerobic system as opposed to the anaerobic system. The need for endurance in sports is often predicated as the need of cardiovascular and simple muscular endurance, but the issue of endurance is far more complex. Endurance can be divided into two categories including: general endurance and specific endurance. Endurance in sport is closely tied to the execution of skill and technique. A well conditioned athlete can be defined as, the athlete who executes his or her technique consistently and effectively with the least effort. Key for measuring endurance are heart rate, power in cycling and pace in running.
Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that use an individual's own weight to provide resistance against gravity. Bodyweight exercises can enhance a range of biomotor abilities including strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, coordination and balance. Such strength training has become more popular among recreational and professional athletes. Bodyweight training uses simple abilities like pushing, pulling, squatting, bending, twisting and balancing. Movements such as the push-up, the pull-up, and the sit-up are among the most common bodyweight exercises.
Ballistic training, also known as compensatory acceleration training, uses exercises which accelerate a force through the entire range of motion. It is a form of power training which can involve throwing weights, jumping with weights, or swinging weights in order to increase explosive power. The intention in ballistic exercises is to maximise the acceleration phase of an object's movement and minimise the deceleration phase. For instance, throwing a medicine ball maximises the acceleration of the ball. This can be contrasted with a standard weight training exercise where there would be a pronounced deceleration phase at the end of the repetition i.e. at the end of a bench press exercise the barbell is decelerated and brought to a halt. Similarly, an athlete jumping whilst holding a trap bar maximises the acceleration of the weight through the process of holding it whilst they jump- where as they would decelerate it at the end of a standard trap bar deadlift.
In kinesiology, core stability is a person's ability to stabilize their core. Stability, in this context, should be considered as an ability to control the position and movement of the core. Thus, if a person has greater core stability, they have a greater level of control over the position and movement of this area of their body. The body's core is frequently involved in aiding other movements of the body, such as running; thus it is known that improving core stability also improves a person's ability to perform these other movements.
Aquatic therapy refers to treatments and exercises performed in water for relaxation, fitness, physical rehabilitation, and other therapeutic benefit. Typically a qualified aquatic therapist gives constant attendance to a person receiving treatment in a heated therapy pool. Aquatic therapy techniques include Ai Chi, Aqua Running, Bad Ragaz Ring Method, Burdenko Method, Halliwick, Watsu, and other aquatic bodywork forms. Therapeutic applications include neurological disorders, spine pain, musculoskeletal pain, postoperative orthopedic rehabilitation, pediatric disabilities, pressure ulcers, and disease conditions, such as osteoporosis.
In Ancient Greece, the history of running can be traced back to 776 BC. Running was important to members of ancient Greek society, and is consistently highlighted in documents referencing the Ancient Olympic Games. The Olympic Games hosted a large variety of running events, each with its own set of rules. The ancient Greeks developed difficult training programs with specialized trainers in preparation for the Games. The training and competitive attitude of Greek athletes gives insight into how scientifically advanced Greece was for the time period.
Michael Yessis was an American sports performance trainer who translated and adapted sports training methodology from the former Soviet Union.
Louie Simmons was an American powerlifter and strength coach. He was active as a powerlifter and coach for more than fifty years. Simmons was the founder of Westside Barbell and has developed several training protocols, including the "Conjugate Method". He is also credited with inventing training machines for reverse hyper-extensions and belt squats. In the US powerlifting community he was referred to as the "Godfather of powerlifting".
Isoinertial denotes a type of resistance used in exercise training which maintains a constant inertia throughout the range of motion, facilitating a constant resistance and maximal muscle force in every angle.
Power training typically involves exercises which apply the maximum amount of force as fast as possible; on the basis that strength + speed = power. Jumping with weights or throwing weights are two examples of power training exercises. Regular weight training exercises such as the clean and jerk and power clean may also be considered as being power training exercises due to the explosive speed required to complete the lifts. Power training may also involve contrasting exercises such as heavy lifts and plyometrics, known as complex training, in an attempt to combine the maximal lifting exertions with dynamic movements. This combination of a high strength exercise with a high speed exercise may lead to an increased ability to apply power. Power training frequently specifically utilises two physiological processes which increase in conjunction with one another during exercise. These are deep breathing, which results in increased intra-abdominal pressure; and post-activation potentation, which is the enhanced activation of the nervous system and increased muscle fibre recruitment. Power training programmes may be shaped to increase the trainee's ability to apply power in general, to meet sports specific criteria, or both.