The Top 10 Gym Exercises for Footballers:
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Football is a very dynamic sport that requires a combination of technique on the ball, tactical knowledge of the game, mental focus/concentration and a very strong physical body to allow you to endure 90 minutes of a grueling game (fight) to earn the 3 points.
If you are a footballer reading this article, I think you know the most important thing for your development and rise to the top is your match on the weekend.
Top 10 Gym Exercises for Footballers
If you are a non-footballer reading this article (and trust me you are more than welcome with open arms), I want to create an analogy for you..
Let’s think back to the school days, or even if you are still in the classroom..
During the week in your class, you spend time learning new subjects and going over new topics, which will generally prepare you for a test at the end of the week (hopefully no pop quizzes these days anymore ;))..
A match in football can be looked at in the same light.
Your match on the weekend is your test and it will show how well you have prepared yourself in training during the week.
It brings out the best and the worst in teams and in players.
If you did not prepare well during the week, you will be found out immediately.
There is nowhere to hide on the football pitch.
As I said, the best way to prepare for yourself for a match is to make sure you are physically, emotionally and mentally prepared.
This is where the great place that we call the gym comes into play!
The gym is a tool to make you a better player on the pitch!
When you step foot into the gym, you should have an idea of what you want to work on.
Every exercise that you do in the gym needs to have a purpose and needs to aim to help you be a better footballer player when you step onto the pitch.
Yes, yes I know, the gym can help you look better for the girls at the beach and at the pool, but your main focus when going into the gym should be to become a better player when you step over that white line.
Like I talk about all the time, if you have a well-constructed plan/blueprint in the gym that is focused on your long-term development, durability and efficacy as a footballer; the looks/aesthetics you want will eventually come as a by-product.
As I tell all on my online coaching clients, if they trust in the process and the plan and they are focused on sleeping well, eating well and training smart & hard, the looks will come.
I’m glad that I got all of the fluff out of the way, now it’s time to delve into the main topic of the article and probably why you are taking the time to read this article..
I understand there is so much information out there right now circulating the internet about how to approach fitness, and it might be driving you crazy.
Trust me, I used to be there. I used to overthink everything (still do) and think through every detail.
But this does you no good. Most of the time, it is better to go back to the basics, and just start doing!
When you start doing (of course with the right technique), you will start to see results over time, and you can make tweaks along the way.
Just like with anything, developing your ultimate football physique will not come easy and it will take a lot of time, effort, consistency, persistence and work!
There will be ups and there will be downs, and trust me, there will be many downs, but if you just stick to doing and trust the process, you will get there eventually!
Strength is one of the most important qualities as a football player and as a human in general.
If you have a proper strength base, you can become faster, more explosive, more agile, and more powerful.
Properly timed strength training sessions will keep you strong, powerful and injury free. They will also help boost your stamina, power, agility and speed!
I wanted to make this as simple as possible by giving you the top gym exercise for football players. Start with these, and I promise you that you will build a great base!
Finally, what you’ve been waiting for…
Here are the Top 10 Gym Exercises for Football Players:
1. Barbell Back Squats
Why should you do them:
1. Squats will help you build strength in your whole body, with a main focus on your lower body. Squats do an excellent job to hit your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calves.
2. Squats will increase your overall functional mobility; specifically, in the hips.
3. Squats will strengthen your core to help prevent lower back pain and injury.
4. Squats will help you become faster in short distances due to increasing your rate of force development.
How to do them:
1. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart trying to keep your toes facing forwards. Please note; it is absolutely okay to have your feet turn out a little bit.
2. Go up to the bar with confidence and poise that you will lift some heavy weight powerfully and explosively.
3. Rest the bar on your shoulders, NOT on your neck (beginners can use a squat pad if needed).
4. Keep your chest up and head up creating a long tall and powerful posture.
5. Keep your knees soft and don’t lock them out.
6. Take a big inhale through your nose, drop your hips back and butt back until about 50 degrees.
7. Pull your lower legs back along with the hamstrings.
8. Try to keep your lower legs as vertical as possible.
9. When your hips are just below your knees, exhale explosively out of your mouth and drive back up with power! Squeeze your glutes at the top!
10. Repeat.
Reps & Sets:
-I don’t like to prescribe a general rep and sets scheme for everyone because every individual is different.
-The most important thing is your technique and execution of the exercise, not the weight you use.
-With this being said; my general rep scheme would be to start with 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps.
Video:
2. Trap Bar Deadlifts
Why should you do them:
1. This is basically a squat and deadlift combined into one exercise. As Mike Boyle says, “the nice thing about Trap Bar Deadlifts is that you can get Squat mechanics with Deadlift benefits.”
2. The trap bar deadlift strengthens the glutes, quads and hamstrings, as well as developing a strong back, core and traps.
3. The trap bar more effectively recruits the quads.
4. You can move weight faster with a trap bar than a barbell.
5. Will help you increase speed and explosiveness by developing a strong foundation.
How to do them:
1. Stand in the center of the trap bar with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your hips down, grab both handles with a solid-powerful grip, take a big inhale through your nose.
3. Keep your head forward and chest up with a strong powerful posture.
4. Drive your feet through the floor, explosively blow out of your mouth and drive up through your feet!
5. Push your hips forward and squeeze your glutes at the top.
6. Repeat.
Reps & Sets:
-Do 3-4 sets of 5-10 reps.
Video:
3. Dumbbell Lunge
Why you should do them:
1. The lunge will make your entire lower body strong.
2. The lunge will increase your core strength and stability.
3. The lunge will increase your lower body mobility.
4. The lunge will prepare you for what is to happen on the field; as you are generally on one foot throughout a soccer match.
How to do them:
1. Grab two dumbbells in your hands.
2. Get into a split stance position with one foot in front of the other.
3. Keep your hips facing forwards.
4. Your back foot should be dorsi flexed (toes driving into the ground).
5. Keep your chest up and head up with a strong posture.
6. Keep your core tight.
7. Slowly lower both of your legs simultaneously.
8. The front leg should stop at 90 degrees; try not to allow the knee to come over the toes.
9. The back leg can slightly touch the ground if needed.
10. Take a deep inhale through your nose, drive through your front foot and explosively blow out of your mouth to rise back up.
Reps & Sets:
-Do 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps on each leg.
Video:
4. Dumbbell Lateral Lunge
Why you should do them:
1. Lateral lunges will improve the strength of your leg muscles; especially your adductors (groin), which is heavily taxed during football training and matches.
2. Will work your small stabilizer muscles (stabilizers of the hip joints).
3. They will aid in your overall change of direction and agility.
4. Hits your legs from different angles.
5. Replicates a football-specific movement; lunging out to win the ball or change direction quickly.
How to do them:
1. Stand with your feet together and two dumbbells in your hands.
2. Inhale deeply through your nose, take a large step out to the right, lower into a lunge.
3. Sink the hips back and bend your right knee to track directly in line with your right foot.
4. Keep your other leg straight, but don’t lock it out.
5. Keep both feet pointing forward at all times.
6. Exhale powerfully out of your mouth and push off the right foot to straighten the right leg and return to the start.
Reps & Sets:
-3 sets of 8-12 reps on each leg.
Video:
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5. Front Squat
Why you should do them:
1. Front Squats activate the core musculature and your overall total stability more than traditional back squats.
2. I am not saying one is better than the other, but it is nice to do both.
3. Focuses more on the anterior (front side) of the body.
4. Front Squats will expose weaknesses in your strength and flexibility. You may ask why you would want to do that? Because it shows where you are weak, and you can easily correct it all
5. Help maintain a strong upright posture.
How to do them:
1. Step up to a barbell and grip the bar slightly with your hands.
2. Tighten your core and pull your shoulder blades down and back.
3. Drive your elbows up as high as you can while maintaining a strong posture.
4. Take a deep inhale through your nose, sit your hips down and back, bend your knees as you push your knees out to lower into the squat.
5. Keep your chest and elbows up throughout the entire rep.
6. Continue to bend your hips and knees until your thighs are about parallel to the ground.
7. Exhale through your mouth, and drive through your midfoot to stand up out of the squat envisioning that you are pushing the ground away from you.
8. You should feel your quads and glutes doing most of the work.
9. Squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips at the top of the squat.
Reps & Sets:
-3-4 sets of 6-12 reps
Video:
6. Pull-Ups
Why You Should Do Them:
1. Improve Your Posture.
2. Strengthen Your Grip.
3. Build Upper Body Strength.
4. Build Core Strength.
5. Improve your Speed.
6. Improve force transfer.
How to do Them:
1. Grab the pullup bar with your palms facing away from you (shoulder-width grip).
2. Hang onto the bar with straight arms and not allowing your legs to touch the floor.
3. Drive your shoulder blades down and back to create tension in your back.
4. Take a large inhale with your nose and simultaneously, pull your elbows down and back as hard as you can towards your pockets while you exhale explosively out of your mouth.
5. Try to pull your head above the bar.
6. Lower yourself back down again until your arms are straight.
Reps & Sets:
-3-4 sets of MAXIMUM REPS!
Video:
7. Bench Press
Why You Should Do It:
1. Will help you build a strong chest and shoulders.
2. Increase your pushing strength.
3. Improve your posture.
4. Make you stronger in 1 v 1 battles and challenges.
How to Do It:
1. Lie down on the flat bench with the bar resting on the rack directly above your eyes.
2. Grab the bar with both hands at about a shoulder width grip
3. Take a deep inhale through your nose and un rack the bar.
4. Lower the bar down towards your chest keeping your forearms vertical.
5. Exhale explosively out of your mouth driving the bar away from your chest straight into the air.
6. It is okay to lock out your elbows at the top of the movement.
Reps & Sets:
-3-4 sets of 8-10 reps.
Video:
8. Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Why You Should Do Them:
1. Requires tons of core stability (rectus abominis, erector spinae and external oblique).
2. Become more explosive! Yup , you read that right. Becoming more explosive requires your whole body to work in unison to produce the transfer of force.
3. Helps improve running performance due to the anti-extension quality of the exercise.
4. Will improve your posture.
5. Will improve your sprint speed by improving your vertical arm drive.
6. Increase your starting strength by requiring you to quickly generate force with little or no motion/momentum prior to the movement; which is essential in cutting and being quick in your first step.
How To Do Them:
1. Sit on a secure bench with dumbbells in your hands.
2. Your palms should be facing forwards.
3. Feet are shoulder-width, with your feet driving into the ground to create a stable position.
4. Keep your torso right and rigid and slowly lift the dumbbells to your shoulder position.
5. If you want, rest them on your shoulders and keep your elbows at about 90 degrees.
6. When ready, bring the dumbbells towards your ears, and open your chest, take a deep inhale through your nose.
7. Exhale as hard as you can through your mouth and press the dumbbells explosively over your head.
8. Slowly lower them down. As you lower them down, focus on retracting your shoulder blades like you are squeezing a pencil in between them.
9. Think about pressing the dumbbells through the roof
Video:
9. Barbell Bodyweight Row
Why You Should Do Them:
1. Help with total body control.
2. Increase core stability.
3. Increase upper body strength.
4. Increase activation of total body musculature.
How to Do Them:
1. Get under a bar (squat bar on a secure rack or a bar on a smith machine)
2. Hands slightly wider than shoulder width
3. Feet about shoulder width apart
4. As with every exercise I prescribe; back neutral position; glutes and quads right and feet Dorsi Flexed.
5. Chest in line with bar, take a deep inhale through your nose, and pull yourself to the bar by driving your elbows towards your pockets while exhaling explosively through your mouth, and making sure to use your lats and mid back, not your biceps!
6. Slowly lower yourself to the bar, and REPEAT!
Video:
10. Turkish Get Up
Why You Should Do Them:
1. Will increase your lower body stability and core strength.
2. Will help increase hip mobility.
3. Will help you change directions and speed on the pitch.
How to Do Them:
1. Using a kettlebell or a dumbbell, start by lying flat on your back on the ground.
2. With your right knee bent, and foot flat on the floor.
3. Keep the left leg extended straight out.
4. Hold the dumbbell in your right hand, and have your left arm extended straight out to the side at a diagonal angle with your palm down on the floor.
5. Inhale through your nose and extend your right arm with the weight and press it straight up, directly above your shoulder.
6. Push your hips up and bend your left, bringing the leg directly behind you.
7. Put the knee down on the floor directly under your hip.
8. Your right knee should remain bent and out in front of your with your foot flat on the floor.
9. Lift your upper body into a lunge position and stand up.
10. Reverse these movements as you lower back down into the starting position.
Reps & Sets:
-2-3 sets of 6-10 reps on each arm.
Video:
11. Front Rack Barbell Reverse Lunges
Why you should do them:
1. Front Rack Barbell Reverse Lunges activate the core musculature and your overall total stability more than due to the nature of the rack position.
2. They will improve your single leg strength and stability.
3. Focuses more on the anterior (front side) of the body.
4. You will work on your ability to “push off” of one leg which is key for overall acceleration and speed!
5. Helps maintain a strong upright posture.
How to Do Them:
1. Grab a barbell and put it at about shoulder height with secure rack clips.
2. Walk up to the bar head on, take a deep breath, grab the bar and let the bar rest on your shoulders.
3. Drive your elbows up up and keep your spine as erect and vertical as possible.
4. Make sure your core is locked in and engaged by acting like someone is about to punch you in the stomach.
5. With both legs in line, breathe in and take a step behind you, drive through the ground with the front leg to push and drive yourself back to the line.
6. Repeat on both sides.
Reps & Sets:
-2-5 sets of 3-8 reps on each leg.
Video:
12. Dumbbell Soleus Calf Raise:
Why you should do them:
- Helps Your Acceleration & Ability to Generate Force
The soleus covers a large area of your calf muscle. If you add these into your program, you could generate a lot of extra strength and power!
- It provides STABILITY
The soleus contributes to 50% of your vertical support force during running
This calf muscle pulls against the force of gravity to keep your body upright and prevent you from falling forwards which can also help your vertical jump when leaping for headers!
-If your soleus is strong, you will be very stable and possibly jump as high as Ronaldo.
- It assists with BLOOD FLOW to your heart
-The soleus acts on venous return from the muscles to the heart. If you train this muscle well, you will have more blood flow that passes back to the heart, which will keep you going when the game gets tough!
-This will help increase oxygen and essential nutrients to the body, which will directly increase your body’s performance.
How to Do Them:
1. Grab 2 dumbbells (heavier than you think) & sit on a bench.
2. Put the dumbbells on the tips of your knees so you have the weight directly over your foot.
3. Breathe in and lift your heels by driving the balls of your feet into the ground.
4. Mix up your movements by going quickly and slowly (this will obviously depend on what you’re working on for the session).
Reps & Sets:
-2-5 sets of 20-50 Reps
Video:
I hope this gives you an idea of what exercises to start doing in the gym to make yourself a better footballer and a better human on and off the pitch. Remember, I made these the “Top 10 Gym Exercises for Footballers” because of the overload of information out there in the industry. I just wanted to make it plain and simple!
The most important thing is ACTION. You need to get into the gym and do something. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing!
Check This Video Out If You Would Like Me to Walk You Through the Top Ten Gym Exercises for Exercises For Footballers:
Fully Translated in Spanish:
I am grateful to have a large audience who speaks Spanish, so I went ahead and translated the entire article into Spanish to help you feel more comfortable. I hope it helps:
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