| Win the challenges for the ball with explosive power | | | | soccer to include all parts of your body. |
| Weight training for soccer is not about building huge | | | | How to Train |
| muscles. It is about: | | | | You cannot just go to the gym and do the normal 3 |
| Upper Body Strength | | | | sets of 10 repetitions of all the standard exercises and |
| - Aids in complete explosive power. | | | | get soccer fit. If you think so, you are kidding yourself. |
| - Helps you shield the ball from the opposition. | | | | Bodybuilders do that to build size and strength. Your |
| - Helps you gain position on your opposition. | | | | goal is different. Unless you want to be a huge |
| - Helps you throw well on throw-ins. | | | | bodybuilder, with little agility, and no flexibility. Hey, you |
| - Helps to prevent injury. | | | | could be a huge pylon! |
| Lower Body Strength | | | | Your training should include: |
| - For powerful shots and firm passes. | | | | - Weights to increase strength and power. |
| - Jump above others to win head balls. | | | | - Circuit training. This provides cardiovascular and |
| - Firm tackling to steal the ball. | | | | strength improvement. Try using movements that you |
| - Improved agility. | | | | would use in a soccer game. |
| - Improved speed and acceleration. | | | | - Plyometrics - a type of exercise using explosive |
| - Helps to prevent injury. | | | | movements to develop muscular power. For example |
| Performance | | | | bounding, hopping, and jumping, for the purposes of |
| To be a quality soccer player you need to be a | | | | improving performance in a specific sport. |
| complete athlete. No other sport requires the physical | | | | Is That Enough? |
| strength and lung capacity that soccer does. You have | | | | Well of course not. With any smart soccer strength |
| to be able to run short distances of 10 to 20 yards | | | | training or soccer speed training program, you need a |
| quickly, but you also need the endurance to last 90 | | | | healthy diet. You can build your strength and agility, but |
| minutes of a soccer match. You also need to be able | | | | without the energy to go along with it just won't matter. |
| to hold off the opposition and win challenges for the | | | | So work smart, eat well, and train properly. Your |
| ball. These skills require more than just lifting heavy | | | | soccer training will develop a lean-muscled, physically |
| weights. It requires balancing your weight training for | | | | fit, explosively powered soccer body. |