To be a successful football player, a healthy balance between speed, strength, power, agility and mental sharpness is required.
No matter which position on the field you play, an elite football body is all about taking a balanced approach to your fitness routine.
In this article, we provide a few tips on how best to maximise your next workout to achieve professional athlete status.
Required equipment
You’ll find most, if not all of the equipment in your gym but if you’re taking things to the next level and building your routine at home, here’s what you’ll need:
- A workout bench, pull up bar, and cable machine.
- Dumbbells, weight plates and barbells.
- Cloth wristbands, a headband and some useful stuff with moisture-wicking technology like a bandana to wipe your sweat.
Workout routine
Our football body workout routine will be divided into two parts – upper body and lower body.
The upper body routine will obviously focus on your arms, shoulder, back and chest. The lower body routine will on the other hand, focus on your legs and stomach.
Upper body
The upper body portion of the football body workout routine involves the following:
- Hammer Curls (3 sets of 30 reps. Requires dumbbells):
Stand in an upright position and ensure you keep your back straight at all times. This program strengthens the muscles in your biceps.
- Bench Press (5 sets, 4 reps. Requires barbells):
Again, ensure your back is straight and make a conscious effort to completely extend and contract your arms between each rep. This workout targets your chest and shoulders.
- Dumbbell Rows (3 sets, 8, 15, and 20 reps. Requires dumbbells but a bench is optional):
Depending on your preference, you may lean on a bench and row one arm at a time, or use two dumbells. In both situations, keep your back straight and employ only your arms and shoulder for lifting. This program targets your posterior, deltoids and biceps.
- Chinups (3 sets, 10 reps each. Requires a pull-up bar):
This workout strengthens the muscles in your biceps, back, shoulders, and forearms.
- Face Pulls (3sets, 15 reps. Requires a cable machine):
This program focuses on your lateral deltoids, teres minor, trapezius and brachialis.
Lower body
The lower body portion of the football body workout routine involves the following:
- Weighted Sit Ups (4 sets, 12 reps. Requires a weight plate):
This exercise strengthens the muscles in your stomach and obliques. For the extra effect on your obliques, you can twist from side to side when rising.
- Reverse Lunges (3 sets, 10 reps on each leg. Requires dumbbells):
Remember to keep your back straight and let your legs do the work. You may clutch your dumbbell or not, depending on how your body feels. This fitness exercise targets the muscles in your gluteus maximus, adductor magnus and hamstrings.
- Planks (4 sets, hold for 30 seconds):
Plank exercise is one of the easiest, but most draining exercises in the routine. Even just doing 4 sets of planks daily will tone and tighten the muscles in your stomach.
When using our football body workout routine, always pay attention to form so as to prevent injury and gain maximum benefit.
