Strength Training
Introduction
Strength forms the basis
for power and speed. Soccer players also need strength to hold off
challenges from opponents.
Professional soccer players don't tend to have the same absolute strength
as American football players or rugby players for example. Too much bulk
would hinder their agility and speed off the mark. Aerobic and strength
endurance play a more substantial role in soccer than they do in American
football.
The most common method for measuring absolute strength is to determine
one repetition maximum. Usually the bench press is used for the upper
body and leg press for the lower body.
Perhaps more important in soccer than absolute strength is
relative strength.
Relative strength is simply your absolute or maximum strength adjusted
according to your body weight. So a 140lb player who can leg press 280lbs
is said to have greater relative strength than a player who can
also press 280lbs but who weighs say, 165lbs.
If you can bench press your own body weight and leg press twice your body
weight you have excellent relative strength.
Of course, this is a rough measure because 100lbs on one weights machine
is often more difficult to lift than 100lbs on another machine. Soccer
players tend to have very well-developed quadriceps. The quads should be
approximately twice the strength of the opposing hamstring muscle group,
but in some players this difference can increase.
It's a good idea to spend time strengthening the hamstrings in relation to
the quads if this is the case.
In
many cases, the aim of a strength program is simply
to increase maximum strength. Players typically
train with weights between 75% and 95% of 1RM (1 rep
maximum) and after a few weeks their 1RM
scores go
up, which is great because it means they are
stronger.
Because of the amount of effort
required to train this way, the speed of contraction
and movement is
usually slow and controlled.
Most
soccer related movements do not involve slow
contractions at near maximum force, but are
characterized by mid-to-high velocity. For example,
the contact time of the foot during sprinting is
about 100msec, not long enough to produce half of
maximum force. What, you might ask, is the point of
being stronger at slow speeds when most soccer
related movements involve high velocities?
So
as in other areas of training it is vitally
important, that the strength training undertaken is
totally
soccer specific.
There are a number of ways to do this, the great
debate, free weights or machines, or bodyweight.
How
much weight, how many repetitions, what frequency of
training, how much rest in between exercises,
at
what age can my players start progressive resistance
training.
Then
there is the crucial question functional or linear
training?
As
already stated, soccer does not require a 1RM, in a
linear plane, so
the ability to “bench press” 300lbs is
not a true indicator of soccer related
strength. The ability to hold a player,
or players
away from the ball, whilst sprinting, or changing
direction is.
This is the difference between
strength, which is measurable, and strength,
which
is functional. |
The
other great debate is whether the two are
transferable. To
train to gain functional strength does
not require
the use of sophisticated equipment, only a
sophisticated mind and approach.
Soccer is a high collision, high impact, multi tempo
and random game of intervals. So your functional
strength training must replicate this.
Not
sanitized, not non-contact, it is bodyweight against
bodyweight
(not always equal or fair, maybe a 110lb. player
tackling a 185lb. player), sometimes with, and most
times without the ball.
So
even the most simplistic of training drills can and
should involve either;
1.
Physical contact.
2.
The
threat of physical contact.
3.
Physical contact from maybe more than one player.
4.
Physical contact from maybe more than one direction.
There are countless other exercises and drills, in
all of the STRENGTH categories. Whether it is,
1.
Functional.
2.
With
Free Weights or Machines.
3.
Using Body Weight.
All
of them have a valid position, it is up to the coach
to decide whether,
the work undertaken is soccer
specific, (does a soccer player really need big
biceps?), and does the strength gained in the gym
translate into making the player stronger on the
field? Is the ability to bench press 300lbs,
relevant, to
the player’s ability to withstand impact? Does being
able to squat 300lbs improve the players shooting
ability? Is the strongest player in the gym, the
strongest player on your team?
