Most football speed training programs are total and faultless garbage. I know, I know...they look so cool. Running with parachutes, straight through hurdles, over cones and while towing your teammates Must make you faster for football! After all, all the big associates show assorted male models wearing over-priced spandex doing these things!
Honestly, do you think this is how you get faster for football?
Strength Training
I'm going to let you in on a speed training secret...The Stronger You Are, The Faster You Are! Get stronger and you'll get faster for football...
I perceive that sounds boring, but, it's true. See, your max strength determines all other elements of athleticism. Your speed, your strength, your explosiveness, your jumping ability, and your agility are all determined by how strong you are.
You would think that most would perceive this and save themselves a lot of time and money but, slick marketing by some coaches have confused the facts. Saying that you need to work hard and get stronger doesn't sell to the masses. Most people, yes, even football players are lazy. Lifting heavy weights and working like a mad man in order to get faster for football is pretty daunting compared to strapping yourself to some slow-witted parachute and running nearby hoping for the wind to blow in just the right direction.
Football speed training has been supplementary damaged by those who only want to put in order for the 40. While this branch is big enough for whole books, I'll just speedily say that the ability to run a fast 40 has Nothing to do with getting faster for football. Game speed is not 40 speed.
If you surely want to get faster for football, you need to live by these 4 Football Speed Training Rules
1. You Must Train Your Hamstrings Hard and Often
Your hamstrings and glutes are your football speed muscles, not your calfs. Not your pecs. It's all about the hams.
Exercises like Deadlifts, Snatch Deadlifts, Box Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Kettlebell Swings and Power Cleans are what build football speed. Not running over hurdles in a tinfoil hat.
Your hamstrings must be worked with heavy, low rep sets.
Exercises like Box Squats, Front Squats, Deadlifts, Romanian Deadlifts, and Power Cleans can be done either for manifold sets of low reps, i.e., 8 sets of 3 reps.
Or, You can work up to a heavy single, double or triple. These movements should be the focus of your strength training program. Do them first and Then go on to the accessory work.
I can not stress this enough...if you listen to nothing else in this article, listen to this one...just training your hamstrings harder than you are right now will get you faster for football in short order!
2. You Must Do Speed Exercises for the Legs
Building crazy strength in your legs is the first step in getting faster for football. But, as many a disappointed lifter has found out, it's not the only one.
You must also work your legs in a dynamic way...or, plainly put, you must do speed-specific exercises. No, I don't mean "speed exercises" where you run with a vest on or pulling your teammate around.
I'm talking about speed exercises in the weight room.
Things like:
Box Squats
Kettlebell Swings
Cleans
Snatch Pulls
Box Front Squats
You must, after a definite point, add chains or bands to the bar as well. This is not for the beginner, so we'll save that for later. But, the point is, you must train for speed. How do you do this?
3 or 4 days after your heavy leg day, you do a speed day. plainly use your main rehearsal for the day, i.e., Box Squats, and do them for speed. Take about 60% of your max Box Squat and sit back and explode off the box as fast as humanly possible...then go a small faster. Keep rest periods short (around 60-seconds)
Do this for 12 sets of 2 reps. I know; sounds easy. But, by set 6 the "Wtf" factor comes into play.
There's been moot over using the Olympic Lifts in place of Dynamic Effort. There's no debate. Use both and shut up about it. Power Cleans and Power Snatches are great ways to build...hmmm...Power!
Follow up your speed work with accessory work for the legs and lower back in a more moderate rep range. Doing speed work for the legs in the proper way will also take you one step closer to getting faster for football.
3. You Must Build Explosive beginning Strength
Remember that kid you used to play sandlot football with...he was fast but when he went out for football, he never made it. Wanna know why? Because he was fast after a 10 yard ramp up. He had no beginning strength. beginning strength is a fancy way for saying explosiveness. Know when the announcers talk about a guy's "explosive first step?" They're talking about beginning strength.
Too many football players lack this. If you're a lineman and you don't have enough beginning strength, forget it. You're done. The ability to "turn on" all of your muscles at once is invaluable to any athlete, especially football players.
Building this type of strength is surely very uncomplicated...though it's not easy. It, of course, takes hard work.
There's 3 ways to build crazy beginning strength -
1. Deadlift and Pulls off the Floor and Box Squatting
2. Squat from a Dead-Stop the bottom of the Rack
3. Squat/Pull with lots of band tension added to the back
Starting to see a pattern here? How many times have I already mentioned Squats and Deadlifts? Yes, these are what make you faster for football my friends.
We already covered doing Deads and Box Squatting, so we'll skip #1.
#2 is pretty easy to set up. Set the bar on the protection catches in the power rack right where the bottom of a Squat or Front Squat would be for you. Now, get under the bar, get tight, and explode up. Easy and highly effective. I said getting faster would be hard but not complicated.
It takes a lot of muscle fiber firing all at once to move that bar from a stop to the top...that's the type of firing you need to run faster, jump higher and knock the crap outta people.
Stick with singles on anyone "Bottom's Up." 6 - 8 Hard singles will be plenty. You can use this as your Dynamic exertion main movement.
4. You Must Build Football Speed definite Flexibility
Simple. If your hamstrings, hip flexors or hips are tight, you won't be fast. Tight Hip Flexors have been called "breaks." If you wan to get faster for football, go stretch. I perceive it's not hardcore and it's not the most fun, but, it must be done.
The only thing more boring than stretching is talking about it, so let's keep this short.
Before and after lifting...and anytime you have some free time, do these stretches, 2 per leg for 30seconds each.
-Lunge Stretch
-Seated Hip Stretch
-Toe Touch
That's it. Nothing complicated, nothing fancy. Just hard, heavy lifting and some flexibility work. This is how you get faster for football... Leave the parachutes for the paratroopers.
How to Get Faster For Football - 4 Football Speed Training Rules
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