Basics, basics, basics.

To develop fitness as a football player you don’t need to be doing anything crazy in the gym or on the pitch.

If you want to be faster you don’t have to do weighted sprints with a parachute, holding dumbbells, running uphill while pushing a sled.

Normal sprints done in the right amount of sets and reps will get you faster.

Your training should always include basic exercises and movements. While trying to base them around the different movement patterns of squat, hinge, lunge, rotate, walking, push and pull.

As long as you remember to apply progressive overload, progressively adding intensity, to each exercise you do then you’ll always be improving. This includes adding weights to squats, adding distance to sprints, or increasing the total reps.

Some basic exercises for football players include: squats, lunges, sprints, jumps and planks. If you can’t perform these exercises well and with confidence then you’ll struggle to do anything more advanced or complicated.

Never overlook the basics. It’s these exercises that your fitness is built upon and the stronger your foundation the bigger and higher you can build the rest of it.

If you want more advice on how to build a stronger foundation in fitness or what exercises you should include in your training reply to this email or send me a message on the website.