The Best Exercises for Soccer Training

Strength and Power:  Strength is an important component of conditioning that benefits soccer players in any league. Strength forms the basis of power. Soccer players need power to hold off challenges from rivals. Each player will need to define with his physical trainer – in relation to his body weight – the best program which fits him best in the gym. Your strength training program should focus on compound, functional exercises (such as lunges, squats, step ups, pushups, dips), and consider balancing the strength of opposing muscle groups (i.e.- quadriceps vs. hamstrings). Strength is also helpful to increase your injury resistance, to get a faster metabolism and, to obtain more energy and explosiveness. It is very important to work over lower core muscle group.

Agility & Speed:  Another significant component of your routine for soccer is Agility and Speed training. No matter how strong you are, if your opponent is faster than you, he will get the ball first. So alternate your practice with short sprint sessions. A good way to test yourself is to sprint more than 30 yards from the start under 5.0 seconds (Professional players average around 4.0 seconds).

Flexibility: Another important aspect of a daily pro soccer player´s life is the capacity and maintenance of a healthy range of motion. For that, focus on “active” stretching before and after practice. Many soccer players still do “passive” stretching not realizing that this diminish performance and increase risk of injury. The safest manner to add flexibility to your exercise is performing a dynamic warm-up (walking lunges, high knees, butt kicks, arm circles). Remember to spend some minutes stretching at the end of every practice.