Should You Do Strength Training For Soccer?

Simply answer is “yes” and not just that, you should incorporate weight and strength training into your routine. 

Why?  Because in sport, any sport, strength is the number one leveller.  As a soccer player or coach, strength training is the single most important component of your conditioning program.

Up until recently everybody simply focused on endurance and aerobic exercises. Strength training for soccer has, pretty much, been totally ignored.  Today, proper weight and strength training is only really employed by the very top professionals, lower down it has simply been ignored in preference for those aerobic and endurance type routines.

As I said above, strength is the number one advantage in sport. If you look at the sport of boxing for example, weight classes are employed to segregate the boxers into strength classes. Generally speaking, it was always considered that the bigger you were, the more powerful you were.

But can a lighter athlete gain a massive advantage if they had more strength than their bigger opponent? The answer is yes, and this should now make strength and weight training one of the most important component in soccer training.

So being stronger, as opposed to simply being heavier or bigger, is the number one advantage in most sports. It is the component that makes the difference.

Perhaps you’re still not 100% convinced how important your strength is when it comes to soccer?

To get a really good example of how important it truly is we need to take a look at another sport, simply because strength training in soccer is so new.  I’m going to take you into the world of American Football, or Grid Iron. In the 60’s research shows that the average lineman weighed approximately 250 pounds and ran 40 yards in 5.2 seconds. Pretty impressive and initially, I thought impressive even by today’s standards.  Until I looked at the figures, that is.  Because since then American Football has of course employed strength and weight training into its regime.

When you look at the figures now, you see that that same lineman, on average, runs those same 40 yards in only 4.4 seconds. That’s a 15% improvement and in sport, that’s a lot!  40 years ago they didn’t think it was physically possible for a guy weighing 250 pounds to run any faster. Can you imagine what proper strength and weight training could do to improve your game?

Ok, here’s another example.  Take a look a Tiger Woods.  He spends time every day in the gym building up his strength, not just his endurance.  You can see the type of physique he has.  And what sport does he play?  Yes, golf!  He walks round a golf course for 5 hours a day but he knows his strength training provides him with a huge edge, mentally as well as physically.  Plus there aren’t too many golfers out there that can hit a golf ball as far and as accurately as Tiger. 

So as a soccer player you really don’t have any choice but to lift weights to best prepare your body for the long, competitive season that’s about to start (at the time of writing). Even now many coaches think that strength training causes their players to become muscle-bound and therefore it’s counterproductive to speed, fitness and good technique. You may still think the same.  You are wrong.  Take another look at Tiger!

It has been proven that athletic performance depends on qualities of muscular strength, not the size of the muscles. This is because strength builds the foundation for all other athletic qualities.

The best example of this is in strength’s impact on speed.  An element that is very important in soccer.

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If you are not strong relative to your bodyweight you will never be able to run fast. This is because all aspects of proper running technique require high levels of muscular strength. If you are stronger (pound for pound) than your opponents, you will be able to run faster and jump higher than them, because they will be weaker.

As a soccer player or coach, these performance benefits should be reason enough to start strength training.  Plus there is the added benefit that stronger players tend to get less injuries.  Also when you do get injured, those injuries tend to be less severe and heal quicker.

There are no downsides to incorporating strength and weight training into your routine.  I’m not talking about you suddenly becoming Mr or Mrs Universe just increasing your overall strength.  Strength training for soccer players is crucial to their success at any level. You don’t have to be a professional to benefit.  Please do not overlook strength and weight training.  You will become faster, more agile and more competitive.

Increase your soccer strength now.  The Soccer Blog recommends Soccer Strength Coach

Take care and enjoy your strength training.

Rik

The Soccer Blogger

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Don’t forget to leave your comments below too.  I’d love to hear what you think of strength and weight training for soccer and also how your game has improved since you started using it as part of your soccer training routine.