Top 3 Best Exercises for Soccer Players

Soccer is one of the most popular sports, with millions of fans worldwide. Yet, most strength and conditioning programs for soccer players are outdated. This creates confused among beginner players, and may even lead to injuries.

Those who play soccer need explosive speed, endurance, power, and leg strength. Thus, their training program should be sport specific. It can consist of lower body and core strength exercises, plyometrics, cone drills, and stretching. Physiotherapy is highly recommended for preventing injuries and improving sports performance. So, here are top three best exercises for soccer players:

Plyometrics

Plyometric training improves balance and stability, builds core strength, and increases agility. Most exercises should be performed at the start of a training session when the muscles are well rested. Rest periods between sets shouldn’t last more than two minutes. A typical training plan can include explosive moves, such as jump running, lateral jumps, depth jumps, burpees, ricochets, T-hops, and drills.

Strength Exercises

Lower body strength is essential for soccer players. To build strong legs, add squats, lunges, and deadlifts to your workout routine. To increase core strength, do planks, push-ups, and compound exercises. Don’t forget to warm up before training. This simple step is crucial to injury prevention.

Contrary to popular belief, sit-ups and crunches are not the best moves for building strong abs. Multi-joint exercises, such as the squat and bench press, yield better results in less time. Thus, your workout plan should be based on exercises that target the whole body.

Agility Exercises

Sprits, box jumps, ladder drills, cone drills, and other similar moves increase your agility and speed. They also improve core stability, increase explosive speed, and strengthen your legs. Despite their simplicity, these exercises can make a huge difference. When done the right way, they help prevent injuries and develop the stabilizer muscles in your core and legs. If you need help, consider hiring a physiotherapist. He can recommend you the best agility exercises and conditioning moves for better overall performance