Resistance training in football

Despite the importance of strength and power in football, a surprisingly small amount of literature exists concerning the training programmes or testing results of football players performing resistance exercises. 

Whether the lack of scientific literature is due to confidentiality issues, a stigma that remains from views about youth resistance training (see our section on youth resistance training), and/or a view that already overcrowded playing seasons limit the time for adaptations to resistance training (for more information see blog by Marco Cardinale); scientific evidence exists to suggest that there is a role for resistance training in football ^(1,2,3). The lack of systematic resistance training in footballers is highlighted by a study that reported that a team of elite players who had played in the Champions League had a limited squat training history ⁽¹⁾; this is somewhat surprising considering the improvements that resistance training protocols that include squatting have in improving the rate of force development and sprint performances over a variety of distances ^(2,3).

Here at scientific-football.com we incorporate a weight training programme that focuses primarily on anatomical adaptation and strength and power development in the pre-season break - click here for sample programme. Although we appreciate that the higher the competitive level that a team is, the greater the demands on time are, we have used a protocol that develops strength and power during the pre-season and focuses on maintenance sessions once every week or two weeks when the season starts. In addition, the scientific design of these protocols enables the selective use of interval training (see the fitness training section for more information) during the pre-season period to maintain and even develop performance related improvements in variables associated with aerobic fitness. 

For more detailed information about the pre-season training packages that we can offer or resistance programme design for football, feel free to enquire using the contact details provided.

Additional Reading

 1. Wisloff, U., J. Helgerud and J. Hoff (1998). "Strength and endurance of elite soccer players." Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 30: 462-467.

 2. Hoff, J. and J. Helgerud, Eds. (2002). Maximal strength training enhances running economy and aerobic endurance performance. Football (soccer): New developments in physical training research. Trondhein, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

 3. Hoff, J. and J. Helgerud, Eds. (2002). Pre-season concurrent strength training and endurance development in elite soccer players. Football (soccer): New developments in physical training research. Trondheim, NTNU.