Why Recreational Footballers Shouldn't Neglect Leg Day
To some, this may seem like common sense, however, I have recently been seeing a lot of footballers in the clinic with lower limb injuries who don’t train their legs. Their reasons being; they believe they gain enough leg strength during football training and they don’t want to have DOMS on game day.
I understand the logic behind this, however, research suggests that there are significant gains to be made when supplementing football training with resistance training.
First, let’s look at the demands of football…
SPRINTING
During a typical football game, players cover roughly 10-12km (1) with sprinting accounting for 1-11% of this distance (2).
REPEATED CHANGE OF DIRECTION (RCOD)
Bangsbo (3) observed between 1,200 and 1,400 changes of direction during a typical football game and players were seen to make 727 turns and swerves during a match (4).
JUMPING / EXPLOSIVE POWER
The average football player's vertical jump is around 20-24 inches for males and 16-20 inches for females. On average, a footballer will make 10 headers per game.
KICKING
Professional players kick the ball at an average speed of up to 70 mph(112 km/h), while amateur players can kick a soccer ball as fast as 40 mph (64 km/h).
So, why strength training?
Here is what the research says:
Reduced Injury & Rehabilitation Rate
Blimkie and Sale (5) reported improvements in performance following resistance training; injury rates were also reduced and rehabilitation times were shortened. De Hoyo et al (6) found that a combination of half squat and hamstring curl exercises led to a reduction in muscle-injury incidence and severity.
2. Improved Sprinting & Jumping Abilities
Chelly et al (7) reported that 2 sessions per week of back half-squat exercises with adapted heavy loads improved sprint running, jumping and peak power in 17 year old football players. De Hoyo et al. (6) and Bolger et al. (8) found similar gains in sprint performance after strength training.
3. Resistance training produces more increases in performance than football training alone
Negra et al (9) found that 8 weeks of additional strength training with heavy loading of the lower limbs (70-100% 1RM) improved sprinting, agility, repetitive change of direction, vertical jump performance and leg power in elite junior male soccer players, in comparison to controls undertaking regular in-season football training.
Franco-Marquez et al. (10) found that in young football players, supplementing normal football training with 6 weeks of combined resistance and plyometric training produced greater gains in sprint performance than typical football training alone.
Q: “So, how many days a week should I train legs?”
A: The research suggests that 2 days per week is adequate, but ideally leave two days of rest before a match.
Q: Ok, what exercises should I include?
To make our training exercise-specific we must acknowledge the most commonly injured muscles in football; hamstrings (41.9%), adductors (24.3%), calves (14.5%) and quadriceps (12.1%) (Donmez et al, Ekstrand et al).
When training any muscle it is important to train it isometrically (staying the same length), eccentrically (lengthening), concentrically (shortening), at different speeds, in different directions, unilaterally (single side) and bilaterally (both sides). This is why we need to use a variety of exercises to ensure we are preparing the muscle for all types of movement. There is no ‘one size fits all’ exercise for each muscle, so for each muscle group, we have listed a variety of exercises for you to try:
HAMSTRINGS
Nordic Hamstring Curls (NH): The Nordic hamstring (NH) exercise programme was introduced in 2001 and has been shown to reduce the risk of acute hamstring injuries in football by at least 50% (Bahr et al). However, one limitation to nordic hamstring curls is that it is bilateral and usually of slow velocity.
Other hamstring exercises to include; Single leg hamstring curls (using a leg curl machine or using a slider), single leg deadlifts, single leg hamstring bridge (bring your feet further away from your sit-bones to target your hamstrings), prone hamstring flicks and kettle bell swings (targets Semitendinosis, one of the three hamstring muscles).
2. Adductors
Copenhagen Adductor Exercise (CA): Harøy et al found that the CA reduced the prevalence of groin problems among male football players with a 41% reduction in reported groin injuries during the competitive season. They also found a 36% increase in eccentric hip adduction strength was found in players performing the CA intensively for 8 weeks. One benefit of adding the CA to a footballer's strength programmes is that no equipment is needed and the CA can be performed on the pitch just prior to or after training.
Other adductor exercises include: side-lying hip adduction using ankle weights, standing hip adduction using cable machine, hip adduction using a slider and sumo squats.
3. CALVES
Smith Machine calf raises / Single leg calf raises
Seated calf raises
Skipping
Single leg forward hops
Single leg lateral hops
4. QUADRICEPS
Squat Jumps: McBride et al reported significant improvements in COD (change of direction) and sprint time after 8 weeks of squat-jump training with loadings 30 and 80% of 1RM.
Walking lunges
Jump lunges
Back half-squats
We hope you have found this beneficial. Whilst treating footballers in the clinic, I’ve noticed a steep decline in their recurring muscle injuries since adding leg strengthening exercises into their routine, I hope this helps you too.
