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The Football-Body Workout
You're reading a fitness article, but your goal may not be to look like a fitness model or bodybuilder. In fact, we'd venture to guess that your ideal physique has a lot more in common with the bodies of Lote Tuqiri or Craig Wing. That's wise. Football players, generally speaking, have an ideal aesthetic blend of size, strength, and leanness, with great athleticism and conditioning to boot.
Even if you have no ambitions of reaching a Grand Final, training like a football player will help you look and feel like one. The basic template most NRL players follow during the off-season is applicable to many other fitness goals, and ultimately applicable to all codes – Union, ARL and fooball, um, soccer…. whatever. Follow the football-body workout in this article and we'll help you build the size and strength of a front rower, the explosive speed of a wing, and the conditioning of a fullback.
Full Effort, Total Results
The quickest path of muscle and strength gain gains is what trainers call the maximum effort method. Twice a week in our program, you'll spend several sets on an exercise gradually working up to the heaviest weight you can use for a certain number of reps. This process not only fully recruits your muscle fibres, but is also improve the way your central nervous system organises your muscle actions, enhancing your maximum strength and laying the foundations for a variety of gains.
Your muscular endurance will increase as a result, as well as your ability to be explosive (whether on your backyard football field or anywhere else you find yourself running and jumping).
The program also makes use of the dynamic-effort method, which has you performing exercises as fast as possible. Forcing your central nervous system to recruit your muscles quickly, and the muscles themselves to contract with speed, enables your body to react quickly. The result: you'll runfaster and hit harder.
Some of the exercises are different from what you're probably used to. The first workout features the box squat, which is more specific to the game of football than the conventional squat. It trains your body to explose our of a static position, such as when a player goes on the burst. The box squat also placed more emphasis on the hamstrings and glutes than the regular squat, which is useful for developing the kind of well-rounded arse that makes girls watch football.
Football Workout DIrections
Frequency
Perform each workout (I, II, III and IV) once per week. Try to schedule your training so that you perform workouts I and II on back-to-back days, and then rest a day. Perform workouts III and IV on back-to-back days, followed by two days off.
How to do it
Perform the exercise pairs (marked A and B) as alternating sets, resting the prescribed amount of time between each set. (So you'll do one set of A, rest, then one set of B, rest again, and repeat for all the prescribed sets.) Perform the remaining exercises as straight sets, completing all the prescribed sets for one exercise before moving onto the next.
Some exercises call for you to “work up” to a weight that's the most you can use for a given rep range. This is called your “rep max”, or RM. (A “3RM” would indicate a three-rep max – a weight you can perform only three reps with.) Perform increasingly heavier warm-up sets of no more than six reps to gradually arrive at your RM weight (the warm-up sets should not be very stressful). Make sure you perform at least five sets total for the exercise.
Weight
Except where otherwise noted, use the heaviest weight that allows you to complete all the prescribed repetitions for a given set.
Workout A
Box Squat
Set up a barbell on the supports of a squat rack and place a box a metre behind you. The box should be low enough that your thighs are parallel to the floor when you sit on it. Step underneath the bar and grab it with your hands about 10 to 20 centimetres wider than shoulder width. Nudge the bar off the rack and stand with your feet wider than shoulder width. Bend your hips and knees, lowering your body onto the box. Pause for a moment and then explosively stand back up. That's one rep.
Sets: At Least 5
Reps: Work up to a 3RM
Rest: As much as needed
Bulgarian Split Squat
Stand a metre in front of a bench, bend your left knee, and rest the top of your left foot on the bench. Keep your torse upright, bend your right knee and lower your body until your left knee touches the blood (but do not rest it on the floor). Extend your right knee so that you come halfway back up and then lower yourself back down again. Then come up to the starting position. That's one, 1½ rep. Complete eight reps in this fashion on your left leg and then switch legs.
Sets: 3
Reps: 8½ reps (each leg)
Rest: 180 seconds
Weighted Back Extension
Hold a weight plate against your chest and lock your legs into a back extension apparatus. Allow your torso to bend forward so that your hips are bent almost 90 degrees. Extend your back so that your body forms a straight line. Lower your torso back down. That's one rep.
Sets: 4
Reps: 12
Rest: 60 seconds
Dumbbell Side Bend
Hold a dumbbell at your side with one hand. Bend your torso to that side as far as you can, allowing the weight to pull you down. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep. Complete all your reps on that side and then switch sides.
Sets: 3
Reps: 8½ reps (each leg)
Rest: 180 seconds
Sprinter Situp
Lie back and bend the hip and knee on one side 90 degrees. Swing the opposite side's arm forward and that side's arm back and crunch your torso forward. Quickly switch your legs and arms and then switch back. You should look like you're running a sprint. That's one rep. Perform your reps rhythmically, as if you were running.
Sets: At least 5
Reps: Work up to a 3RM
Rest: As much as needed
Workout B
Bench Press
Lie on the bench. Your eyes should be under the bar. Lift the bar off the rack and hold it directly above your chest. Squeeze the bar hard and arch your upper back. Lower the bar to just below your nipples. Once the bar touches your chest, push your feet hard into the floor (dropping your heels if they're up). Press the weight up, focusing on pushing the bar back slightly toward your face. When the bar is halfway up, begin flaring your elbows to lock it out. That's one rep.
Sets: At least 5
Reps: Work up to 3RM
Rest: As much as needed
Neutral-Grip Floor Press
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie on the floor, your knees bent at 90 degrees. Keeping your elbows close to your sides, lower the weights with your palms facing your sides until your triceps touch the floor. Press the weights straight up and then return to the starting position. That's one rep. Perform eight reps the first and second sets, then six reps the third, and five reps the fourth.
Sets: 4
Reps: 8, 8, 6, 5
Rest: 180 seconds
Dumbbell Row
Hold a dumbbell in one hand and, keeping your lower back in its natural arch, rest your opposite side's knee and hand on a bench for support. Allow the arm with the weight to hang straight down. Row the weight to the side of your chest. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep. Complete all your reps and then repeat on the opposite arm. Treat the first set as a warm-up and perform eight reps. On the second set, use the heaviest weight you can that allows you to perform 20-25 reps.
Sets: 2
Reps: 8, 20-25
Rest: 120 seconds
Seated Dumbbell (Lateral Raise)
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench, your arms hanging at your sides. Raise your arms out 90 degrees so that your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Lower them back down to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 10
Rest: 60 seconds
Seated Dumbbell (Power clean)
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, lean forward a bit to gather momentum and then explosively extend your back and shrug your shoulders, pulling the weights up in front of your body. When they reach chest level, flip your wrist over so that your hands end up in the bottom position of an overhead press. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 10
Rest: 90 seconds
Zottman Curl
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand as you would to begin a curl, with palms facing your sides. Keeping your elbows tight against your sides, curl the weights up as high as you can. Now turn your wrists over so that your palms face the floor. Slowly lower your arms back to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 8
Rest: 60 seconds
Workout C
Box Jump
Set up a box or aerobics step in front of you. It should be as high as allows you to make a challenging jump and still land on the platform safely. Stand in front of it and get into an athletic stance. Bend your hips and knees to gather momentum. Explosively jump onto the box, landing with soft knees. That's one rep. Immediately step off the box, return to the starting position, and repeat. Try to increase the height of the box slightly on each set.
Sets: 2
Reps: 8
Rest: 45 seconds
Barbell Reverse Lunge with Knee Lift
Step on a small box holding a barbell across your back. Step back off the surface onto the floor and bend both knees until your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Reverse the motion to come back onto the step and raise your knee up in front of you as high as you can. Put your foot back down. That's one rep. Complete all your reps on that leg, and then switch legs.
Sets: 3
Reps: 10 (each leg)
One-Arm Dumbbell Swing
Get into an athletic, shoulder-width stance holding a heavy dumbbell in your right hand. Allow the weight to hang in front of your body, between your legs. Now dip your knees as if you were about to jump, and explosively straighten your hips and knees to come up to a standing position. Allow the momentum to swing your arm up to shoulder level. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position – that's one rep – and immediately begin the second rep. Complete all your reps, and then switch sides and repeat.
Sets: 3
Reps: 15 (Each arm)
Rest: 90 seconds
Plank
Get into a push-up position and then bend your elbows 90 degrees and rest your weight on your forearms. Keeping your entire body in a straight line, hold the position for 60 seconds. That's one set.
Sets: 3
Reps: Hold for 30 seconds
Rest: 0 seconds
Weighted Spread-Eagle Situp
Grab a dumbbell and lie on your back on the floor. Hook your feet around something sturdy, such as the legs of a power cage or a pair of heavy dumbbells. Hold the weight against your chest and sit all the way up. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 15
Rest: 60 seconds
Workout D
Pylo Push-Up
Get into push-up position and lower your body until your chest is about a few centimetres off the floor. Explosively push yourself up so that your hands comes off the floor and you can clap in midair. That's one rep. Land and immediately begin the next rep.
Sets: 8
Reps: 5
Rest: 45 seconds
Chin-Up
Grab the bar with an underhand grip, just outside shoulder width. Allow your body to hang. Pull your body up until your chin is over the bar, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep. Perform as many consecutive reps as you can in 30 seconds.
Sets: 3
Reps: Continuously for 30 seconds
Rest: 120 seconds
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45- degree angle. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and lie back against the bench, resting the weights at chest height on each side. Press the dumbbells straight overhead. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 10
Rest: 60 seconds
Face Pull
Attach a rope handle to the top pulley of a cable station and grab an end in each hand. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, row the handles to just in front of your face, so that your upper arms end up parallel to the floor. Try to pull the rope apart as you row it. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 15 (Each arm)
Rest: 90 seconds
Dumbbell Shrug
Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Allow your arms to hang at your sides, with your palms facing each other. Shrug your shoulders as high as you can. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep. Perform as many consecutive reps as you can in 30 seconds.
Sets: 3
Reps: Continuously for 30 seconds
Rest: 120 seconds
Alternating Hammer Curl
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and let your arms hang at your sides, palms facing each other. Don't allow your upper arms to move for the duration of the exercise. Curl one weight up as high as you can. Lower it back to the starting position and curl on the opposite side. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 8
Rest: 60 seconds
Triceps Pushdown
Hold an end of hte rope in each hand and tuck your elbows tight against your side. Without allowing your elbows to move forward, squeeze your triceps and straighten your arms. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep.
Sets: 3
Reps: 20
Rest: 60 seconds
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