Lower Body Workouts For Soccer Players

Lower body strength is crucial for soccer players. Being an elite soccer player requires speed, agility, flexibility, and explosiveness. One must be able to cut and change direction quickly, stop and go, and plant and kick. The best way to prevent injury and be able to sustain all of these movements is by strength training.

To put it simply, strength training (also known as resistance training) involves using your own body weight or bars, dumbbells, and resistance bands, to increase your strength and build muscle mass. If you’re new to the weight room and are not yet comfortable with strength training, the best way to get started and not to get intimidated is by starting simple, and with weights, you feel you can move with minimal difficulty. Over time, you should work to increase the weight and play around with the rep ranges, in order to reap the most benefits.

It can maybe feel daunting to add a strength training routine into your already busy life of practice, school, friends, etc. But it is one of the best tools to add to your toolbox to improve your overall performance and reduce your risk of injury. Try starting short and simple, just a day or two a week. Eventually, you will start seeing the results and this will encourage you to continue.

Here is a lower body strength workout that Armando and Katelyn Partridge put together specifically for soccer players looking to improve their performance.

Lower body workout

• Walking lunges - 3x10

• Hip thrust - 3x10

• Single leg hip thrust - 3x10

• Box jump - 3x10

• Kettlebell swing - 3x10

• Single-arm kettlebell swing - 3x10

To go even further, let’s break down each exercise and why it is important.

Walking lunges: Walking lunges are a great exercise to help you improve your unilateral strength, balance, core strength, and hip mobility. They tax the body by increasing your heart rate, and they are a great way to improve running performance and speed since running is essentially balancing on one foot and then switching to the other at a fast pace.

Hip trusts: Hip thrusts are a great tool to target the glutes and improve glute strength. This is also a great exercise to improve mobility and speed by strengthening the hips in addition to the glutes.

Box jumps: Box jumps are a form of plyometric training, which is when you rapidly load and unload your muscles. This movement allows your muscles to generate more force than they usually can, and it is a great tool to improve speed and agility. This is a great total body movement.

Kettlebell swings: Kettlebell swings improve strength in the entire posterior chain, including the lower back, hamstrings, and glutes. This exercise helps increase explosiveness and power, while also being a low-impact workout.

To learn more about the importance of strength training in athletes, watch more here.