I know that this is a bodybuilding website but I have had a few requests to share what a good football workout is. I have played football for more than 10 years now and I have loved every year of it. However, after having a great senior year in high school, I got a chance to play college football. I went from Michigan to a school in Kansas called Pittsburg State University. It was a great school and the football program was amazing. I learned there that in order to star like I did in high school I had to hit the weights. Now working out in order to become a better athlete is a lot different than working out to win the Mr. Olympia title or your state title. You have to get stronger and you still have to have the explosiveness to play football. Here is an example that you can follow to get yourself on the track to becoming an All-State football player.
Your workout will be set up around main lifts and having other lifts formed around these. You will lift 4 times per week and have a day off after two, so it will be set up as follows. 2-on, 1-off and then 2-on. Your intensity will change however. On Monday and Tuesday you will hit the core exercises hard and then when you hit them again for a second time you will hit them a little lighter (the 2 steps forward and 1 step back powerlifter mentality). The main lifts are in BOLD.
MONDAY:
- Bench press 3x10
- Incline 4x3
- Barbell curl 3x10
- Shrugs 3x10
- Lat Pulldown 3x10
- Close-grip bench 3x5
- Dumbbell rows 3x10
- T-bar rows 3x5
- 3-way dumbbell raises 3x10
- Wrist curls 3x10
This would be the heavy day for bench and the light day for incline. The bench should start off with a weight you can handle for 10 good reps(but you should feel like you can get more). The second set should be harder after you add more weight and the last set add even more weight and fail at ten. The key is to add weight ever time. The incline is the same but on this day you do not want to go to total failure. Switch it up on Thursday so that on incline you will fail on your last set and bench should be done with lighter weights. All the exercises are the same on Thursday.
TUESDAY:
- Squat 5x3
- Power Clean 4x3
- Snatch 3x5
- Ground Base Jammer 3x5
- Stiff Legged deadlifts 3x5
- Leg extensions 3x10
- Leg curl 3x10
- Calf Raises 3x10
- 4-way neck 4x15
On this day and Friday you will perform the core lifts, however, Friday you will want to substitute squats with box squats and power clean with hang clean. The squats should be your really heavy core lift on Tuesday and on Friday your box squats should be about 60% of your max moving up to 80% by the last set. The rest of the lifts are the same.
This system will go on for 6 weeks and during that time your sets and rep will change for your core lifts and the rest of your lifts will stay the same. The changes will look like this.
| Week |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| Bench: |
3x10 |
3x8 |
4x6 |
5x5 |
5x5,5,4,3,3 |
Same |
| Incline |
4x3 |
4x3 |
4x3,3,2,2 |
5x2 |
5x2 |
5x2 |
| Squat |
5x6,3,3,3,3 |
Same |
Same |
Same |
Same |
Same |
| Power Clean |
4x3 |
Same |
5x3 |
Same |
5x3,3,2,2,2 |
Same |
The box squats and the hang clean follow the reps that the exercises they are substituting for hold.
As you can see this is different from a bodybuilding workout. You basically do a full-body workout everyday. This is one of the best mass-building workouts that I ever did. This workout got me stronger than I ever was. If you follow this and stick with it you will have no problem when it comes to the strength portion of football. Always remember to TRAIN LIKE A WARRIOR.
If you have any questions about bodybuilding or football you can email me ac2418@yahoo.com.
