• It is no surprise that football involves power, strength, and agility. The best athletes are those who are well rounded in these disciplines in addition to having the necessary skills for their position. Very often, athletes overemphasize one of the aforementioned components while unknowingly fail to train the others. This mistake does not allow the athlete to develop to their potential and may lead to muscle imbalances that result in injury. A well structured training plan should address each of these issues in a carefully balanced progression.
  

• Have a Foundation of Strength

• Strength should be addressed first in order to give the athletes a solid base from which to start. Strength training is best done off season due to its taxing effect on the muscles. The focus should be on all major muscle groups with minimal attention paid to smaller muscles such as the biceps and triceps. This phase incorporates the 'big lifts' with heavy weight. It uses squats, bench press, dead-lifts, and heavy rowing type lifts. The repetition range is 6-10 but may even be as low as 2-4. Long rest periods of up to 4 minutes are needed between sets to allow for muscle recovery and the return of energy stores. Strength training sessions should be broken up into body part specific days (chest, back, legs, shoulders) with relatively high volume (6-8 exercises with 3-4 sets each). During this time, the muscles are being broken down so recovery is crucial. The athlete needs to eat right, sleep well, and not tax the same body part too soon (rest 48- 72 hours in between). Because strength gains are the goal, the hardest and heaviest lifts should be done first while the athlete is still fresh.
  

• Power Moves

• After athletes have developed strength, they need to build their power. Power equates to moving a mass within a short time. The larger the mass and the faster the speed means higher force is used to produced increased power. When an athlete is told to 'explode' they are generating a lot of power. This explosive power is crucial to football players. A powerful athlete can run through any obstacle they face. In order to develop power, the athlete needs to move weights quickly and typically with less resistance than was used to build strength. Power lifts include clean, clean and jerk, and snatches. Bench press and dead-lifts can become power lifts if the weight is lightened so that the athlete can go through full repetitions in a short amount of time. Adding a jump at the end of a squat creates a power movement. Any other exercises (plyometric training, ballistic medicine ball throws) that require a weight to be moved quickly will help train power. If heavier weight is used for power, the number of exercises can be 4-5 with about 3-4 sets of 3-6 reps. As the weight gets lighter, and the speed increases, the number of exercises can be increased. Lighter weight may allow for 7-10 exercises with 2-3 sets of 10-20 repetitions. As with strength training, the rest can be up to 4 minutes and really should be no less than 2 minutes and the rest days are also crucial. The power movements are also ideal in the off season or the beginning of the pre-season.

Training for Agility
Agility allows the athlete to use their strength and power as is required by their sport specific position. Agility drills need to challenge both the upper body and the lower body. Every football player needs to be strong and powerful, but their need to move their body and respond to stress varies by position. The demands placed on a kicker are much different than the linebacker, or wide receiver. Agility is often compromised by lack of flexibility and muscle imbalances. For example, tight chest muscles and weak back muscles prevent optimum movement. Tight hamstrings are easily injured and do not allow for fast movement of the feet and lower extremities. Agility training needs to be high speed but under control. This is the time when 'quick feet' are stressed and drills require minimal contact with the ground. Agility training can be done jumping over bags, rapid changes of direction, and moving around obstacles. Agility training does not require additional weights, and the drills are also good for building and maintaining cardiovascular fitness. The drills should mimic the athletes position and body mechanics requirements. It may mean drills for linemen start with them in a three point stance. The drills for running backs and quarterbacks require them to handle the football. These drills can be used in-season and are great as an active warm up before full practice begins.

Strength, power, and agility are all very important for football. Each component must be appropriately trained so that the athlete gets the most benefit. The transition needs to be built so that the program builds on the previous aspect of training. It is important to recognize and expect differences in athletes, positions, and training methods. There is no golden rule of success, but the information should provide a general road map to setting up a plan.