Soccer Workouts: Best Exercises for Soccer Players and Coaches

Table of Content

• What gym exercises are best for soccer?
• In/Out Agility Ladder Drill
• Soccer Dribbling Drills
• Top 10 Health Benefits of Activated Charcoal
• Attacking Soccer Drills
• Why Fitness is Important for Female Players

Soccer players are known for being among the most physically fit people in the world of sports for their endurance, maneuverability, and coordination. At HFR, we found what workouts benefit soccer players the most to improve their performance. Here are the ten most essential exercises for soccer players.

Third, soccer players should do a lot of agility exercises. This can include things like jumping rope, sprinting, and plyometric exercises. Agility exercises help improve the player’s ability to change direction quickly and make quick decisions on the field. Second, soccer players should do a lot of strength training. This can include weightlifting, bodyweight exercises, and Pilates. Strength training helps improve speed, agility, and strength.

What gym exercises are best for soccer?

Your body should be in a straight line with your toes curling upwards and the balls of your feet touching the ground. You then want to lift your hips off of the ground until your knees, hips, and shoulders form a straight line. The stronger your legs are, the more powerful you'll be able to strike the ball and the longer you'll remain fit and fresh out on the pitch.

Try 12 reps for left leg and 12 reps for the right leg. High Knees for 30 seconds – Stand upright, feet shoulder-width apart facing forward with an open chest. Our team does this by providing coaches with drills, tactics, and resources to make them better coaches. Soccer Coaching Pro is a website dedicated to helping soccer coaches improve. To make sure you don't pull anything, your elbows should be directly under your shoulders with your head looking towards the ground. The correct form should see you using your abs to keep your body in line and straight as you do the push-up.

In/Out Agility Ladder Drill

Another exercise that helps you improve both your close ball control and dribbling skills is the rollover dribble. Here are 10 awesome soccer ball control drills and footwork drills that you can do at home. Burpee pull-ups are one of Ronaldo’s favorite soccer conditioning drills for a couple of reasons.

You will then need to squat down, keeping your back straight, until your thighs are parallel to the floor. As soccer players need to be able to both sprint forward and backpedal into position quickly, this exercise is perfect for practicing both and simulates match situations. For this soccer workout, you’ll need to have a friend, teammate, or coach to practice and play with as the exercises focus on improving your passing and shooting abilities.

Soccer Dribbling Drills

To make it more fun and to test your concentration and ball control skills, you can always do the drill with a ball at your feet. Here are some great exercises which you can incorporate into your soccer workouts at home. In this way, the players practice their one-touch passing over a variety of distances and so have to calculate just how much power to put behind it each time. With this drill, two players test out each other's first touch and passing abilities by shooting the ball into each other's feet. To make this exercise more challenging, place the cones closer together or at different angles so that you have to take the ball in different directions.

Set up 4 cones in a square and you can perform a series of runs. You should now be in a flat back position on hands and toes. Keep lunging leg low almost to the floor so like a floating kneeling position. Run continuously up and down the flight of stairs for 2 minutes. Single leg hop up two stairs with right leg then hop up two stairs with left leg.

Workouts that can help prevent shin splints, and it is also easy to do. Assume a sitting position by bending your knees and pushing your butts out but ensure that your knees aren’t overshooting your toes. Begin by standing straight with your feet spread shoulder-width apart. Align your head to your spine and extend your arms to line up with your torso behind your glutes. The height of the boxes need to present a challenge but should be manageable. Leave a gap of 4 yards between the first four cones in each line.

To make it more interesting, you can always incorporate a ball into the drill which you have to keep at your feet as you sprint between the cones. Starting at cone one, sprint to the third cone, making sure to pump your knees up to produce force with your weight on the balls of your feet. After this, start to one side of the agility ladder and shuffle your way in and out of it, again taking short, sharp steps to either side with both feet landing within the square. Again, it’s a good idea to set a time limit before starting the drill and then varying it up as you go. With this exercise, you want to control it perfectly with one touch so that you can easily kick the ball back from the same position without breaking a stride.

Another excellent drill for working on both your ball control and footwork as well as your passing and striking technique is to do wall passes. By setting up four six-inch hurdles that are spaced out evenly so that when one runs through, both power and speed increase. Power to make sure you can hop over the hurdle and not trip over it, and speed to get through the hurdles as quickly as possible. This workout demonstrates how soccer players need grace when it comes to power to be the most efficient they can be on the field.

They also help with your first touch, ball control, and striking technique and accuracy. You can also work on passing it with one touch against the wall, alternate your feet, or hit it higher up so you have to control it with your thigh or chest. You then want to keep the ball in the air, keeping control over where it goes with both of your feet, adding in touches with your thighs, chest, and head where necessary.

Similar to box jumps but done on a sing leg with a box inches off the ground. Once you’ve done this, slowly lower yourself back into the starting position. Start off lying on your back with your arms extended above your head with your legs together and your toes pointing away from you. In addition to strengthening your abs and core, v-ups are great for improving your balance and coordination. If this is too easy, try and do the dips holding onto the back of two chairs with your legs pulled up below you. This exercise works out your chest, triceps, and abs, greatly strengthening your physique so you can more easily hold off your opponents.