Off-season Football Conditioning

Football is definitely a sport that requires a combination of skills and athletic ability. This is why it's so important to develop a football conditioning program that would help you improve in every aspect of the game. These aspects include: strength, cardiovascular, and cardiorespiratory training. All of these areas need to be improved upon and directed towards skill improvement that mimics what takes place on the football field. Football players often require endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and explosive speed and acceleration.

The purpose of this article is not to give you a blueprint of an exact conditioning program but instead to give you what you need to know to design one for yourself. This is because one program will not necessarily work for everyone. Schedules sometimes need to be adjusted and programs need to be flexible when necessary.

A good preseason football conditioning program should begin 8-10 weeks before the season and should take place six days a week. The seven day should be used for resting and recovery. If you train too hard and do not rest your muscles you will almost certainly receive an injury. During the course of your work out stretching is one of the most important things you can do to avoid injury. This will also help you promote muscle growth and flexibility if done over a period of time.

Day 1: Run 3-5 miles

On day one you should run three to 5 miles in order to promote endurance and your cardiovascular systems. Each week of training start off with a three-mile run. If this is not enough then do an extra mile or two but don't become too excessive because you'll certainly run more later in the week.

Day 2, 4, and 6: Work on Speed Training

On these days your focus should be on speed and acceleration. The best way to work on speed and acceleration is doing some form of sprinting. Remember to stretch between sprints and at the end of your work out.

Day 3 and 5: Work on skills that are specific to your position and strength training

You can develop position specific skills by doing a variety of practice drills. Obviously because each position has different skills we cannot go over them all here. If for example you are a running back, you want a practice run blocking, ball handling, receiving, pass blocking, and agility drills.

After position specific training, focus on strength training. Focus on those areas which are specifically needed for your position. Finish off with a three-mile run.

Your football conditioning program should be approached with caution. If you overwork your body you may end up injured and not able to play at all during the season.

Therefore is important to take it slow careful and do plenty of stretching. Finally it is always important to your diet high in protein and carbohydrates to keep yourself energized. This will also help your body perform at its best. By following a strict football conditioning program you should have a great season.

Robert Michael is a writer for Football Cube which is an excellent place to find football links, resources and articles. For more information go to: http://www.footballcube.com