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3 Tips for Super Charging Your Football Conditioning Program

Last Friday it was 65 degrees here in South Jersey…on Saturday, it hit 92. A very sweaty reminder that summer is creeping up on all of us; time to get down to business with our football conditioning programs.

You might even do some sprinting, but I guarantee that most coaches and players are still jogging in the misguided hope of building the mythical “aerobic base.”

<br />Which guy looks like he's conditioning for football?

Which guy looks like he's conditioning for football?

If you want to go beyond average – that magical place where you get stronger in the 4th quarter, out-last your opponents, and begin to take great pleasure in beating the crap out of the opposition as they run out of gas – then you need to change the way you view

Here are 3 ways to take your conditioning from average to superior:

1. Kill the Jogging

It has no place in football conditioning programs. Not as a warm-up, not as a cool-down, not as some silly aerobic base. Football is an anaerobic sport, why the hell would we use an aerobic movement to warm up? It’s nonsense. Frankly, most trainers and strength coaches who use jogging as a warm up simply don’t know what to do with their athletes and running laps is a great time waster. Plus, everyone feels like they’re working hard – after all, they’re sweating and breathing fast.

You don’t jog on the field, so don’t do it in practice. Studies have shown that over-emphasis on long-distance running can actually cause some of your medium-twitch muscle fibers to convert to slow-twitch. Does anything about the words “sl0w-twitch” sound appealing to you as a football player? Leave the jogging to the cross country kids.

2. Use Simulated Game ConditioningThis method gets results. Every time, for every one. Why? It’s so football specific that it defies logic that more people don’t use it as the base of their football conditioning programs.

There are a few ways to use Simulated Game Conditioning as a performance indicator.

Use Metabolic Conditioning as your platform.

Metabolic Conditioning comes in many names. I was first exposed to it about 10 years ago when preparing for my first college football camp. They system was supposedly developed at the University of Nebraska (at the time, it was the football version of having a “secret” Russian method of training.)

Basically, instead of just running a bunch of mindless “wind-sprints,” one would run in a position specific way. For example, a Wide Receiver would run a series of 10 sprints. But, instead of the loathsome 40yd, he would vary the length and run them like a pass pattern.

  1. 20yd Out
  2. 10yd Stop
  3. 5yd Slant
  4. 30yd Post
  5. 40yd “Fly”
  6. 20yd Stop
  7. 15yd Hitch
  8. 40yd Fly
  9. 10yd In
  10. 12yd Hitch
  • This is repeated for usually 5 sets, with 2mintues rest between sets

Now, on each pattern, a Quarterback would throw said receiver the ball. See, conditioning and game skill in one!

<br />Football skills and conditioning - all in one exercise.

Football skills and conditioning - all in one exercise.

  • This method provides the obvious benefit of allowing WRsto catch a ball while running…and gives the QB throwing practice. It’s also good conditioning. But, with a twist or two, we can make this an excellent testing method.

Involve more players if possible.

Use defensive backs to cover your WRs. If possible, use two WRsand two Corners. This is a great way to both condition and teach football-specific skills.

3. The Dreaded 400’s

I admit, I hate running 400’s. They start hard and stay hard, but, they are amazingly effective for both conditioning and fat loss. Now, I hear some of you saying “well, we never run a 400 in a game either!”
True, but 400’s are used as a mental toughening exercise as much as a physical one. They should NOT be the base of your conditioning program. 400’s are a great way to add the all-important mental toughness factor to your football conditioning program.
 
 

 

 

 *Bonus: Using Games for Conditioning

Games are such an underrated method of conditioning. No one ever said that conditioning had to be boring and tedious!

You could easily use the MET Conditioning outlined earlier and turn it into a friendly 2 v 2 or even 7 v 7 game. No tackling or flags needed…where you catch the ball, you are down. 10 plays to get to the endzone. Those are just suggestions, again, you have to get creative. Keep it fun!

Flag football games offer a great opportunity to both condition and re-enforce football skills. Don’t allow the game to get sloppy…no lunging or outrageous plays. Run around, get low, get into a good hitting position, get in a good stance, block and stay low…but have fun.

 

Why the emphasis on fun? Well, football is a game. It’s supposed to be fun! If the training sessions are boring no one will want to do them. And, while not every player will always want to train, damn-near everyone will want to quit if the training is just plain dull.

Games can also help with building team-work. It gets the players used to working together, helping each other out and helping each other through the rough patches that will come up in every game. It’s important to build this team “togetherness” early and re-enforce it often. I’m all for motivational speakers and inspiring movies…but nothing can replace hands-on team building and games allow for real-life situations in which to do this.

Also, games will allow the players to work much harder than they ever would during a traditional conditioning session. Think about it, you are told you have to run 10 – 40’s and 5 – 100’s. It’s daunting and you start counting down on each sprint, just wanting it to be over.

Now, contrast that with a flag game or 7 v 7 session. Now, you are running endless sprints, catching, blocking, “tackling,” jumping. The volume of work is tremendous, yet no one complains. Why? Because it’s fun!

Check out the Explosive Football Training Manual for a full explination of our 2-Way Conditioning method

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One Response to “3 Tips for Super Charging Your Football Conditioning Program”

  1. Pre-Season Football Training | Explosive Football Training says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    [...] the season draws near, your conditioning programtakes on an even greater importance. But, if you run before lifting, you will greatly cut down on [...]

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