Category: Sport. Title: Explosive Power Training for Football.

Explosive Power Training for Football

The physical preparation of players is becoming increasingly important in the world of football. Teams are constantly searching for new ways they can get an extra 1 or 2 percent out of their players in order to improve match performance and give them the edge over their opponents. One particular way in which this may be achieved is through power training.

Power is a combination of speed and strength which produces movement, and can be defined as ‘the amount of work a muscle can produce per unit of time’. In essential sporting activities such as jumping, throwing or sprinting, the athlete must be able to use strength as quickly and as forcefully as possible to produce the greatest outcome. The production of power is dependent upon how quickly a muscle can generate its maximal force, therefore the key aim of power training is to reduce the amount of time it takes for a muscle to produce this maximal force. The aim of power training is not to build muscle or to bulk, but to improve the efficiency of which motor units and fast twitch muscle fibres are recruited. This will lead to a greater percentage power production in a reduced amount of time and an increased potential to perform power activities.


An effectively designed training programme can therefore lead to an increase in power production and an overall improved performance in power based activities. For footballers this may mean an improved ability to accelerate faster, sprint faster, jump higher or even kick the ball harder and faster.
When developing a power training programme there are some key factors to consider. Firstly the choice of exercises needs to reflect the needs and the demands of each sport. Jumping and Sprinting are key components of football performance and therefore need to be addressed with appropriate exercises such as Squats, Olympic lifts and Plyometric drills. The training load is also a key consideration of power training. Loadings of around 30 percent of an athlete’s 1 rep max (the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition for a given exercise) have been suggested for high velocity speed oriented training, while slightly larger loads of between 40 - 60 percent 1 rep max have been suggested as optimal for power production.


The emphasis of power training is on the quality of movement, not the quantity, therefore a range of between 3 and 5 repetitions is recommended for between 3 and 5 sets. Each repetition should be performed at the maximum speed and with the maximal effort possible in order to produce the greatest power production. An adequate rest period of as much as 2-3 minutes should follow each set in order to allow a full recovery and the ability to maintain the quality of each repetition. Due to the explosive nature of power training, these sessions should only be preformed once or twice a week to allow the body sufficient recovery between workouts.


As previously mentioned a key component of any explosive power training programme should be Plyometric exercise. Plyometric training takes advantage of the elastic components of muscles and tendons and the stretch shortening cycle. When performing a Plyometric jump the athlete uses the force of gravity to store energy within a muscle, this energy is then released through an explosive upward movement. An example of this is a Depth jump or Rebound jump. From the starting box the athlete steps off or jumps off this box until they are in contact with the ground, this acts as the storage of energy. The contact time with the floor should be minimal with the athlete aiming to get back off the ground as quickly as possible. After the initial contact with the ground the athlete immediately performs and explosive upwards jump onto another box with the aid of the previously stored energy. This process is repeated 3-5 times for 3-5 sets with a 2-3 minute rest between sets. This exercise along with other power activities is demonstrated on the Win Everything Youtube channel.


Alex Delves BSc (hons) MRes

Visit www.wineverything.co.uk to find out more about sports science in football


References
Adams, K. et al., (1992) the effect of six weeks of squat, plyometric and squat-plyometric training on power production. The Journal of Applied Sport Science Research, 6(1), 36-41

Baker, D. et al., (2001) The Load That Maximizes the Average Mechanical Power Output During Explosive Bench Press Throws in Highly Trained Athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 15(1), 20–24

Date written: Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:36:34 +0100

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