Strength Training for Soccer Players: 8 Best Exercises + Workout

Strength Training for Soccer – Introduction

Is strength training important for soccer players?

And if it is, what are the best strength training exercises a soccer player can use to improve his or her performance on the field?

Soccer (also known around the world as football) is a dynamic team sport that involves a wide range of physical attributes.

To be a successful soccer player, you need aerobic and anaerobic fitness, speed, endurance, power, agility, mobility, and balance in equal measure.

However, the one thing that a lot of soccer players neglect is muscular strength.

That’s probably because the strength demands of soccer are not always obvious.

After all, soccer balls are very light, and there is far less physical contact than with many other team sports.

Because of this, soccer players may not see the value in strength training, and that’s a problem.

Why is Strength Training Important for Soccer Players

Strength is the foundation on which all other fitness components are built.

The stronger you are, the better conditioned, faster, and more powerful you’ll be.

Being strong also helps injury-proof your body by increasing stability.

Most soccer players should hit the gym and lift weights 2-3 times a week – especially in the off-season.

We’re not talking about building big bodybuilder muscles.

Instead, strength for soccer should focus on performance rather than appearance.

This article reveals the eight best strength training exercises for soccer and provides you with a full-body soccer strength training workout to try.

8 Best Strength Training Exercises for Soccer Players

Forget about bodybuilding staples like biceps curls and triceps pushdowns.

Soccer players need full body strength, and the best way to develop that is with compound exercises.

Here are eight of the best compound strength training exercises for soccer players.

Lateral deficit squat
Split squat jumps
Single-leg Romanian deadlifts
Table bridge
Push-ups
Inverted rows aka Australian pull-ups
Single-arm overhead press
Slow motion mountain climbers

Strength Training for Soccer Exercise Descriptions

#1. Lateral deficit squat

Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors.

The lateral deficit squat will develop leg strength and hip mobility.

Soccer is a multidirectional sport, so it makes sense to train your body in the same manner.

This exercise will enhance your ability to change direction quickly, which is a critical skill in soccer.

How to do it:

Stand on a 6 to 12-inch box or a couple of stacked weight plates.
Hold dumbbells in your hands or a kettlebell in front of your chest.
Take a step to the side and place your foot on the floor, bend both knees and descend until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
Push off your outer leg and return to your platform.
Do all your reps to one side and then switch or alternate sides as preferred.

Goblet lateral squats demonstration

#2. Split squat jumps (aka jumping lunges)

Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors.

Soccer is largely a unilateral sport, meaning you spend a lot of time using one leg at a time.

Kicking, sprinting, tackling, etc., are all unilateral activities.

Therefore, it makes sense to include unilateral exercises in your soccer strength training workouts.

Split squat jumps emphasize your front leg and will develop your explosive power so you can kick harder, sprint faster, and jump higher.

How to do it:

Step forward and into a staggered stance.
Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down to within an inch of the floor.
Using your arms for momentum, jump up into the air and swing your front leg backward and your back leg forwards.
Land with your foot position reversed and repeat.
Do this exercise weighted or unweighted as preferred.

Jumping lunges aka Split squat jumps demo

#3. Single-leg Romanian deadlift

Target muscles: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors.

When it comes to leg training, many people fall into the trap of doing too many squatting exercises.

These moves tend to emphasize the quads, which are the muscles on the front of your thighs.

The glutes and hamstrings are equally important, and strengthening these muscles will help you sprint harder while reducing your risk of hamstring tears.

Single-leg Romanian deadlifts are a fantastic exercise for strengthening your hamstrings and glutes and are also helpful for improving balance and hip mobility.

Single leg Dumbbell Romanian deadlift technique

How to do it:

Stand with your feet together, arms by your sides.
Hold dumbbells if you wish. Shift your weight over onto one leg.
Bend your supporting knee slightly for balance.
Hinge forward from your hips and lean over, lowering the weights down toward the floor in front of your feet.
Extend your non-supporting leg out behind you for balance.
Take care not to round your lower back.
Stand up straight and repeat.
Do the same number of reps on both legs.
If keeping your balance is an issue, do this exercise next to a wall and use it for support.

#4. Table bridge

Target muscles: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, core, deltoids, triceps, trapezius.

The table bridge is part strength and part mobility exercise.

Using just your bodyweight, it’s a great way to undo the damaging effects of prolonged sitting and fire up the muscles you use for soccer.

Do it as part of your warm-up or anytime you want to train your posterior chain.

Table Top Bridge

How to do it:

Sit on the floor with your legs bent and weight on your heels.
Place your hands next to your hips, fingers pointing forward, arms straight.
Push your hands down into the floor and lift your butt.
Next, drive your hips forward and up as you pull with your hamstrings.
Push your butt up toward the ceiling, so your knees, hips, and shoulders form a straight line. Look up!
Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat.
Make this exercise harder by using one leg at a time.

#5. Push-ups

Target muscles: Pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps, core.

There is no need to do bench presses or chest presses to train your upper body for soccer.

Instead, the humble push-up will work your chest, shoulders, and triceps without resorting to lifting heavy weights.

Like the US Army Physical Readiness Training (PRT) and the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), make push-ups a cornerstone of your upper body workouts; you won’t regret it!

How to do it:

Kneel down and place your hands flat on the floor, about shoulder-width apart.
Your fingers should point straight forward.
Pull your shoulders down and back, point your elbows backward, and brace your core.
Walk your feet out and back, so your body is straight.
Bend your arms and, with control, lower your chest to within an inch of the floor.
Pause for 1-2 seconds.
Push yourself back up to full arm extension and repeat.
Too hard? Bend your legs and rest on your knees for three-quarter push-ups.
Make push-ups more demanding by putting your feet on a chair or wearing a weighted vest.

83-year-old demos pause push-ups

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#6. Australian pull-ups

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, trapezius, biceps, glutes, hamstrings, core.

If you can do pull-ups and chin-ups, then those exercises should be part of your strength for soccer workouts.

But, if you can’t lift your entire bodyweight using just your arms, Australian pull-ups are a good alternative.

Also known as inverted rows and body rows, this exercise is much more accessible as you don’t have to lift as much weight.

How to do it:

Set a bar in a squat rack or Smith machine to about waist height.
Alternatively, you can use a suspension trainer (e.g., a TRX) or gymnastic rings.
Sit below your handle with your legs straight.
Hold the handle and, with straight arms, lean back and lift your hips, so your body is straight.
Brace your core, tense your legs, and pull your shoulders down and back.
Bend your arms and pull your chest up to your hands.
Extend your arms and repeat.
You can make this exercise easier by bending your legs and bringing your feet beneath your hips or raising your hands, so your body is not angled so steeply.
Make it more challenging by putting your feet on a bench or chair or wearing a weighted vest.

Australian pull-up (bodyweight row/inverted row)

#7. Single-arm overhead press

Target muscles: Deltoids, triceps, core.

Overhead pressing strength is important for shoulder health and will give you a more powerful throw-in, too.

However, doing single-arm overhead presses means you’ll need to use your core more, and that’s never a bad thing.

Also, unilateral exercises like this are very useful for identifying and fixing left-to-right strength imbalances.

How to do it:

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand.
Brace your core and lift the weight to your shoulder, palm facing forward.
Pull your shoulder girdle down and back.
Without leaning to the side, press the weight up and overhead to full arm extension.
Lower it back to your shoulder and repeat.
Do the same number of reps on both sides.

Single arm Dumbbell overhead presses + how to decrease stability

8. Slo-mo mountain climbers

Target muscles: Core muscles

When most people do mountain climbers, aka hill climbers, and alternate leg squat thrust, they do them very fast.

Fast mountain climbers are a great cardio exercise, but that’s not why we want you to do them.

Instead, using a slow motion (slo-mo) will tax your entire core for better lumbar spine stability.

How to do it:

Adopt the push-up position with your arms and legs straight.
Brace your abs.
Bend your leg and SLOWLY pull your knee into your chest.
Really squeeze your abs as hard as you can.
Extend your leg, change sides, and repeat with the other leg.
Slowly alternate legs for the duration of your set.
Focus more on the tension in your core than the number of reps performed.
Fewer, slower reps are better than more, faster reps.

Slow mountain climbers

Strength Training for Soccer Workout

If you love playing soccer, use this full-body workout to boost your athleticism and protect yourself from injury.

For the best results, do this workout 2-3 times a week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to avoid overtraining.

Begin each workout with a short warm-up of 5-10 minutes of easy cardio followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your main muscles and joints.

Choose weights that take you to within 1-3 reps of failure within the prescribed rep range.

For bodyweight exercises, just do as many good quality reps as possible, indicated as AMRAP on the chart below.

If you are new to strength training, just do two sets of each exercise.

More experienced exercisers can do three or four sets of each exercise.

#	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Split squat jump	2-4	8-10	60-90 seconds
2	Table bridge	2-4	10-12	60-90 seconds
3	Lateral deficit squat	2-4	8-10 per side	60-90 seconds
4	Push-up	2-4	AMRAP	60-90 seconds
5	Australian pull-up	2-4	AMRAP	60-90 seconds
6	Single-arm overhead press	2-4	8-10 per side	60-90 seconds
7	Slow mountain climbers	2-4	10-12 per side	60-90 seconds

Strength Training Exercises for Soccer Players – Wrapping Up

Strength is a critical fitness component for soccer players.

The stronger you are, the more effective your cardio, power, agility, and skill training will be.

Also, strong muscles are more resilient.

Given the importance of strength for successful soccer, it’s surprising that players don’t spend more time in the gym.

It really is the missing link in soccer conditioning training.

So, to maximize your soccer fitness, make sure you hit the gym 2-3 times a week.

This small investment in time will have a HUGE impact on your playing performance while lowering your risks of injury.

Strength Training for Soccer Players: 8 Best Exercises + Workout

Strength Training for Soccer – Introduction

Why is Strength Training Important for Soccer Players

8 Best Strength Training Exercises for Soccer Players