OFF-SEASON FOOTBALL WORKOUTS TO BUILD SPEED

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1 OFF-SEASON FOOTBALL WORKOUTS TO BUILD SPEED Jul 9, 2010 By Nicholas Bragg Nicholas Bragg, a lifelong athlete and former personal trainer, attended four separate colleges from Maryland to California, finishing in Named to the CEO's club as a top salesman at Intuit in 2009, he decided to follow his dream of being a writer, and now contributes to Mahalo and SportswithM. Photo Credit Football image by Brian Garvey from Fotolia.com From youth leagues all the way up to the professional ranks, football is a physically intense sport that requires year-round training and dedication. From the workout room to the playing field, football players can be found putting on muscle and building speed. There are a variety of ways to increase speed that translate to the football field. Benefits While training may take place all year for football, the intensity of each training session reaches its peak during the off-season. There are no games, bumps or bruises to recover from. Workouts can take place every day without the worry of being too fatigued for a game the next day. There are also no plays or game plans to memorize, allowing you to mentally focus on what you need to do physically for each workout. Types Speed training varies significantly per position. The positional groups break into three sections: linemen, backs and sprinters. Linemen concentrate on short-burst exercises, as they rarely are required to do any sprinting on the field. Backs focus on power movements and short distance sprinting, somewhere between five and 25 yards maximum. Sprinters consist mostly of receivers and defensive backs, positions that require them to run 40 to 50 yards on a play-to-play basis. Their training is often split between field sprinting drills and weight room endurance exercises. Considerations

2 The stronger a player's muscles are, the more force he is going to be able to apply when his foot meets the ground. During the off-season there is also no need to worry about muscle gains unexpectedly cutting into a player's range of motion. What this means is players are free to put on as much muscle as necessary through a protein-rich diet. Dr. Peter Lemon, who headed a study at the University of Western Ontario, found that eating between 1.7 and 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day will result in maximum muscle growth in an active individual. Effects Increased speed through workouts will lead directly to an increased ability to create or close the separation between yourself and opposing players on the football field. Increased muscle mass in your legs may slightly alter your range of motion and running technique, therefore stretches and flexibility exercises must be done before and after every workout session. This will also help avoid muscle strains which can potentially put you out for the entire off-season. Misconceptions The idea that to increase speed you just go out and buy special shoes or run around cones on the field is entirely false. The first step in increasing sprinting speed is increasing leg strength. There is a reason that Olympic sprinters have thighs the size of tree trunks. Another misconception is that linemen, players who often have stomachs that hang over their football pants, don't train for speed at all. While linemen may not train for speed as frequently as most other positions, that's only because sprinting isn't a part of their role. Linemen speed training focuses on quick feet, balance and reactionary drills. A lineman has to be the first person off of the line on every football snap.

3 OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SPEED WORKOUTS Jun 14, 2011 By Adam Donnelly Adam Donnelly is a first-year writer with a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Miami. While Donnelly was at Miami he took several courses in writing about sports, gender and competition. He is a high school teacher and coach when not writing. Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images People often overlook the importance of speed for offensive lineman. The higher the level of football, the more offensive linemen need to have speed and quickness, because their opponents constantly improve their speed. Speed allows an offensive lineman to get to the point of attack quicker than his opponent. Straight-Line Speed At the NFL Combine, offensive linemen are tested in the 40-yard dash just like every other position. However, the farthest an offensive lineman travels in an average play is about 10 yards, or 20 on a screen pass. Therefore, as an offensive lineman, you should focus your sprint work on 10- and 20-yard sprints. Get in a three-point offensive lineman stance (two feet and one hand on the ground), and sprint forward while trying to stay as low as possible. Have someone time your sprints with a stopwatch so you can try to improve your time. Lateral Quickness Try the side shuffle for a lateral quickness exercise. Start in a two-point stance (your feet on the ground and bending at the knees), and shuffle your feet to one side. If you shuffle to the right, start with your right foot so that your feet will not cross over each other. This will help your balance. To quantify this exercise, set up cones 10 yards apart. Start at one, and shuffle to the other and back. Check a stopwatch to see how you did.

4 Pass Protection Speed One of the most important characteristic of high-level offensive linemen is their ability to protect the quarterback on a pass play. You do this by getting your body into the right position -- between your quarterback and the opposition's defensive linemen. The defensive linemen will likely be trying to run to the quarterback, so you have to keep your body between them. The technique used is called a kick slide. To practice the kick slide, start in your offensive lineman stance. If you are on the left side of the line, kick your left foot back almost as far as you can, and slide your right foot to close the distance and find your balance. Repeat as you go back. If you are on the right side, reverse everything. So this in 10-yard segments, and have someone time how long it takes you. Read more: DEFENSIVE LINE OFF-SEASON WORKOUTS Sep 6, 2011 By Lou Martin Lou Martin has been writing professionally since His work has appeared in the "Los Angeles Times," the "Long Beach Press-Telegram" and the "Deseret Morning News." Martin holds a Bachelor of Science in history and communication from Utah Valley University. Photo Credit Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images

5 Playing defensive line on a football team requires a mixture of strength, agility and speed, and each can be developed and improved with off-season workouts. An effective off-season workout routine should provide you with a combination of strength building, muscular endurance and cardiovascular training activities. Running Few defensive linemen enjoy running, but it is a crucial element of the game. If ignored, it can be the difference between on-field success and riding the pine. Long-distance and short-distance running, such as sprints, are important elements of an off-season workout that should be done at least three times a week for 30 minutes to an hour per session. When running long distance, end each session by increasing speed until you are in a full sprint during the final 100 yards of the run. Keep your sprints at a distance of 100 yards or less, focusing on sprints of 10 to 20 yards, common distances covered by a defensive lineman during the course of a football game. Court Games Court games, such as basketball, tennis and racquetball, are ideal for a defensive lineman s off-season workout regimen thanks to their ability to help develop agility and muscular endurance. Racquetball, for instance, requires short bursts of speed and a lot of twisting and turning, moves used extensively during a football game. Basketball gives you the chance to develop the core and leg muscles by rebounding, boxing out and running. Similar to racquetball, tennis involves a lot of lateral movement and helps improve hand-eye coordination, which can come in handy when chasing down a running back. Implement court games into your off-season routine at least once or twice per week. Jumping Rope and Swimming Jumping rope will improve your hand-eye-foot coordination and agility while providing an effective cardiovascular workout. According to the Jump Rope Institute, 10 minutes of rapid rope jumping burns as many calories as 30 minutes of jogging and 720 yards of swimming. Swimming is a full-body workout that works each of the body s major muscle groups. It's an effective way to tone muscles without the influence of body weight. Jumping rope and swimming should be used as regular components of a defensive lineman s off-season workout routine and should be engaged in at least twice a week for optimal results. Read more:

6 FOOTBALL DRILLS TO INCREASE SPEED & AGILITY Dec 20, 2011 By Steve Silverman Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism. Photo Credit Jupiterimages, Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images Football players spend a lot of time working out trying to get faster and more agile. These two characteristics help any football player better at his job. Speed and agility at the running back and receiver positions help an athlete make big plays when they have the ball. Those two factors help linemen on both sides of the ball when it comes to blocking in open space (offensive linemen) or closing on a quarterback (defensive linemen). They help all football players, and there are many drills that can help football players in these areas. Sprint Practice You can increase your speed by practicing your sprinting. Set up cones that are anywhere from 10 yards to 40 yards apart. Sprint from the starting line to the end of the cone and vary the distance each time. Once you have three sprints under your belt, you can make this drill football specific by changing your starting position. For example, a football receiver may have caught the ball after running a comeback pattern and turned to meet the ball. As a result, start your sprint by running from a backwards position, quickly turning around and sprinting toward the finish line. You may have had to dive to make the catch. Start from a prone position, pick yourself up and sprint toward the cones. After each sprint, give your body a 15- to 20-second recovery period.

7 Uphill Running This is a traditional football exercise to build acceleration, which is one of the most important characteristics to have on the football field. NFL hall of famers Jerry Rice and the late Walter Payton used to run up hills regularly in the offseason to get in top condition. However, the biggest benefit to running up the hill was to gain power and acceleration in their running stride. While running uphill can be a tough task, it helps the participant maintain his speed when those chasing them are slowing down. There s no doubt that training the way I did and running hills helped me achieve everything I did on the football field. Rice once said, I always felt that nobody was going to catch me once I was running with the football under my arm. Those who do not live in areas with hills can accomplish the same with resistance parachute training. Run with a resistance chute on your back to build long-term speed and acceleration. Rope Drill The rope drill will help increase a players agility on the field. Setting up the ropes with a series of leg holes for the participant has been a key football drill for decades. This drill demands that the participant picks his knees up high to get over the rope ladder--steps set up 12 inches to 18 inches high--and run laterally for 10 to 12 feet. Players who can run the course without getting tripped up by the rope ladder will find that they can change directions with ease on the football field. Read more: **Please note that the references and recommendations to weight training were removed from these articles. This decision was made due to the debate on weight training benefits in youth.