How Can Amateur Footballers Stay Fit In The Summer?

May is often a very exciting time for footballers, especially those who, from the heights of the professional game to the grassroots of local football, are in the running to lift silverware or enjoy promotion. For those having a bad season, at least the weekly misery is at an end.

For most, that will be it until August, the exception being those lucky men in the professional ranks who will be representing their countries in the World Cup. The key for the rest will be to relax, recharge and be ready for the next season.

Pre-season training may be several weeks away, so the key issue is how to manage fitness in the meantime. There are several factors to consider:

• How naturally fit you are

• Whether you have some injuries that you need to rest

• Whether you engage in other sports or activities that keep you fit over the summer

• Your diet

How Much Should A Footballer Train In The Summer?

Naturally, how seriously you take this may depend a bit on what level you play at. Carrying a bit of extra weight may not be unusual in your local Sunday league team, but you won’t get away with it at a higher level.

Of course, everyone will let their hair down a bit at the end of a season and may indulge in a few sweet or alcoholic treats to mark the end of the campaign or while on holiday, but if you are serious about being fit for next season, you will soon need to get back into shape.

Not only do you need to be generally fit, but strength exercises can help you deal with the physical demands of the game, especially if you often come up against taller and more naturally bulky players.

How Can A Workbench Help Your Strength And Conditioning Work?

This is where equipment like a flat workout bench can come in useful, as it will enable you to undertake some of the exercises that can make you fitter and stronger for football.

Among these strength exercises are:

• Barbell squats
• Dead lifts
• Lunges
• Pull-ups
• Bench presses

The use of a flat workout bench is most obvious when you do bench presses. These are important for building up your upper-body strength, not only for winning physical duels, but also for reducing the risk of injury.

Another great thing about a flat workout bench is that it can also be used for strength exercises, such as:

• Dumbbell rows
• Barbell step-ups
• Barbell hip thrusts
• Close-Grip Bench Presses
• Dumbbell shoulder presses

These are just some of the strength and conditioning exercises you can do with a workout bench. This means it is a wonderfully versatile piece of equipment and will help you to undertake a vast array of exercises to stay fit and strong.

Can You Overdo Strength Training?

Of course, your training over the summer does need to be balanced. General fitness work will be important and there is no better time of year to get outdoors in the sun, although it will be important to pay attention to issues such as hydration.

Indeed, footballers can overdo strength work. A good example of this in the professional ranks is that of West Ham United winger Adama Traore, the muscle-bound powerhouse winger who joined from Fulham in January.

Having completed his move from west to east London, Traore was instructed to stop weight training, as his gym routine had gone too far down the road of piling on muscle.

First team coach Nuno Espirito Santos said: “It's one of the things that I think he needs to realise. It's enough weight that he carries. He'll do prevention work, but he's not in there lifting weights.”

However, it is worth noting that in this instance, the player in question was one Nuno noted as having an “incredible” physique due to “genetics”, while at the same time name-checking another player, young defender Airidas Golambeckis, as needing to do more weights.

Why Should You Tailor Training To Your Needs?

This highlights the fact that every individual will have different physical needs as a player. Some will need to add more muscle and others will not, just as some will need to concentrate more on general fitness or managing long-term injuries.

Nonetheless, if you are more of a Golambeckis than a Traore, you may find that having a flat workout bench along with various weights in your home gym can help you to add more muscle and handle the physical side of football better.

Whether this season has brought personal and team success or not, strength training may be an important element in helping you to raise your game and be a better player when the new season rolls around in August.