My Off-Season Football Fitness Plan...

[NoFear22]

After taking a beating last season at D-Line for the Freshmen team, and not really achieving my goals, I have decided that I want to come back next season as a kickass linebacker.

I have bought a few books and researched a lot and this is the program I came up with. Please critique....

Goals: 9-10% BF, 200lbs, 4.95 40YdDash
JV Linebacker Three Step Plan:
STEP ONE:
Flexibility
Natural Body Building
Endurance
Nutrition
STEP TWO:
Flexibility
Natural Body Building
Endurance
Nutrition
+Sprint Training
STEP THREE:
Flexibility
Natural Body Building
Endurance
Nutrition
Sprint Training
+Weight Training

Nutrition: I'm going on a weight-gain diet. I'm at 175 right now, aiming for 195-200lbs by the end of summer.

April:
1st Week: Stretching 3x Daily, 3 Miles Each Day, NatBodyBuild Each Day, Rest Sunday
Each Week Add A Mile Until 6 Miles

May:
1st Week: Continue April Endurance Training
Week 2-4:Stretching 3x Daily, NatBodyBuild Each Day, Speed Work (Wind Sprints, 100m Dashs, 10 40s with 90 second rests inbetween) Rest Sunday

June-August:
Weight Training, Alternating Running Weeks (Speedwork one week, Endurance Next, etc), Stretching 3x Daily


*Natural Body Building: I do Pullups: Regular, Reverse, Close Grip, Commando/ Bar Dips / Push Ups: Regular, Tricep, Dive Bomber, Wide Angle / Situps/ Crunchs / Obliques / Leg Raises/ Flutter Kicks

*Weight Training: Not sure on my weight lifting program yet.

Any suggestions?

[abarlament]

What is Natural Bodybuildng?

[NoFear22]

*Natural Body Building: I do Pullups: Regular, Reverse, Close Grip, Commando/ Bar Dips / Push Ups: Regular, Tricep, Dive Bomber, Wide Angle / Situps/ Crunchs / Obliques / Leg Raises/ Flutter Kicks

My term for using your own weight to get bigger.

[abarlament]

Well, personally, I don't think you can transform yourself into a kickass linebacker without weights of some kind.

[Underdog]

my thoughts....

1. running: you gotta run for what you gotta do. you will never run a steady six miles as a linebacker. your "endurance" runs should really only be once or twice a week, to maintain a good aerobic base. the rest of the time, you should do the sprint/interval work that relates to your position. work on your reaction speed ( I don't know what you really call it...like simulate a snap and work on reacting to the start of play) and work on explosive speed over the short range you need to cover a your position.

2. hit the weights. as a football player you need to use weights. I wouldn't pick up a bodybuilders program like many here talk about, but do some strength/explosive lifting. bench, squat, dead, and some olympic type lifting.

3. look into what is called "functional training"...basically training the body to perform better under all conditions. I can't stress how much this has helped me in all sports... think a lot of core work, a lot of funny single leg exercises and stuff that make you look silly and make you an awesome athlete. this is just picking up steam in the training world, and I've been lucky in enough to train with a knowledgeable trainer. I saw a new book called "Core Performance" by Mark something...starts with a V I think... he seemed to have a really good program on this functional stuff. I would seriously encourage you train like this....the pros do, but kids your age don't. you should be able to get a leg up if you do.


good luck

tolga

[NoFear22]

Abarlament, I would do weight training from june-august in my program. The pullups, pushups, "natural body work", etc would be for building basic strength, while the weight training in the summer would be for explosive power and size.

Underdog, I agree with you, but I believe that to last through all four quarters of a tough game, playing at/near your peak, you need a good amount of endurance. So that is why I put so much focus on endurance the first month, so as to attain a certain level of stamina. As it gets closer to seasontime, I will work on building up fast-twitch muscle fibers and get speedier.

And I'll look into functional training. It sounds interesting. I have already bought and read a bunch of football specific workout books and started reading some linebacker technique books.

[Gartrell]

Yea, I start training for power and explosiveness through weight training before football right after I'm done with wrestling (which also helps me in those areas). You need to get bigger/stronger/faster as quickly as possible. Also, instead of running 3-6 miles, why not spring 400's? I don't recall a single time when any member of my team had to run 3 miles (except the day after we lost, but that's another story ) It's never too early to hit the weights

[discostufo]

hey u guys know any good diets to become a tight end.i decided im going to try out for t.e. next year for varsity. i was reciever but i want to play tight end and well i need to get bigger. i weigh 170 right now and i at need least to weigh 185-190

[LifterMike]

I agree, natural body building should be incorporated with your weightlifting program and not seperate from it. For example, on your back day you may want to do some pull ups, and on your chest day or tricep day do some dips. Lose the push-ups and stick with bench press. My 2 cents.