Why these exercises
Football is played on one leg at a time, at speed, with constant acceleration, deceleration and change of direction. The physical qualities that hold up under that are single-leg strength, calf and Achilles capacity, hamstring strength at length, hip control and the ability to absorb landings.
Everything below targets one of those. Nothing below requires a gym membership.
Lower body strength
- Rear-foot elevated split squat, single-leg strength through full range; 3 x 8 each side.
- Goblet squat, the foundational squat pattern with a load that is easy to control; 3 x 10.
- Romanian deadlift, hip hinge and posterior chain; 3 x 8–10.
- Step-down from a box, knee control and eccentric strength; 3 x 8 each side.
Calf and Achilles
Underdone in almost every youth programme, and directly relevant to both Sever's disease and sprint performance. Straight-leg calf raises train the gastrocnemius; bent-knee calf raises train the soleus, which takes enormous load in running.
Work up to sets of 15–20 single-leg raises through full range, then add load. Two to three times a week.
Hamstrings
- Nordic hamstring curl, the single most evidence-backed exercise for hamstring injury reduction; start with partial range.
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift - strength plus balance, close to the running position.
- Hip thrust or glute bridge, hip extension power for acceleration.
Landing, jumping and change of direction
Quality is everything here. Ten good landings beat fifty sloppy ones, and sloppy repeated jumping is exactly what irritates growth plates.
- Drop-and-stick landings - land, hold, and check knee alignment.
- Lateral bounds with a stuck landing - the cutting position, trained under control.
- Pogo hops - stiff, fast ankle bounces for tendon capacity and sprint mechanics.
- Deceleration drills - sprint 10m, stop under control in three steps.
Trunk and hips
- Pallof press - anti-rotation, directly relevant to kicking and turning.
- Side plank with hip abduction, lateral hip and trunk control.
- Dead bug - anti-extension trunk control, useful for young players with back pain.
Fitting it into a week
Two 30–40 minute sessions, ideally not the day before a match: one squat-biased and one hinge-biased, each with a single-leg exercise, calves, a trunk exercise and five minutes of jumping or landing. Add short sprint work at the start of a session while fresh, once or twice a week.
If a young player is already training four or five times a week with club and school, replace a session rather than adding one.