Football

If you''re a big, beefy guy, chances are you were asked a hundred times while in school: "Play football?"

Strength and size, or the appearance of strength and size, spell football. It''s a game of pumped-up monsters and chiseled speedsters smashing one another, chasing one another, sprinting like mad to catch, kick or bury a blimp-shaped piece of inflated pigskin.

If you were that big, beefy guy everyone wanted on the football team, and you actually decided to play, you''ll never forget the boot camp your coach put you through. Because in football, there''s no such thing as too much muscle, too much speed or too much attitude. You''re out there to throw your weight around, act menacing and kick butt.

The converse also is true. You''re out there to get your butt kicked. You can''t avoid this in football. That''s why it helps in part to be big and beefy. And that really underscores what a lot of the boot-camp training is all about. It isn''t just to beef you up so you look threatening to the other side but also to limber you up and pad you out so you don''t get injured while getting blocked, tackled and otherwise generally walloped. A big, beefy player sidelined for injuries is of no use to a team, says Ken Sprague, coach and strength trainer, owner and operator of the original Gold''s Gym and author of Sports Strength and many related training books, and a weight lifter who trained alongside former L.A. Raiders Howie Long and the late Lyle Alzado.

So strength training, along with increasing skill and power, is a form of preventive medicine, says Sprague. And for those of us who weren''t especially big and beefy to start with, it''s essential if we''re going to compete credibly, even in neighborhood weekend games.

For pro and amateur alike, the name of the game in football is "strength training, strength training, strength training," says Sprague.

The General Workout

Let''s say you just want to play good weekend football. You''re willing to tackle any position you''re assigned, but you want to exhibit at least basic athletic competency. Then you need a core workout that builds strength for the five movements common to nearly all athletics and sports activities, says Sprague.

For each of these five movements, pick one of the free-weight exercises you like, or alternate between them, suggests Sprague.

Upper-Body Thrust

You need this for shoving, blocking, throwing, reaching and even for pumping your arms when running. For optimum upper-body thrust, you need a strong chest, powerful arms and a fluid, conditioned shoulder girdle. We''re talking pecs, deltoids, biceps, triceps, trapezius muscles. The recommended exercises:

* Bench press * Dips

* Military press

Upper-Body Pull

Here we''re talking about the upper back, biceps, chest, shoulders—latissimus dorsi, pecs and so on. This is the converse side of thrust. Good upper-body pull is the ability to grab a nimble ball-runner and drag him to the ground. It''s the ability to use your arms to help dodge and dart and slip through the charging defense. Here are the best exercises.

* Pull-ups * Bent-over rows

Back Extension

Is there anything you don''t use your back for in football? Is a strong back better than a weak back? You bet. You need to build the muscles in the deep posterior group and the spinal erectors. Do one of the following exercises.

* Good-morning exercises

* Rumanian dead lifts

Jackknife

The ability to fold in the middle and spring apart, bend, turn, twist with power and precision depends upon abs. Abs, abs, abs. Necessary for running, for leg speed, for lunging, jumping, for rolling with the punches, for maximum throwing power and even for maximum leg power. Leg power doesn''t reach the upper body without traveling through the middle—you don''t want it dissipating in jelly. Your choices:

* Crunches * Straight-leg raises

Leg and Hip Thrust

You need strong, conditioned hips and thighs—for power and stability, for turns, for speed, for resisting the pushes, shoves, slams. For shoving off. For kicking and running. Do one of these.

* Dumbbell squats * Step-ups

* Dumbbell lunges

Other Needs

In addition to raw strength, you need three things to be great at the game.

* A conditioned heart so you have the stamina to play as hard in the fourth quarter as you did in the first. You get that from aerobic exercise, such as running, bicycling and swimming, says Sprague. As with nearly every routine in this book, try to get at least three aerobic workouts of 30 minutes each per week.

* Energy for short bursts of explosive power at any given time in a long game. Wind sprints help you achieve that. No matter what position you play, year-round you should incorporate daily wind sprints and aerobic running into your routine for leg-muscle explosive power and endurance, says Sprague.

* Flexibility to handle all the twisting, turning, bending and pushing you face in a game. If you can''t bend easily in unusual directions, you are going to get injured, perhaps not the first time you are tackled or blocked, but soon enough. Always do a stretching routine after you''re warmed up and after you''ve cooled down, advises Sprague.

Player-by-Player Programs

If you are serious about football, favor a particular position and want to be the best you can be at it, you need a specialized workout. Each of Sprague''s specialized football workouts uses his Lineman Routine as a core, then adds exercises and emphasis where needed.

Here''s how to tailor the program to the season.

* Off-season. The number of sets, number of reps and amount of weight all depend upon where you are in your periodization schedule, says Sprague. (See Basic Fitness on page 118 to learn how to structure such a workout.) Go through the whole routine two to three days a week.

* In season. Hold steady at two sets of each exercise, six reps each, at 80 percent of your one-rep maximum weight level, two to three days a week, Sprague recommends, or whatever your coach or trainer prescribes.

Now, here''s what Sprague says you need to tailor the strength-building portion of the program to your position. Players other than linemen need to do the Lineman Routine as well as the exercises listed for their particular position.

Lineman (Core) Routine

* Military press for upper-body thrust

* Power cleans for upper-body pull. Power cleans are the old classic, in which you carefully raise a barbell from the floor up to your shoulders in one smooth motion. To do one correctly, stand with your feet about 16 inches apart and your shins touching a barbell in front of you. Grip the bar, bending so that your thighs are nearly parallel to the floor, your back straight, head looking forward. To start the motion, straighten your legs, raising the bar up to your thighs while keeping your arms straight. As your legs straighten, extend your hips forward, getting into an erect position. As your body straightens, keep the bar ascending by pulling with your arms and rising on your toes. When the bar reaches its highest point, bend your knees and catch the bar on your shoulders and upper chest.

* Rumanian dead lifts for back extension

* Crunches for jackknife

* Squats for hip and leg thrust

* Reverse trunk twists for torso rotation

Punters/Kickers

* Leg curls to prevent injury

Kickers need to pay particular attention to developing their quadriceps and abdominal and lower-back muscles, say Richard Mangi, M.D., Peter Jokl, M.D., and O. William Dayton in their book Sports and Fitness Training. The Lineman Routine works those areas, Sprague notes.

Centers

* Overhead triceps extensions for elbow extension

* Wrist curls for forearm and wrist strength

* Grip strengtheners for ball control

Quarterbacks

* Overhead triceps extensions for elbow extension

* Wrist curls for forearm and wrist strength

* Grip strengtheners for ball control

* Outside and inside shoulder rotations for preventing injury to shoulders

* Leg curls to prevent hamstring injuries

Running Back/Defensive Back

* Leg curls for injury prevention

* Dumbbell lunges for leg and hip thrust

On-the-Field Wisdom

You''re strong, you''re sleek, your body is prepared. But there''s still something missing. Winning at football is not just about brute force and speed. It''s also about fundamentals and using your head. Here are some basics to play by.

Tackle with your eyes. One of the most important things a defender can do is focus on his target, says Terry Shea, head football coach at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. "Great tacklers have great focus and concentration," he adds. Many missed and poor tackles are a result of shifting the eyes up to the ball-carrier''s shoulders right before the hit. Maintain your focus on the middle of the runner''s body, Shea points out. And use the sideline as an extra man to box in a runner, he adds.

Cover the receiver, not the QB. A tendency of many pass-defenders is to glance at the quarterback to see who he''s going to throw to. "Defenders will take that peek right after the snap and thereby lose the cushion they had over the receiver," says Shea. In man-to-man coverage, concentrate on the receiver''s shoulders and midsection; it''s the best way to detect where he will be moving next.

Keep it at arm''s length. When catching the football, receivers should extend their hands and elbows away from their body to make the catch, says Shea. "The last eight to ten inches of the ball''s flight are very important. With your arms extended, you can follow the ball to the point of reception. With your arms tucked in, you greatly reduce your ability to follow the ball into your hands."

Run to glory. Use your energy to run down the field, not across it. "Make the defender miss you by the slightest of margins so that your downfield momentum is only slightly disturbed," Shea says. Too many runners expend energy making wide berths around defenders when they should be concentrating on running toward the end zone, he adds.

Don''t lose it over special teams. It''s common for a kicking team to run down the field in an uncontrolled mad dash, only to overshoot the runner. "On kickoffs, stay under control. Don''t run down the field as fast as you can. Retaining the ability to quickly brake your speed allows you to maintain good balance and the ability to move laterally," Shea says.

Stand up straight. To avoid injury, stay upright when you''re about to get hit, rather than tucking your chin to your chest. Also, ball-carriers shouldn''t overextend their bodies as the defense arrives—it makes knees, elbows and necks too vulnerable.