Strength Training for Athletic Performance

This lift was about preparing athletes for the exact forces and shapes required in acceleration and sprinting. We started with targeted hip flexor and hamstring warm-ups, not as generic mobility, but as specific preparation for the force demands of projection. If an athlete can’t tolerate force at the hip in the angles they sprint from, speed work becomes noise instead of signal. Our sprinting emphasis today was on projection and acceleration shapes: • Proper torso angles • Front-side mechanics • The ability to create force in early acceleration rather than just react to it From there, our plyometric work reinforced those same shapes, while layering in foot and ankle stiffness—because without a stiff, reactive distal segment, proximal force never fully expresses. The primary strength emphasis of the session was posterior chain strength at length: • Proximal hamstring loading • Hinge patterns that challenge force production in long muscle positions This isn’t about max strength for the sake of max strength. It’s about building force capacity where sprinting actually lives. We finished with long-duration pushing isometrics (PIMA) as accessories—deliberately chosen to: • Replicate the joint angles and force vectors of acceleration • Improve force production AND the capacity to maintain those positions • Build robustness in positions athletes repeatedly hit at high velocity Every piece of the session connected: Warm-up → sprint shapes → plyos → strength → isometrics All reinforcing the same intent. Speed isn’t trained by sprinting alone. It’s earned through intentional preparation, position-specific force exposure, and constraint-based strength work.

Pre-season Strength/Prehab routine to oil the engine 1️⃣ Ex 1 emphasises eccentric neuromuscular control at the hip and targets the lateral muscle sling system. The hip joint musculature is exceptionally important for adequate pelvic and trunk stabilization and control during sport-specific movements. 2️⃣ Exs 2 & 7 strengthen the cross-body connection, hip-pelvic control and hip-spine dissociation. Improved core stability results in an enhanced ability to dissociate the hip from the spine. This means more hip movement can be produced without affecting the neutral lumbopelvic position (Moreside 2012). 3️⃣ Ex 3: Unstable surface training can decrease the latency time between perturbation and contraction of the stabilising muscles (Lowery 2014, Kay 2012). Unstable surface training has also been shown to reduce the incidence of ankle, knee and back injuries (Durall 2009, Carter 2006). Integrating some unstable surface work can help prevent injuries. 4️⃣ Ex 4 improves multi planar movement quality, horizontal force production and the ability to change direction. The orientation of force production onto the ground is more important to performance than its amount (Morin 2011). 5️⃣ Ex 5 combines deceleration with perturbation to enhance the efficiency of self-stabilising processes. High-speed eccentrics result in hypertrophy of the fast-twitch fibres, higher contraction velocities and more intrinsic muscle power (Stasinaki 2018). This increases the robustness against impact and perturbations during high-speed movements. 6️⃣ Exs 6 & 8 combine full active ROM with eccentric overload. Full ROM strength training is far superior to static stretching at increasing active ROM (Wyon 2013). Active ROM is also a better predictor of performance and the propensity for injury (Twitchett 2011). Full ROM with an eccentric overload has a bigger impact on the mechanical muscle properties and will therefore elicit better results and transfer to athletic performance.   7️⃣ Ex 8 trains explosive posterior pelvic tilting. An explosive posterior tilt enables large joint forces at the hip and facilitates an efficient transfer of power during sprinting (Sado 2017,2019). The inability to maintain a stable posterior tilt during sprinting causes premature hamstring fatigue, increases the susceptibility to injury and impairs sprinting biomechanics (Small 2009).  8️⃣ Ex 9 is an effective exercises to target the long head of the biceps femoris, which is the affected muscle in 80% of the hamstring injuries. The machine leg curl loads the semitendinosus more than the biceps femoris (McAllister 2014, Ono 2010). The stability ball leg curl (ex. 11) targets the biceps femoris over the semitendinosus and has a high biceps femoris/medial hamstring activation ratio (Dooley 2020, Messer 2018, Bourne 2017). #prehab #injuryprevention #strengthtraining #strengthandconditioning #exercisescience #exerciseismedicine #exercisetips #preseason #physicaltherapy

  Adama Traoré didn’t head to the dressing room after Fulham’s game vs Chelsea. He went straight to the weights. That moment sparked plenty of discussion online, but it perfectly illustrates a growing principle in elite football: strength micro-dosing. Instead of relying only on long, traditional gym sessions, players and performance teams are increasingly using short, focused strength interventions of10–20 minutes before or after training, or even post-match—to keep neuromuscular qualities sharp, reduce injury risk, and maintain resilience during congested calendars. Recent paper (Chena, 2025) provides a practical framework for this approach: What to do? Target both performance (strength, power, speed) and protection (injury prevention). How to do it? Micro-sessions: activation, preventive, compensatory, recovery, slotted into training flow without disrupting tactics or football training. How much to do? Use the right dose: minimum during fixture congestion, effective during stable weeks, maximum in pre-season. When to do it? Heavy loads early in the week, light neural priming close to matchday, and daily preventive work when appropriate. Practical Outcomes from the Study 1. Consistency beats volume: Even 2–3 short exposures per week can sustain strength and power qualities during congested fixtures. 2. Integrate, don’t separate: Place micro-sessions around tactical work (before for activation, after for compensatory/recovery) to avoid competition for time. 3. Individualize: High-minute players may need more recovery/preventive micro-doses, while non-starters can handle higher strength doses mid-week. 4. Strategic timing matters: Eccentric or heavy strength work 2–4 days before match; priming or activation within 24–48h pre-match. 5. Injury risk reduction: Regular preventive micro-doses (hamstring, groin, core) lower soft tissue injury rates without overloading players. 6. Flexibility is key: Some players may micro-dose daily, others just twice a week, the decision depends on fatigue, load history, and tactical priorities. Traoré’s post-match lift is not just dedication, it’s a live example of micro-dosing in action: using limited windows to create consistent, sustainable physical gains across the season. *Takeaway for coaches and athletes:* You don’t need more hours in the gym, you need smart, well-timed micro-sessions integrated with football demands. Small, consistent actions add up to big resilience and performance payoffs. Reference: Chena, M. (2025). Strength Micro-dosing Approach in Football. Sport Performance & Science Reports, April (255), pp.1–12. Available at: https://lnkd.in/g84S9jfY

Most athletes don’t have a strength problem. They have a transfer problem. And that’s why performance feels stuck. You can add weight to the bar… you can hit new PBs… but if the force you create doesn’t turn into usable movement, the speed, power, and stability on the field won’t change. Strength is only potential. Performance is how well your body can use that strength. So instead of asking “how strong are you?”, I look at athletes through this pathway: Force → Direction → Transmission → Timing → Expression (Fix the link that’s breaking… not the exercise.) Here’s what the chain really means in simple language w/ tiny cues: 1- Force Production -> “Do you have enough accessible force?” Some athletes are strong but can’t use that force quickly. Cue: Slow push-off → add short, explosive work to improve RFD. 2- Force Direction -> “Is the force going where it should?” Bad angles send force upward or sideways instead of forward. Cue: Poor projection → fix shin line + body angle on the first steps. 3- Force Transmission -> “Can your body keep the force you create?” If the chain (foot → hip → pelvis → trunk) collapses, force leaks. Cue: Hip/trunk wobble → improve stiffness and coupling. 4- Force Timing -> Does the force arrive at the right moment?” Strong athletes still look slow when timing is late. Cue: Long ground contact → refine rhythm & ecc→con switch. 5- Movement Expression -> “What shows up in the game?” Speed, COD, balance, repeatability - all depend on the pathway. Cue: Strong in gym but slow in 10m → fix the link, not the squats. Once you understand this chain, you stop guessing. And you start fixing the exact part of the movement that’s hiding the athlete’s true ability. When the pathway is clean, strength finally turns into performance.

Hall of Fame S&C Coach Al Vermeil’s hierarchy of athletic development is a platform for the enhancement of the physical qualities that are necessary for the sports rehabilitation athlete’s ideal return to play as well as for their optimal athletic performance. The physical quality categories of strength, explosive strength, elastic/reactive strength, and speed are not exhibited in “silos” but “overlap” working together to result in the best possible executed athletic performance. Some corresponding relationships of each specific physical quality category that is not often recognized include: · The Back Squat (Strength) – The back squat is a bilateral exercise, performed at high intensities and comparatively lower velocities vs. other physical quality category training. This exercise also results in enhancing the athlete’s abilities in high velocity activities such as 5m,10m, 20m, and 40m sprint times, vertical jump height, and change of direction (COD) (McBride 2009, Chelly 2009, 2010). These activities are also utilized during various performance testing. · The Olympic Lifts and their derivatives (Explosive Strength) – Optimal and effective exercise performance requires “intent”. These exercises not only require intent but also incentivize the athlete’s efforts. Exercise execution requires the barbell to achieve a required vertical height to ensure the “catch” and a successful exercise performance. When the exercise is initiated from the floor, a “preparatory” movement (1st pull) transitioning to a high acceleration velocity (2nd pull) transpires. Many sport activities include a preparatory movement prior to a high velocity transition, i.e. a soccer player jogging into a sprint, the pitcher’s wind-up prior to the pitch, etc. · Bounding (elastic/reactive strength) – Bounding (alternate leg, combination, single leg, etc.) is an advanced plyometric activity that enhances both reactivity and anticipation to the ground surface area. These abilities contribute to improved athletic performance. The “ground anticipation" skillset of repetitive proper foot placement also transfers to other sport skills for improved technical performance as well as to likely assist in the prevention of injury by avoiding erroneous foot placement. · Sprinting (Speed) – Years ago, in discussions with renown sprint coach Charlie Francis and as well as with my good friend Derek Hansen, I came to find that improving an athlete’s linear velocity will also assist to enhance their COD abilities. For example, improving a baseball/softball athlete’s sprint time to 1st base, the athlete will also likely improve their sprint time to 2nd base by executing the turn at 1st base at higher running velocities as well. Some professionals also consider the 5-0-5 agility test an acceleration/speed vs. COD test. During 5-0-5 testing, if two athletes have the same or very similar 180° turn times, the athlete with the superior linear velocity will score the better test time.