There is little room for sitting on your laurels as a football player. Indeed, it can seem as if there is always someone stronger, faster, and more talented to play against, or coming up through the ranks. The good news is there is always something more you can do to push yourself a little harder and make your game a little better. Keep reading for some ideas.
Boost your strength
Strength is vital if you want to succeed as a football player, and you can boost your performance by adding bulk. The good news is there are several tactics you can use for doing this, or you can combine them all and create the fastest and most effective plan for bulking up.
The first tactic is to use the gym to bulk up. This means focusing your workout around exercises such as chin-ups, deadlifts, and squats as these are known to be the most effective for building muscle. Also remember that training volume matters as well, so that means not only changing the activities you do to the ones above but also doing more of them as well.
Additionally, you can help expedite muscle growth by shortening your rest interval in between the sets you do. After all, the more tearing of the muscle fibers of a micro level, the more muscle can be built during the healing stage.
While we are on the subject of the healing stage, to maximize muscle growth you must get a good night’s rest in between sessions and games as well. Something you can get some advice on in the section on sleep below.
Finally, you may also want to use a supplement to help your body have enough resources available to build muscles and bulk up quickly. In particular, providers such as Umbrella Labs also offer a range of SARMs which some find helpful here. Although, many prefer things such as Creatine for muscle-building too.
Brush up on the rules of the game
Rules matter in football. Indeed, they can make all the difference to both your experience of playing the game and whether your team ultimately wins or loses. Sadly, there are still far too many players that do not have a firm grasp of the rules and their nuances.
The thing is having a good grasp of the rules can make you a much better player. This is because while you have to wait for the go-ahead from the referee to act, you’ll still be able to anticipate what is coming next, plan, and put it into action that much faster. Something that could save you valuable milliseconds on the field, and give you that all-important edge.
With that in mind, working your mental muscle as well as the ones on your physical body is important. That means getting a hold of a rule book and studying it each night.
Although, studying the rules of the game doesn’t have to be all book learning, as you can also watch old games and see the rules in action. After all, there will always be at least some interpretation by the referees and it can be very useful to see how this works in practice.
Eat right
Fitness is just as much about the kitchen as it is the gym and training field. This means that if you aren’t eating right you cannot expect to play the best kind of football. In particular, football players that want to be at the top of their game need to make sure they eat enough protein to support muscle growth.
Of course, there is a delicate balance to be struck here, between consuming enough protein and overeating on calories. With that in mind, lean proteins make a better choice, as do limiting your consumption of fried foods, refined sugars, and alcohols.
Sleep right
A good sleep routine is so important for anyone looking to up their football games for a range of reasons. The first of these is that muscles are repaired and built while we sleep. This means that if we don’t get enough shut-eye, we will be limiting our body’s ability to bulk up.
Additionally, a good night’s sleep helps to ensure your body can manufacture enough testosterone, which is a hormone essential for building muscles and ensuring that you have enough energy to be able to play football. The thing is that testosterone tends to be made in the body from around 4am -6am, so if you have bad sleep habits your body will struggle to make enough and this can negatively impact your game.
Challenge yourself
In football, one of the best ways you can push yourself to the top of your game is to challenge yourself. This doesn’t only mean in the gym either, or at training, but also field, when you are actually engaged in the game.
In particular playing against and even with those that are at a higher level, you can be very useful as you will have to consistently raise your skill level to be able to properly compete.
However, gaining access to high-level games can be something of a challenge for many players. Although you may just be surprised as to how many coaches will let you in on training sessions if you can convince them you can train with the big boys, that is?
Welcome feedback and constructive criticism
Constructive criticism is the watchword here. After all, American football is tough, but it’s not the military and you don’t need to be completely broken down and built up again. Instead, you want to find people that will be honest with you about the way that you are playing and the things you can do to improve.
Indeed, a criticism without guidance on how to make things better is much more likely to be coming from an emotional place, and you can just let it wash over you like water off a duck’s back. Otherwise, such negativity can end up damaging your game, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid.