Strength Training for Goalkeepers - NASL.com - The Best source for soccer coaches in the world

[templates/side_map_blue.htm]		and

		Strength Training For Goalkeepers (15 Great Exercises)
		Edition 15
		Welcome to the much anticipated (or at least long promised) Goalkeeping newsletter on Strength Training. The first thing I want to do is thank David and Sara from Innovative Fitness in Charleston WV for their help in designing this program. I asked them to help put together a fitness program to increase strength designed specifically for keepers who don’t have access to a weight room or can’t get into a weight room on a regular basis. Today’s program is more of a general workout program and next week I will put out a more specific program geared toward keepers in particular. The great thing is the only pieces of equipment necessary are three small pieces of tubing. Each of the exercises, which utilize the tubing, should be done as 3 sets of 15 reps to start. There is a tendency to start off doing too much since there aren’t any weights involved with this but realize this is resistance work so it is as effective as if you were working with weights. Also realize the technique must be done correctly for this to be effective. I will recommend the color tubing to use when doing each exercise. Please understand, if you are using a different type of tubing that yellow is the easiest, green is medium and red is the hardest. Finally, make sure you go through a solid warm-up before beginning. STANDING INCLINE PRESS First we will start with the Standing Incline Press. This should be first attempted using the green tube. Stand in a narrow staggered lunge position (one foot in front of the other). Place tubing under arch of rear foot and soften both knees. Grasp handles with overhand grip. Abduct the arms 30-45% away from torso in a knuckles up position. Elbows and wrist should be in alignment. There should be no tension in upper trapezius. With firm wrists, press forward, up and together finishing in a thumbs together position at eye level. STANDING FLY Next do a Standing Fly. (Red tube) Stand in a narrow staggered lunge position. Place tubing under the arch of rear foot and soften both knees. Grasp handles with an underhand grip. Place outside of hands on hipbones with hands facing up. Keep elbows bent throughout entire exercise with wrists firm. Raise arms up and together. Squeeze pectorals by touching forearms together at mid-chest height. Palms of hands end facing head at eye level. Upper and lower arms form 90-degree angles. STANDING LATERAL RAISES Next will be the Standing Lateral Raises. (Yellow tube) Stand in a staggered, narrow or wide stance. Place tubing under arch of front foot and soften knees. Grasp handles; maintain a slight bend in elbows and position arms straight down from shoulders with thumbs pointing forward. With firm wrists, lift arms up and away from sides of body. Progressively rotate shoulders back as elbows rise to should height. Finish with thumbs up and palms facing forward, elbows soft and in alignment with shoulder joint. Hands just in front of ears. STANDING OVERHEAD PRESS UP Next is the Standing Overhead Press Up. (Green tube) Stand in a narrow, staggered lunge stance. Place tubing under arch of rear foot and soften both knees. Grasp handles and raise elbows directly over shoulders with palms facing each other and thumbs pointing down. With firm wrists, press up and progressively pronate forearms, straitening arms fully. End with hands directly over shoulders and palm facing forward with knuckles facing ceiling. SEATED REVERSE GRIP ROW Next is the Seated Reverse Grip Row. (Red tube) Sit with knees comfortable bent, center tubing under middle of both feet. Grasp tubing in between both feet and pull toward you to create a loop. Place loop back over feet. Keep feet together for less resistance and apart for more. Grasp handles and sit upright, keeping a natural arch in lower back. Extend arms fully in a palms up position. Lead with elbows, driving them back behind body until inside of wrist contacts lower rib cage. Finish with chest expanded, wrists firm shoulder blades pulled back and together. SEATED ARM CURLS Next is the Seated Arm Curls. (Red tube) Sit with knees comfortably bent and center tubing under middle of both feet. Grasp tubing in between both feet and pull toward you to create a loop. Place loop over both feet. Grasp handles with thumbs up and sit upright. Keep feet together for less resistance and apart for more resistance. Bend and flare elbows, turn palms toward chest while curling fully. End with palms of hands in contact with lower chest and knuckles facing each other. STANDING OVERHEAD PRESS UP Next is the standing Overhead Press Up. (Yellow tube) Stand in a narrow, staggered lunge stance. Place tubing under arch of rear foot and soften both knees. Grasp handles and raise elbows directly over shoulders with palms facing each other and thumbs pointing down. With firm wrists, press up and progressively pronate forearms, straightening arms fully. End with hands directly over shoulders and palms facing forward with knuckles facing ceiling. BACK SQUAT Next is the back Squat. (Red tube) Position feet in a moderate stance with big toes directly under hips and toes out slightly (20-30 degrees if external hip rotation). Place tubing under arches of both feet. Grasp handles and raise hands to shoulder length. Keep head over hips and focus eyes slightly higher than head. Keep chest expanded and shoulder blades squeezed together. Bend knees, tilt pelvis and maintain a natural arch in lower back. Sit back until upper legs are just above parallel in relation to floor. Keep heels down with body weight over ankles. Middle of kneecaps aligns with last two toes at bottom of squat and naturally move inward over big toes as legs are strengthened. BENT TRAIL LEG LUNGE Next is the Bent Trail Leg Lunge. (Red tube) Stand in a narrow staggered lunge walk and place tubing under arch of the front foot. Grasp handles and raise hands to shoulder height. Take a drop step with other leg and land on ball of foot. Bend knees and descend to forma a 90-degree angle with upper and lower position of each leg. The kneecap of lead leg should be approximately over the last shoelace. Keep heel down and weight distributed evenly through front foot. Heel of trail leg is up off floor and ball of foot is in contact with floor. Keep head over hips and eyes focused directly forward. Keep chest expanded and shoulder blades squeezed together. Return to start position and repeat drop step. ABDOMEN CRUNCHES Next we work on the abdomen. As a start do 15 reps in each set (3 sets). Start with standard crunches. Then go to knees up (lying on the back with the knees to the chest. Next are legs straight up over the abdomen. Finally try legs up and as you go up your legs go down and wide. In each of these, you don’t have to go up very far but one of the keys is to raise your chin up and not forward. LEG LIFTS Finally we work on the back. Lie on your stomach and with your arms out in front of you. Lift your legs up and hold for a count of 5. Then lower back down and rest. After these sets, do front lifts where your legs stay down and you raise your upper body. Finally, conclude with superman who is when you raise both your legs as well as your upper body and hold for a count of 5. After doing these exercises, make sure you get a nice long stretch. This is one of the most important times to stretch, as it will actually influence your flexibility and dexterity. If you combine this program with the conditioning program listed at http://goalkeeping.hypermart.net.cond1.htm , I honestly feel you will be almost in shape to be a soccer player. All you have to do after this is play the games and train hard and you will be prepared. This newsletter has been much different then my normal ones but I really do believe this type of workout can help all keepers prepare for the next level. If you have any comments or questions email me at comments@finesoccer.com . The descriptions of the exercise are from The complete Guide to Rubberized Resistance Exercises. For those people attending my keeper camp in Atlanta, we will go over this in great detail, for those of you who might be in the Atlanta area, and would like to see this, just contact me and we can set up a time when I’m in town for camp. Lawrence
		We would like to thank Lawrence Fine and FineSoccer.com for allowing us to publish this article on the NASL website. Please visit http://www.FineSoccer.com and sign up for Lawrence's free coaching newsletters and articles.


Created: 12/20/99 Last Updated: 08/19/03 Since February 24, 1999 FastCounter by LinkExchange		Web Administrator Ken Gamble
		[templates/bottom_links.htm]