This article was taken from the Premier Soccer-Site Champions Soccer Training.com
Soccer Muscles are those muscles primarily emphasized in Soccer.
They are also called the “Prime-Movers” of the sport.
Here we take a closer look at which ones they are, how to train them and what to watch out for.
1.Hamstrings
The hamstrings are a fast-twitch dominant muscle group that’s very important for sprinting, jumping and kicking.It is one of the Prime-Movers in the sport of Soccer; one of the most important soccer muscles.
Since these three muscles(semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris) are fast-twitch dominant, they are –on average- trained with lower reps and higher intensities.(heavier weight)
The general rule is up to about 8 reps(depending on tempo used) or something like 40 seconds TUT(time under tension) per set in isolation-exercises like Leg-Curls.
Also an X-Tempo(explosive lifting on the concentric, or positive, lifting phase)is usually employed.
In a Hip-Extension exercises like Romanian Deadlifts(stiff-legged deadlifts)the reps can go up somewhat, like up to around 10-12 or so.
It is quite important to keep the hamstring group flexible(like all structures, really)and to always stay well hydrated and keep magnesium as well as potassium and natrium/sodium levels up to scratch.
One theory says that hamstring-pulls and even –tears come about when cramping whilst sprinting, jumping or kicking.
It stands to reason: A cramp is a violent super-hard contraction of the muscle. If that muscle is stretched really fast and hard in the opposite direction at THE VERY SAME MOMENT, one can just about imagine some damage taking place.
That fast stretch is exactly what’s happening in the eccentric contraction of the hams in a sprint, for example.
So: Super-hard pulling together coupled with super-hard pulling apart simultaneously can create problems for sure!
What do we take away from this?
It seems definitely a good thing to keep the hamstrings well strength-conditioned, very flexible, as well as making sure of adequate hydration and mineral-levels to prevent cramping.
2. Groin(Adductors)
The “Groin” is another biggie in soccer, especially because of frequent injuries to this area. It is important to point out that often times “groin-pulls” have nothing to do with the adductors muscle-group:
Commonly, “Groin-Pulls” are actually injuries to the Psoas, the major hip-flexor. Also, the Sartorius is often involved with problems in this area. The Sartorius is another soccer-muscle.
As far as the adductors themselves, they are a very big and versatile group of soccer prime-movers.
Here’s what they do: they adduct the leg, so bring the legs together, or “closer to the midline of the body”.
An obvious example would be “crosses” in soccer. But that’s not all they do! The front-part of the adductors helps with hip-flexion and the rear-part with hip-extension!
So these muscles are very important in soccer, the play a great role in all kinds of kicking, running and jumping.
The most important thing here is to keep them flexible with adequate stretching, especially dynamically and also statically.
Then they should be strengthened properly: split-squats and squats as well as deadlifts and the Olympic-lifts and –pulls take care of this.
3.The Calf
The Ankle-Complex, or simply the calf, is usually a bit over-rated.
For example these muscles’ involvement in the Vertical Jump is only about 25% or so!
The main thing here is stability of the ankle, mostly in a prehabilitory way: all ankle-stabilizers are situated in the calf/lower leg.
Below, some simple guidelines on how to condition them:
A: Standing Calf-Raises:
Fewer reps with heavier weights, eg: 8-15 reps depending on tempo for multiple sets.
Example: 5x 10-15, 90-120 seconds rest.
B: Seated Calf-Raises:
Higher reps with a relatively lighter weight, eg: 20-25, up to 50 reps even.
Example: 3x 25, 60-90 seconds rest.
C: Farmers’ Walks:(walking with two weights, one held in each hand), barefoot on a soft surface like grass are supposedly great to strengthen the stabilizers.
Example: 2x 100 meters, rest 120 seconds.
Calfs are usually trained at the end of the Lower Body Workout(if at all: many times they are not even worked directly as they’re not all that important)
One more important point: when injured, as in a ankle sprain, it’s essential to treat the stabilizers, too.
That’s because they are generally injured in a “twisted ankle”.Mostly the ligaments are addressed and the stabilizers are forgotten, but they are almost always involved.
Neglecting this results in what is called an “Unstable Ankle”, that commonly gets re-injured short before long. This is quite easily fixed by rehabilitating both ligaments as well as ankle stabilizers.
The Ankle-Stabilizers are: the Peronei, the Flexor Hallucis Longus, Tibialis-Anterior and -Posterior as well as Gastrocnemius and Soleus.
4.The Lower Back – A Major Problem Area!
Most individuals, including athletes, will develop lower back pain at some point in their life.
These problems are mainly caused by two things:
1.The area is not strengthened adequately, so the lower back is weak, and/or
2.Imbalances/Tightness in some of the major structures of the hip.
9 out of 10 of all lower back cases can actually be remedied quite easily and quickly, simply by fixing these two.Let’s take a closer look at how exactly to achieve that…
1.Strength
For adequate strengthening of the lower back, please refer to the exercise library and the training and program sections.(find the links just at the bottom right there)
Eccentric- and other Back-Extensions as well as the Snatch-Pull and RDL’s are good places to start.
2.The 5 main-structures of the hip, all of them “Soccer Muscles”, aka the “Big Five”:
1.Psoas
2.Piriformis
3.Adductors
4.Hamstrings(especially medial)
5.Quads(especially the Rec-Fem)
These 5 should be treated with deep massage/soft-tissue manipulation/fascial release, most important though, especially in the hip, are appropriate stretches.There is quite possibly no area where adequate flexibility is more important than in the lower body, especially the hip.
Provided you regularly stretch the “Big Five” as outlined above and make sure to strengthen the lower back area properly, you might never even develop a problem there.
That’s the intelligent, the “Prehab” approach.Should an injury/problem occur anyways, this can usually be remedied very effectively by following those same steps:
Treat
Stretch
Strengthen.
Good Luck !;-)
5.The PsoasComing up soon !;-)
This article was taken from the Premier Soccer-Site Champions Soccer Training.com
