Question about simple weight training for football

Morpheus

Hi guys,

I soccer train twice a week, play amateur soccer (60 - 90 mins) once a week and run once a week (35 - 60 mins) at a medium intensity.

My general fitness is good. I dont tire easily however my upper body strength isnt great.

last month i started doing pressups and situps every night.

3 sets of 15 of each

im now up to 3 sets of 25 pressups and 3 sets of 25 situps.

Ive done weight training with dumb bells once before in a gym but not since.

I decided to buy dumbells to help build up my upper body strength and get some definition on my upper arms and chest.

I bought a set of York 15kg dumb bell weights and can buy extra weights as I improve.

i bought these as they were only 21 euro so if i dont stick with it, im not out of pocket like some people with home gyms that they never use.

At the minute im doing 3Kg on the dumbells and hoping to move to 5Kg in the next week.

im doing 5 of the exercises on the chart that I recieved with the weights and im doing sets of 15 lifts of each exercise which is challenging enough.


my question is about progressing,

do I first increase the number of lifts,

or do i increase the number of sets

or do i increase the weights

3Kg may seem small, but as ive never really lifted for a significant length of time on a regular basis before, im finding it hard enough.

I do the lifts at a slow enough pace, i dont just hammer through them as ive been told that slow and controlled both up and back to starting position is the best and safest way to lift.


Any advice is appreciated.

Sangre

If you want increased strength for football work on your core strength. Isolated upper body won't do much, when do you ever actually push someone with your arms off the ball? If you want to be hard to push off the ball or you want to be able to push someone off legally look to working your core strength i.e squats, deadlifts and the bench.

tribulus

Power the lifts up! Get the bar moving as fast as you can on the concentric (up) phase, slow and controlled is fine for the eccentric (down) phase.

Your body progresses by making it do more work.

As you said you can do more work by increasing the load, increasing the volume(more sets/reps), increasing the density(more "work" done in a shorter period of time i.e less rest time), increased frequency etc.

Easiest thing to do would just be to pick a weight you can do 3 x 8 with (3sets x 8reps). The last set should be tough, near to failure.

Next week add more weight and go for the same. If you can't manage that then pick another way, try for 3 x 10 or make it 4 x 8.

For strength I prefer keeping it simple, try to add on more weight however small each week or else add another set. No need to overthink things.

Hanley

tribulus wrote:

No need to overthink things.

I am so proud of you!!

Morpheus

My leg strength is quite good as it is,

maybe the thread title isnt correct,

yes i want to improve my over all strength for soccer but im particularly interested in increasing my upper body strength arms, chest, shoulders as its something i use in my "other hobby".

My arms arent small and im strong enough but i would like to build up some muscle definition in those areas, not a huge amount but its something that ive wanted to do for a while and it will add to my confidence.

I like the idea of squats with weights, i do a lot of lunges and squats at training, might be interesting to add some of these exercises to my regime with weights now too.

should i do the weights every night of the week (bar soccer training nights)?

Colm_OReilly

Morpheus

I'd avoid the exercises on those york posters - they're god awful.

Shoulder Presses & Bench Presses will help you a lot more.

If you're interested in strength, do sets of 3-5 reps for 3-7 sets. Keep the rest to about 2 minutes.

If you're interested in hypertrophy (growth) - do sets of 8-12 with about 45 seconds rest.

You'll still grow with strength training.

If you can, buy a pull up bar in argos or arnotts - about €15 and well worth the investment. Do dips off a chair and you'll have a routine that's starting to get more and more beneficial.

Colm

Morpheus

Confused:

Is that do one set of 3 - 5 reps and then take a break and then start and do another set of 3 - 5 reps and then take a break and so on

or

is it in one go, do 3 - 7 sets of 3 - 5 reps and THEN take a break and then do another 3 - 7 sets of 3 - 5 reps and so on?

I am interested in strength AND growth.

Colm_OReilly

Dude,

Apologies for any confusion

Warm up with a very light weight - one you think you could lift all day - do about 10 reps or so just to get the form down and blood pumping.

Pick a weight that you could comfortably do 5 reps. Do the reps. Rest about 2 minutes

Up the weight a bit, do 5 more reps. Rest about 2 minutes

Up the weight a bit, do 5 more reps. Rest about 2 minutes.

If you can (without really struggling/getting crap form) up the weight some more, do 5 reps. Rest about 2 minutes.

Last set. Now go on to another exercise.

You should really only be doing a few (3/4) exercises per workout, and aim to work out the whole body each workout. I know you're interested in upper body work but squats (front, back and overhead) and deadlifts will strengthen the core - which is imperative to the productive application of force from your upper body.

You can follow the same formula as above for sets of 3 reps or sets of 7 reps. I'd advise you focus on strength and the growth will occur.

Hope this clears it up,
Colm
-Crossfit Ireland