Strength Training for Team Sport Athletes (In and Off Season)
Updated
Short answer
Team-sport players (football, rugby, netball, basketball, hockey and similar) benefit from two to three strength sessions a week in the off season and pre-season, then one to two shorter sessions a week in season to maintain what they built. Research in professional footballers found one session a week kept strength and sprint speed for 12 weeks, while one session every second week did not.
What to train
- Lower body: a squat pattern, a hinge (Romanian deadlift or trap-bar deadlift) and single-leg work such as split squats.
- Upper body: a push and a pull, horizontal and vertical.
- Power: jumps, bounds or medicine-ball throws, kept low in volume and done fresh.
- Trunk and carries: planks, side planks, loaded carries.
- Injury-prone areas for your sport: for example hamstring work for sprinting sports.
Off season versus in season
| Phase | Sessions a week | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Off season | 2–3 | Build strength and muscle: more sets, steady progression |
| Pre-season | 2 | Strength and power as sport training ramps up |
| In season | 1–2 | Maintain: fewer sets, keep loads fairly heavy, short sessions |
A review of the minimum dose needed to maintain performance found that one strength session a week was enough to maintain maximal strength for 8 to 32 weeks, as long as the intensity stayed up.
Sample in-season session (about 40 minutes)
- Warm-up and 3 sets of 3 jumps (box jumps or broad jumps).
- Trap-bar deadlift or squat: 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps, leaving 2 to 3 reps in reserve.
- Dumbbell bench press or push-ups: 3 sets of 6 to 8.
- Rows or pull-ups: 3 sets of 6 to 8.
- Split squats: 2 sets of 6 each leg.
- Side plank: 2 × 30 seconds each side.
Frequently asked questions
Will lifting make me slower?
Not when it is planned well. In footballers, strength training improved jumping and sprint acceleration, and in-season maintenance kept sprint speed from dropping.
How heavy should in-season sessions be?
Fewer sets, but keep the weights fairly heavy. The research on maintaining strength found that intensity, not volume, is what needs to stay up.
Sources
- Rønnestad et al. (2011). Effects of in-season strength maintenance training frequency in professional soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 25(10)
- Spiering et al. (2021). Maintaining physical performance: the minimal dose of exercise needed to preserve endurance and strength over time. J Strength Cond Res 35(5)
- Lauersen, Bertelsen & Andersen (2014). The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Br J Sports Med 48(11)
- American College of Sports Medicine (2009). Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(3)