Strength Training for Footballers: What to Do in the Gym During the Season
In-season strength plan for footballers: priority exercises, where gym work fits in the microcycle, injury prevention and the mistakes to avoid.
Written by
João Araújo
Physical Education Teacher (FADEUP – University of Porto) · Futsal Coach – Level II · UEFA B License · Master’s in Physical Education
15 years teaching Physical Education in schools, 20 years coaching futsal at youth development level and 5 years coaching football. Federated and amateur football and futsal player.
Two 25-minute strength sessions a week measurably reduce a footballer’s risk of muscle injury, and most amateur squads do none. Fear of “getting heavy”, lack of time and the idea that strength is a pre-season job keep the gym empty all season. The result shows up in weeks 10 to 20: torn hamstrings, inflamed adductors and sprint speed on the slide.
Strength underpins almost everything that happens in a match: the sprint, the strike, the duel, the deceleration. And contrary to the myth, well-periodised strength work doesn’t steal freshness, it protects it.
Why In-Season Strength Is a Different Challenge
In pre-season there’s time, and heavy legs don’t cost points. During the season, every gym session competes with recovery from the last match and preparation for the next. The guiding principle changes: in-season, the goal is to maintain and protect, not to maximise. The good news from training science: strength already built is retained with very low doses, one or two quality exposures a week are enough.
The second principle is preventive specificity: football’s muscle injuries cluster in the hamstrings, adductors, quadriceps and calves, almost always in eccentric actions (braking, changing direction, sprinting). Eccentric work, the Nordic hamstring curl, the Copenhagen adduction protocol, is the cheapest insurance policy in football.
The Plan: Weekly Strength in Two 25-Minute Blocks
| Day | Block | Content | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| MD-4 | Foundation strength | Squat/deadlift + push/pull + core | 25-30 min |
| MD-3 | Preventive strength | Nordics + Copenhagen + eccentric calves + jumps | 20-25 min |
| MD-2 / MD-1 | , | No strength (light activation only if habitual) | , |
Step 1: Foundation Block (MD-4)
After pitch training or as a separate session. A simple four-exercise structure: one knee-dominant lift (barbell or Bulgarian split squat), one hip-dominant lift (Romanian deadlift), one upper-body push or pull (alternate weekly) and one anti-rotation core exercise (Pallof press, loaded plank). Three to four sets of 4-6 reps, with loads that allow fast execution, football needs rapid force, not bodybuilder hypertrophy.
Step 2: Preventive Block (MD-3)
The non-negotiable block. Nordic hamstring curls (3 sets of 4-6 with progressive range), Copenhagen adductions (3x8 per side), eccentric calf lowers off a step (3x10) and one reactive-strength exercise (countermovement jumps or low plyometrics). This block fits in 20 minutes and does more than anything else to cut days lost to injury across a season.
Step 3: Adjust to the Fixture Calendar
Normal week: both blocks in full. Double-game week: keep only a reduced preventive block (Nordics + Copenhagen, 2 sets) between matches. Free weekend: the window to push load in the foundation block, the only time in-season to chase gains.
The Most Common In-Season Gym Mistakes
- Lifting on MD-1 or MD-2: delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) from eccentric work lasts 48-72 hours; Nordics on Friday sabotage Sunday
- Copying bodybuilding plans: 4 sets of 12 to failure build muscle volume and fatigue, not force that transfers to the game
- Dropping the gym when results dip: cutting strength work to “focus on the pitch” is the decision the data contradicts most: strength falls, injuries rise, the problem compounds
- One plan for everyone: the 19-year-old winger and the 34-year-old centre-back have different needs; at minimum, adjust volume by age and injury history
- Skipping eccentric work because “it hurts”: adapting to Nordics demands gradual progression, but removing them removes precisely the protective stimulus
🔧 Useful Tool
Strength work only protects if it happens every week, in the right slot of the microcycle. With the SportsLabTools Planning tool you can build the gym blocks into the team’s weekly plan and make sure strength never falls off the agenda.
Selling Strength to the Squad
Amateur players skip the gym when they can’t see the return. Translate the work into game language: the Nordic isn’t a “hamstring exercise”, it’s “what lets you make that 90th-minute sprint without tearing”. Show the squad’s numbers (days lost to muscle injury before and after) and the preventive block turns from chore into dressing-room routine.
Also read: Injury Prevention in Football Pre-Season: A Protocol for the First Weeks, how to build the strength base before the season starts.
Checklist: In-Season Strength
- Two weekly blocks scheduled (foundation on MD-4, preventive on MD-3)
- Nordic hamstring curls with logged progression
- Copenhagen adduction protocol in place
- Loads lifted with speed intent, not to muscular failure
- Reduced version defined for double-game weeks
- Volume adjusted by age and injury history
- Zero heavy eccentric work on MD-1 and MD-2
Conclusion
A squad that reaches April with its muscles intact wasn’t lucky, it did Nordics in November. In-season strength training doesn’t demand hours in the gym or elite equipment: it demands 50 weekly minutes, positioned correctly in the microcycle and executed without exceptions. It’s a deliberate technical decision, and it’s within reach of any club.
Slot strength into this week’s microcycle. Use the SportsLabTools Planning tool to schedule the gym blocks and keep the consistency going all season.
Optional accelerator · the tool is always free
Start the season with the whole year already planned
Macrocycle, monthly mesocycles and weekly microcycles with the real season dates, sessions categorised by focus and technical-tactical blocks, and exercises with animated diagrams. From U11 to Seniors, 1 to 5 sessions per week.