Welcome to Football Training 101 - An introductory course into all things football and football training.
When I say basics, I don't mean boring...I mean basics as in, "if you skip this stuff, you'll fail."
But, some of you will notice that I often write football training articles for the intermediate or advanced player. So, why the need for Football Training 101? Why not more advanced courses? Well....
I'm a pretty peaceful guy when I'm not on the field or in the weight room. I'm actually a Buddhist and am about as non-violent as one can get. But....sometimes I read things that make me want to punch a hole through an oak tree.
Like what, you ask? Good question.
Yesterday I was reading through a weight training forum and one of the sections covers football training.
One of the guys there asked the following simple question:
"What should I eat while in Football training camp? We usually do 3-a-days."
That's actually a great question. Some of the answers he got, however, were total bullshit. Mostly the replies were from other players with user names like "Football_killer" or "Hit-master_flex69."
The answer that got me crazy listed some of the following foods:
o Granola Bars
o Sandwhiches
o Sun Chips
What. The. Hell.
...At what point did eating friggin Sun Chips (these are potato chips for those who don't know) become part of a diet that would fuel your intense football training workouts?
And, now we are talking football training camp! This isn't just some workout where you can just crash right after and have 20hrs to rest.
No.
You have to drag your rear out of bed 90mins later and go practice again. In the heat. In the humidity. In full pads. With 40 guys who want nothing more than to take your pretty little head off to impress the coaches.
Eating garbage will cause you to play like garbage. And, with each increase in playing ability, comes the need for even better nutrition. If you think just because you survived your freshman football season eating sun chips that you'll do the same your senior year...or, worse yet, during college football training camp, you're in for a huge suprise.
You are going to go through hell in football camp.
o Usually 3 practices per day.
o Some conditioning workouts.
o And, if you're lucky only a few strength training workouts.
o Oh, and film sessions, scrimmages, fighting for your job, working in sweltering summer heat, and sleeping on either a crappy air mattress or on some horrible bunk bed.
You need to give your body the proper fuel to not only survive but thrive at camp. You need to focus your meals on these:
Protein Foods:
o Eggs
o Chicken
o Fish (salmon, tuna, and herring are the easiest)
o Beef
o Pork
o Protein powders (excellent for after practice or weight training workouts, and right before bed
Clean Carbs:
o Oatmeal
o Yams
o Fruit (high water and potassium content will help fight dehydration)
o Vegetables (same benifits as fruit, plus fiber, vitamins and minerals)
o Healthy fats like fish oil and olive oil (to prevent inflammation cause by the intense football practices and workouts
o Water - at LEAST 1.5 gallons per day. Unless you want cramps to send you to the bench crying,
I suggest you drink as much water as you can. Yes, even if you "hate water" you have to drink it.
Notice I left out bread! It's just sugar in loaf form. Bread and pasta will not give you some kind of super energy. They'll just leave your blood sugar crashing all over the place!
Everything Else:
o Sea Salt (add a pinch to your water jug. A PINCH! Any more and you'll throw up)
o Vitamin and mineral supplement.
Focus on these foods, eat at least 5 times per day and drink water like it's your job! Stretch between sessions and for God's sake, go to sleep in your down time. If I can give you guys one tip that will guarantee you success it's that.
I was far from a gifted athlete. At my first camp I was 12 and playing with the varsity. One of the best players on the team gave me a piece of advice that I never forgot. Someone commented that he was as good as he was because he was gifted. But, he told me differently:
"See, when these fools are running around, playing games, talking shit between practices, I go to sleep. By day 3, they are out of gas and I look like a machine. It's because they've lost a ton of sleep and I'm rested. That's why I'm good...I work like an animal, then sleep like one."
The next season I was fighting for a starting job. Guess what I did right after each practice...yup, slept as much as a possible could. The guys I was going against were out fooling around. Guess who started that year and every year after?
To get Free Football Training Reports please visit Explosive Football Training and Explosive Football Training Program.
Steven Morris is a Personal Trainer and Strength Coach in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas and owner of Explosive Football Training. He has been lifting weights for over 15 years and has been helping people achieve their fitness and strength goals for over a decade.
