Athlete First. Kicker Second.

 

For this post I want to look at strength development from two different perspectives; firstly, the importance of developing overall strength in order to become a complete athlete, and secondly, a closer look at the specific strength requirements for kicking.

With general athletic conditioning it’s important to note there is a strong relationship between strength and flexibility, and that they must be developed together in order to maximise strength capacities, increase joint range of motion, and reduce the chance of injury. For example if you exhibit circus-like flexibility but lack the necessary strength to control the body and its limbs throughout the entire range of motion, you may find yourself in a potentially high risk situation and prone to various tears, pulls and other associated injuries.

Balance, in every sense of the word is key to athletic success. For sports and skills that are very one dimensional in nature and require large repetitions of the same movement, there is a high possibility that a muscular imbalance will be created. For example throwing or racquet sports (one need look no further than almost every professional tennis player) and of-course kicking sports.

To combat this it is critical that conditioning work is done to ensure imbalances don’t develop, or in the least become out of hand. This means performing exercises that oppose the repetitive action you are doing, e.g. a large amount of posterior training for kickers to strengthen the Glutes, Lower back and Hamstrings, and for a throwing or pushing sport, concentrating on pulling exercises that strengthen the shoulders, upper back and posterior chains.

Some general guidelines I like to follow when both performing and prescribing general strength exercises are to ensure that they are functional, meaning they incorporate multi-joint, multi-planer movements that reflect both athletic and everyday movement patterns. Movements are done through a full range of motion; muscles are not trained in isolation (the body never works in isolation) or through pre-guided motions such as the machine-based training common in traditional gym settings.

There are many short-comings with traditional gym based fitness training. Below is a table that outlines some benefits to functional training. ¹

Functional	Benefits	Traditional fitness
ü	Improves movement skill and athleticism.
ü	Increases balance, proprioception and kinesthetic awareness.
ü	Can be properly modified to become sport specific in nature.
ü	Increases muscle strength and size	ü
ü	Requires little to no expensive equipment
ü	Has ability to expose structural, unilateral and biomechanical weakness or dysfunction.
ü	Can be performed virtually anywhere

Some great examples of exercises to improve overall strength are.

A variety of squatting exercises (Olympic lifts and its progressions if available)

A variety of lunging exercises
                - Walking lunge
                - Lunge w/twist
                - Overhead lunge
                - Side lunge
                - Lunge combo’s
                - Lunge isometric holds

A variety of pushing / pulling exercises

                - Press ups w/variations
                - Swiss ball variations
                - Throws
                - Horizontal pulls w/variations
                - Standing pulls w/variations

A variety of med ball exercises
                - Explosive throws
                - Vertical and diagonal chops
                - Standing rotations
                - Chest and overhead throws w/variations

Other exercises include…

                - Crawls w/variations
                - Walkouts w/variations
                - Circuit training (combining a sequence of exercises together)

Please note. You will be best served to consult with a trained professional before undertaking some of the exercises mentioned above as they are potentially harmful if performed incorrectly, and remember, it’s important to perform all exercises with proper technique appropriate to your level of ability.

With a closer look at kicking we can see that the dominant action is an explosive flexion of the hip at the side of the kicking leg in order to generate leg swing speed. The primary muscles involved in this are the anterior (front) muscles of the hip. Due to constant repetition these muscles adapt to meet the demands placed upon them by becoming stronger and often tighter. The opposing muscle group, in this case the posterior (rear) muscles of the hip, namely the Gluteal’s and Hamstrings, often become weaker creating an imbalance between the two muscle groups and an increased potential for injury.

So… as mentioned above to combat this it is crucial that kickers concentrate on strengthening their posterior muscles, and lengthening the anterior muscles of the hip.

Secondly, the power you generate when kicking originates from your core. The core or pillar includes the lumbar spine, pelvic-hip region and core/abdominal region. It is critical this area is properly developed and strengthened (and I don’t mean by performing a hundred sit-ups a day!) to ensure the core region, especially the lower back, is appropriately stabilized during such an explosive action.

A stronger athlete essentially has more power potential, so strength development of the core and legs will enable you to produce a more powerful explosion onto the ball and achieve greater height and distance on your kicks.

Remember this is only a very small snippet of information regarding strength training and that the realm of strength and conditioning is vast. I encourage you to go out and further educate yourself in this area as you have chosen to do here and enjoy the many benefits of being a well conditioned athlete.

Happy kicking!

1. Grasso, B. (2003). Complete Functional Conditioning.Illionis: Brian Grasso.