[ Football ]
Fact is, with Athletic Republic’s help you can train your body to be faster on the football field. Our football speed-training program focuses on improving your speed and fundamental movement skills, on developing your explosive power to deliver a blow or gain that first step, and to be in condition to perform as well in the fourth quarter as you do in the first.
"Acceleration Training allows me to be able to get to things [running backs, quarterbacks, and receivers] quicker, to be more effective."
– Paris Lenon, Detroit Lions Linebacker
Athletic Republic gives you a crucial competitive advantage. Our proprietary equipment helps our trainers create an environment that gets you further, faster. “Our Super Treadmill is a proven training tool that safely takes the athlete beyond what they can do on the ground,” says Athletic Republic’s Chief Science and Technology Officer Steve Swanson. “The feedback provided verbally by our certified trainers, and visually through mirrors and video, contributes to an improved stride and greater running efficiency in just a few weeks.”
More than 500 NFL players, like Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden, have relied on Athletic Republic and its trainers to manage their workouts, hone their running mechanics and improve their speed.
Athletic Republic provides technology and training support for the U.S. Army All-American teams as well as testing technology used in the combine for the top 500 underclassmen in the country. We also provide training and pre-camp assessment for Football University’s invitation-only mini-camps. If you want to develop the explosive speed and power required to separate from the pack or run over opponents in each quarter of the game, talk to us. From Pop Warner to the pros, we elevate your game to the next level.
The structure of an individual’s football-training program starts with the athlete’s physical development. Football training for pre-pubescent athletes focuses on developing coordination, agility and speed since muscle mass develops later in a young athlete’s life. The foundation of any sound athlete development program includes mastery of fundamental movement skills. The chart above shows how the amount of training time spent on movement skills is much greater for younger athletes, and as the athletes mature and the level of competition increases, training focuses more on the development of power/strength and efficiency. Professional players spend the largest portion of time on power/strength development, but still spend time working on movement skills and efficiency.
All our training programs are designed to be position-specific, as the physical demands of playing wide receiver versus offensive tackle are very different. No matter the level of competition, our programs are designed to give serious football players an advantage on the field - to create separation or create a gap to make plays - and do it as well in the fourth quarter as in the first.
Football is a game of strength, fast feet, quick reactions and enormous power. Whether it’s staying centered on the balls of your feet to block a defensive lineman from sacking your quarterback or sprinting downfield at full speed to catch a pass, every football player can benefit from being in the best possible shape. The AR Norwood Acceleration program is perfect for the football player who wants to work on skills with his team but speed and quickness off the field. Let AR Norwood help you take your sport to the next level.
With the Acceleration program, the average athlete will see a 2-4 inch increase in vertical jump, a decrease of 0.2 seconds in a 40-yard sprint, 33% improvement in foot speed and a 50% reduction in recovery rates.
Below is a detailed overview of our Football-based programs and their objectives:
Objectives
- Improve running biomechanics
- Increase explosive power
- Increase stride length/stride frequency
- Increase maximum sprint speed
- Increase anaerobic tolerance
- Improve foot speed/agility
- Improve eye-hand coordination
- Enhance posture/body positioning
- Improve overall strength to reduce the risk of joint and tendon injuries
Components of Football Training
- Dynamic Warm-up/Cool-down
- Speed Training
- Strength Training
- Cardiovascular/Endurance Training
- Plyometric Training
- Flexibility, Dynamic Balance and Agility Training
- Core Stabilization Training
Dynamic Warm-up/Cool-down
- Dynamic warm-up consists of activities to increase heart rate, blood flow, muscle temperature, and breathing rate. Warming up allows muscles to stretch more easily and joints to move more easily, thereby preventing pulling muscles, most commonly hamstring and quadriceps. Our warm-up also focuses on agility, speed development, and flexibility.
- Cooling down ensures athletes relax their muscles and reduce next-day soreness.
Speed Training
- Players run on Athletic Republic Generation II Super Treadmills. These treadmills can reach speeds of 28 miles an hour and an incline grade of 40 degrees.
- Players are taught proper running mechanics at high speeds. Stride efficiency and power make a faster, quicker runner.
- Players also learn visually by seeing themselves in a mirror and by using Dartfish video motion analysis —something they cannot get on the field.
Strength Training
- Football players need functional strength to throw farther, defend better, and catch more easily. A sound weight-training program promotes stability and reduces the risk of injury.
- Players utilize resistance bands, free-weights, medicine balls, and physio-balls to strengthen muscles, joints, and connective tissues.
- The exercises are biomechanically specific to on-field skills including muscle movements used in blocking, running and defending pass routes.
Cardiovascular/Endurance Training
- Cardiovascular and endurance training at AR Norwood includes short interval/high intensity sprinting sequences on our Generation II Super Treadmills<. By using the same energy systems and tactical movements utilized in football games, athletes become fitter and faster.
Plyometric Training
- Plyometric training is an effective form of power training ideally suited to football. Players perform specific plyometric drills for increased motor performance (coordination), explosive power, vertical jump height, lateral power and rotation, and landing strength.
- Plyometric training combines elements of both speed and strength in single movement patterns that include the Athletic Republic PlyoPress, cord technology, longitudinal and vertical jumps, box jumps, and medicine ball drills for upper body and middle body torso power.
Flexibility
- Football-specific flexibility exercises include static stretching, isometric stretching, and active isolated stretching (AIS). Improved flexibility helps to prevent injuries by assuring the muscles and tendons work together properly. It also makes the muscles more elastic for increased lower body explosiveness.
Dynamic Balance
- Football is a game where player’s center of gravity and body control are incredibly important. Athletes perform a series of balance-specific exercises to strengthen their stabilizing muscles and allow for better muscular synergy and joint control.
- Training routines include unstable and stable lifts, dynamic balance movements with the Bosu ball and a variety of off-balance training aids.
Agility
- Agility is the ability to change speed and direction while maintaining effective control of the body. In order to improve agility, athletes learn a variety of agility drills, including advanced ground-based agility patterns and use of a speed ladder.
- Ground-based agility patterns are conducted on our indoor Field Turf, track, sand pit and wood courts.