Lower Body Strength and Tendon Resilience
(Week 8, Power Sprint Program)Day Overview
This session focuses on building maximal leg strength, enhancing tendon and Achilles resilience, and improving explosive power for football performance. The exercises are selected to target the entire lower chain, emphasizing heavy compound lifts for strength, accessory work for stability, and mobility drills to prevent injuries. The session incorporates progressive overload with controlled explosive movements, ensuring joint health and injury prevention while supporting speed development.
Exercises
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• Barbell Squats
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, positioning the barbell across your upper back and shoulders. Keep your chest up, core engaged, and back straight. Initiate the movement by hinging at the hips and bending the knees to lower your body as if sitting back into a chair. Keep your knees tracking over your toes and ensure your heels remain flat on the ground. Descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor or slightly below, then drive through your heels to return to the starting position. Maintain proper posture throughout, avoiding forward leaning or rounding the back. Use the Smith machine or power rack to guide the bar's movement, providing stability and safety during the squat.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a focus on controlled, explosive upward movement and a controlled descent. Use a heavy load that challenges you while maintaining proper form. RPE 8 on the first set, progressing to RPE 9-10 on the last. This exercise builds overall leg strength and tendon resilience, essential for explosive power and injury prevention.
Working Sets:
4
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• Romanian Deadlift
Focus on hamstring engagement by lowering the barbell with a slight knee bend while keeping the back straight.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a focus on hip hinge mechanics and controlled eccentric. Use a moderate to heavy weight, emphasizing posterior chain engagement to strengthen hamstrings and glutes, supporting Achilles and tendon health. RPE 8-9, ensuring proper form to prevent injury.
Working Sets:
4
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• Leg Press
Sit on the leg press machine and push the platform with your legs to extend your knees.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps with a heavy load, pushing explosively through the heels to maximize quad and glute activation. RPE 8, focusing on controlled, powerful reps to develop strength and speed transfer.
Working Sets:
3
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• Walking Lunges
Begin by standing upright with feet hip-width apart. Step forward with your right foot, lowering your hips until both knees are bent at about 90 degrees. Keep your torso upright and your front knee aligned over your ankle. Push through the heel of your front foot to stand up and bring your back foot forward into the next lunge position, stepping ahead into a new lunge. Continue alternating legs in a walking motion, maintaining proper form throughout. Keep your core engaged, shoulders back, and avoid letting your front knee go past your toes.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 3 sets of 12 steps (6 per leg) with bodyweight or light dumbbells for added resistance. Focus on stability, balance, and controlled movement to enhance tendon strength and ankle mobility, supporting Achilles health and injury prevention.
Working Sets:
3
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• Calf Raises (Standing or Seated)
Stand upright with feet hip-width apart, ensuring balance. For standing calf raises, lift your heels off the ground by pushing through the balls of your feet, engaging your calf muscles, then slowly lower back down. For seated calf raises, sit on a bench or chair with feet flat on the ground, place weight on your knees if desired, then raise your heels by pushing through the balls of your feet, and lower back down slowly. Keep your knees slightly bent or straight depending on variation. Maintain a controlled movement, avoid bouncing, and focus on squeezing the calf muscles at the top of the movement.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 4 sets of 15-20 reps with a slow, controlled tempo, emphasizing full range of motion. RPE 7-8, aiming to strengthen the calves and Achilles tendons for speed and injury resistance.
Working Sets:
4
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• Hip Abduction Machine
To perform the hip abduction machine exercise, sit on the machine with your back against the padded support. Adjust the seat height and backrest to ensure comfort and proper alignment. Place your legs inside the padded levers, ensuring that your knees are aligned with the pivot point of the machine. Grip the handles or the sides of the seat for stability. Begin the movement by pushing your legs outward against the resistance, focusing on squeezing your glutes and outer thighs. Keep your feet flexed and avoid arching your back. Slowly return to the starting position while maintaining control. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps to improve hip stability and lateral strength, supporting injury prevention and overall athletic movement.
Working Sets:
3
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• Reverse Hyperextension
Use a specialized machine to work the posterior chain by raising your legs from a prone position.
Prescribed Sets:
Perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps focusing on controlled hip extension to strengthen posterior chain muscles and improve lower back and hamstring health, aiding in tendon resilience.
Working Sets:
3
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• Achilles Stretch
Stand facing a wall with one foot forward and the other foot back, keeping both heels flat on the ground. Bend the front knee towards the wall while keeping the back leg straight and the heel on the ground. Lean into the wall until you feel a stretch in the calf and Achilles tendon of the back leg. Hold the position for 20-30 seconds and switch sides. This stretch improves ankle flexibility, relieves tension in the Achilles tendon, and enhances overall mobility in the lower leg. Proper form involves keeping the back leg straight, the heel grounded, and avoiding any knee or ankle discomfort during the stretch.
Prescribed Sets:
Spend 10 minutes on mobility drills including calf stretches, ankle mobility exercises, and Achilles tendon loading drills. This enhances flexibility, reduces injury risk, and promotes tendon health for explosive speed.
Working Sets:
1