The Power Trainings Role In The Sports Football - Essay Example

The Power Training’s Role In The Sports FootballIntroduction Football, like any other sport, consists of several training and conditioning component. Among widely accepted of these components are speed, agility, endurance, and power. I, and for most people, consider power training to be the most challenging of the four. However, its considerable role in the football sport is undoubtedly significant that it is worth identifying the nature of improving power for football. Principle of Specificity The principle of specificity applies to the target muscle group of the power training.

Moreover, different team players within the team require different target muscle groups. The defensive players, which rely on extension strength, need to power train their triceps muscle group (i.e. upper arms); meanwhile the offensive players, which rely on flexion strength, need to power train their biceps muscle group (Sharkey and Gaskill, Sport Physiology 199). The principle of specificity enables the football players to concentrate their power training on the particular muscle group used, as a defensive or offensive player, on the field.

Power Training The most common power training program is the lifting program. This program usually consists of “utilizing barbells, dumbbells, exercise machines and plyometrics” (Arthur and Bailey 10). While the use of weights is common for lifting, plyometrics is considered a more advanced power-building technique. It works by “rapidly stretching and contracting specific muscles under significant resistance” and improves the speed by which contraction commences in the muscles (McCarthy 160).

Thus, it does not suffice to say that there is power behind those muscle groups; it is also essential to understand the mechanisms that enable football players to fully exploit the power potential built in their muscles.Injury Protection In any sport training, an imperative initiative involves warm-up exercises while overdoing the training is considered unhealthy if not risky. These exercises enable the player to “establish a strength and endurance base” and avoid joint pains or delayed on-set muscle soreness (Sharkey and Gaskill, Fitness and Health 197).

In plyometrics, warm-ups include a slow start and then the gradual escalation of repetitions and intensity (Sharkey and Gaskill, Fitness and Health 197). It is very important that players recognize the setbacks and dangers involved in this power training since this will enable everyone to safeguard themselves, their muscles in particular, and optimally perform in the field. Diet and Nutrient Intake Food intake of football players in relation to power training should include those food groups that improve muscle activity.

Reilly and Araújo pointed out that “inadequate intake of micronutrients that have a key role in the body’s molecular, biochemical, and physiological functions has severe consequences” on the football players’ game performance (524). Indeed, no matter the dedication the players put in their power training and performance, without the nutrients that boost the inner workings of their body (those muscle groups), both health and performance suffer. They will not be able to use the optimum power potentials in their muscle since the body’s chemical reactions, which activate the physiological mechanism, are not substantially met in the players’ diet.

Conclusion The power training’s role in the sport football is irrefutable. The challenges the power training alone presents indicate the hard work and brave heart required to partake and perform the football art. Significant aspects of the power training were identified: its backbone principle, the principle of specificity; its comprising weight lifting components as well as plyometrics; the setbacks of over-training and lack of warm-ups; and its boosting chemical processes involving the choice of food and nutrient intake.

Works CitedArthur, Michael J., and Bryan L. Bailey. Complete Conditioning for Football. Champaign,IL: Human Kinetics, 1998. Print.McCarthy, John P. Jr. Coaching Youth Football: The Guide for Coaches, Parents andAthletes. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books, 2007. Print.Reilly, Thomas, and Duarte Araújo. Science and Football V: The Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress on Science and Football. Abingdon, OX: Routledge, 2005. Print.Sharkey, Brian J., and Steven E. Gaskill. Fitness and Health. 6th ed. Champaign, IL:Human Kinetics, 2007. Print.---.

Sport Physiology for Coaches. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2006. Print.