What Workout Split Should You Do As A Soccer Player?

If you're serious about taking your game to the next level, it is essential that you not only put hours upon hours of practice on the pitch, but also put hours upon hours of work in the gym.

Players in the top level don't only have exceptional technical ability and a high intelligence of the game, they are also physically fit and are able to perform at high levels athletically.

Their exceptional levels of fitness, strength, and power help them compete with the demands of athleticism required at the highest level.

If you're looking to make that next step into your career, whether you're moving up an age group, or moving up to a higher division, it would be wise to start (or if you have already started, to continue) to look for ways to build lean, athletic muscle and strength.

But a common problem seen among athletes who are looking to build muscle and strength, is the obsession with the wrong kind of splits and exercises, and neglecting the main builders of strength and muscle that will help them as athletes.

Too many footballers are obsessed with training as bodybuilders instead of as athletes, and as a result, they're not taking advantage of the time they have in the gym to elevate their performance where it actually matters, which is on the field.

You could look big and shredded as hell, but if you haven't been training on your body's functional strength and how you move with your body, then your performance on the pitch will suffer.

If you have been focusing on building muscle using Push/Pull/Leg splits, for example, then you might need to reconsider how you structure your workouts throughout the week.

In this blog post, you will learn about what type of split you should be looking to do as a footballer, and why it is important that you stay away from training like a bodybuilder.

What Type of Training Should You Do in the Gym?

Like mentioned above, soccer is a very demanding sport athletically. You need to be able to last 90 minutes on the pitch, and every single action performed in that 90 minute window must be efficient, explosive, and focused.

In the highest level, players are expected to be still be able to produce large amounts of force, strength, and power, all while still maintaining focus on their technical side of the game, even in the late stages of the match, when fatigue starts to play a role.

Many of the players at the highest level are able to compete and succeed there because they have trained in a way where they can compete athletically as well as technically.

If you're looking to perform well, not only at the level you are at, but also in the next level up, you must be training your body in a way that will help you fit in with the other players at that next step.

If you only focus on building individual muscle groups in the gym just to look good in the mirror and at the beach, then you will quickly find yourself struggling to maintain good form at a higher league.

As athletes, we need to focus our time and energy in the gym developing sport-specific strength, and being able to transfer that strength throughout our bodies efficiently to produce lots of force to aid us in our explosive actions on the pitch.

A player who is more capable of transferring the strength they've gained in the gym to their movements, will be a much faster, more explosive, and powerful player than the one who does bicep curls to 'get big.'

Now I'm not saying DON'T DO bicep curls. You can still definitely add exercises like these into your workout routine. However, they should never be a PRIORITY in your workout routine in the gym.

So What Should You Do in The Gym?

In order to be able to perform to the best of your ability in the gym, focus on training MOVEMENTS instead of individual muscle groups.

Focus on improving the strength in your compound exercises, and focus on translating that strength to a more sports-specific context through explosive exercises such as plyometrics.

Instead of doing Leg Extensions and Bicep Curls, focus more on improving your Back Squat and your Pull Up Strength.

Instead of doing Hamstring Curls and using the machines for your chest, focus more on improving how much you can deadlift and how much you can bench press.

As a result of improving your movements (squatting, hip hinges, pressing, scapular movement, etc.) you will naturally build more muscles that will make you look good in the mirror.

This is because compound exercises challenge many different muscle groups at once instead of isolating one muscle group. Because of this, not only are you already building muscles in the areas that will aesthetically make you look good, you're also building lots of functional strength that will help you on the pitch.

By combining these heavy compound exercises with explosive movements like plyometrics, you are teaching your body how to transfer the strength gained from doing these compound lifts, into a jump, sprint, or change of direction, which will translate to an enhanced athletic performance back onto the field.

If you would like a few plyometric exercises to help take your explosiveness and athleticism to the next level, watch this YouTube video on our channel below:

What Type of Workout Split Should I Do?

Again, you want to avoid training too much like a bodybuilder. You don't want to split your days between different muscle groups like many bodybuilders do.

Many bodybuilders, in order to maximize their muscle growth and progressions in the gym, structure their workout routine based on different muscle groups, such as Push, Pull, and Legs, in order to be able to focus more on individually building the muscles in the upper and lower body.

They dedicate entire days to a combination of compound and isolation exercises in order to maximize the metabolic tension onto their muscles fibers and force them to grow.

As athletes, we shouldn't be looking to train our muscle individually as much as bodybuilders do.

Like mentioned above, our goal in the gym is to improve our MOVEMENTS and strengthen our FUNCTION as athletes in order to see the best results on the pitch.

So instead of doing Push/Pull/Leg Splits or similar splits where you isolate muscle groups, instead, focus on training your upper and lower body as a whole, and have most of your workouts be made up of compound exercises that will improve your functional strength and power.

Here is an example of a split a soccer player should follow during their offseason in order to build lots of strength and muscle:

Monday: Upper Body Strength

Tuesday: Lower Body Strength

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Upper Body Strength

Friday: Lower Body Strength

Saturday/Sunday: Rest

In the split, there are 4 separate lifting days, each focusing on either the superior or inferior muscle groups of the body. Keep in mind that on the days where it says 'rest' you're most likely not completely resting. You're most likely at the field having an intense session, or doing some sort of cardio to help build your fitness levels.

On the Upper Body Strength days, you're most likely doing lots of compound upper body exercises such as the bench press, pushups, pull ups, rows, etc.

On the Lower Body Strength days, you're most likely doing heavy compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts, and lunges, alongside some added plyometric and injury prevention work.

Here's another type of split that you can do in your offseason/preseason. This is the split I am currently doing to help me build strength, muscle, and stamina before the start of my season.

Monday: Upper Body Strength

Tuesday: HIIT + Plyometrics

Wednesday: Lower Body Strength

Thursday: Upper Body Strength

Friday: HIIT + Plyometrics

Saturday: Lower Body Strength

Sunday: Rest

As you can see from the split above, I have 6 days where I go to the gym, and on each day I work on something different that will benefit me as an athlete.

On the Upper Body Strength days, I focus heavily on strengthening and progressing my compound exercises such as pushups, pull ups, rows, and pressing.

On the Lower Body Strength days, I focus a lot more on compound exercises like the squat, the hip hinge, lunges, and the hip thrust to build power and strength in my lower body.

On the HIIT and Plyometrics days, I focus on building my stamina and conditioning on a treadmill or bike, while also doing some plyometric exercises to transfer the strength gained from the Lower body workout, into a more sports-specific action.

As a result of this split, I've been able to build tons of muscle, lots of explosiveness and strength, and build my anaerobic/aerobic capacity as well.

If you would like to see my full upper body strength workout, then check out this YouTube Video below:

Does This Mean I Should Stop Doing Isolation Exercises?

No. Just because you're not supposed to be training as a bodybuilder, doesn't mean you should completely abandon isolation exercises altogether.

Some isolation exercises can actually be helpful when coming back from an injury, or trying to prevent common muscular injuries that could come from sport.

Lower body isolation exercises are not 100% bad for you as an athlete. Some isolation exercises, like exercises with resistance bands, can help with strengthening some neglected muscle groups that can lead to injury due to a lack of strength.

Let me give you an example so you can better understand what I mean.

Back in 2019, I pulled a knee muscle badly, and when I went to go see a physio, they told me the most likely reason for my injury was a weakness in my abductor muscles, which led to overcompensation to my inside knee muscle.

As I was rehabbing from the injury, my physical therapist prescribed a ton of resistance band exercises like Lateral Monster Walks, Lateral Leg Raises and other resistance band exercises to strengthen my abductors and make up for that weakness in the area.

Those isolation exercises helped me strengthen muscle groups I have neglected in my gym routines, and helped me avoid injuring my knee again, as well as build some extra muscle and strength in the area.

You don't also have to completely avoid isolation exercises if you really want to do them to build some extra muscle in certain areas.

Personally, I like to throw in some bicep curls into my upper body workout routine because I care a lot over my physique, and I am a big believer that having confidence in the way you look, will help dictate your confidence in a game.

But again, I want to emphasize that isolation exercises should never be a PRIORITY in your strength routines. They should merely be a supplement to your workouts. They should be treated as the 'extra' exercises that you can do because you have the time for them.

But in the gym, your main goal should be to improve your functional strength and movement as an athlete, and be able to build power.

Hope this post helps with your goals. Alex from GoGrind Soccer, signing off...

Thanks for Reading! Get Up. Go GRIND.