11 Best Exercises for Strength Training for Soccer Players
Watch any elite soccer match and you’ll notice something: the best players aren’t just talented, they’re powerful, explosive, and physically dominant no matter their size. From holding off defenders to staying balanced while dribbling at speed, from winning aerial duels to maintaining their performance in the final minutes of the game, elite soccer players possess a physical foundation that separates them from the rest.
To become a better soccer player and get in better shape, the most important aspects to focus on improving are your talent, soccer IQ, mindset, athleticism, fitness, and recovery habits off the field. Soccer strength training falls under athletic performance and fitness, and to build enough strength to compete in soccer, it is important to understand what soccer strength means because it is very different from other sports.
Soccer strength isn’t about how much weight you can lift in the weight room or how big your muscles are; it’s about how efficiently your body can generate, transfer, and absorb forces and move efficiently by acting as one integrated system. It’s the explosive power needed to sprint, jump, change direction, or perform any technical skill with full control and balance, no matter the pressure.
To build overall strength for soccer it is important to build a strong athletic foundation through the strength training exercises on this list mixed with on the ball training, fascia training, breath work, barefoot training, cross-training with other sports, balance and coordination drills, footwork, ladder, plyometric, agility, and conditioning exercises since these all technically make you stronger just in different ways. The strength training exercises on this list are made up mostly of fascia training and isometric holds, and when it comes to strength training for soccer, you can get away with only doing mainly body weight training and not much weight training.
Weight lifting is something that can help you if you already have a strong athletic foundation or for aesthetic reasons, but the reality is it has little to no impact on your soccer performance, so you can do it if you want, but it is not necessary. As a soccer player, trainer, sports coordinator, and graduate of kinesiology with a degree in rehab science, these are the 11 best strength training exercises for soccer players, which do not going to include your typical squats, lunges, and pushups, although there are some slight variations.
What are the best soccer strength training exercises for players of all levels?
In this section, I will be going over the best strength training exercises for soccer players and writing a brief description of the point of each drill.
Elevated Towel Toe Retraction Drill
This first exercise, although it looks very simple, is designed to improve the strength of the intrinsic foot muscles, toes, and the entire foot and ankle complex. To do this drill, simply grab a towel, place the ball of your foot on the towel, elevate the heel of that foot, apply fascial tension to the foot, and scrunch the towel towards you by retracting the toes.
Kettle Feet
Kettle feet is an exercise designed to increase foot strength, apply better fascial tension to the foot, and improve managing external pressure being forced on your feet. To do this drill, place two kettlebells on the ground parallel to each other, step into the handles with the arch of your feet, hold on to something for support when starting, and simply stand on the kettlebells while maintaining balance and creating tension through your feet.
Calf Raise on Ball of Foot with Elevated Heel Isometric Hold
This exercise is designed to build explosive lower leg strength, develop ankle stiffness for better change-of-direction movements, and strengthen the fascial connections needed for sprinting and jumping. To do this drill, stand with your feet hip-width apart, keep your feet pointing straight, rise onto the balls of your feet with your heels elevated as high as possible, and hold this position while creating tension from your feet through your calves, glutes, and core.
Crane Stance Hold (Single Leg Balance)
Crane stance is an exercise designed to improve single-leg balance, enhance proprioception and body awareness, and develop the unilateral strength needed for soccer, since everything you do on the field is basically with one foot. To do this drill, stand on one leg with the other leg lifted and bent at the knee, maintain an elevated heel on your standing foot, and hold this position while staying as still and balanced as possible.
Horse Stance Isometric
This exercise is designed to build lower-body strength and power needed to stand out on the field. To do this drill, stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart in a wide squat position, lower your hips until your thighs are close to parallel with the ground, and hold this position while keeping your weight distributed evenly and tension throughout your lower body.
Spiral Lunge with Elevated Heels Isometric Hold
This drill is designed to activate the fascial spiral lines throughout your body, improve hip mobility and rotational strength, and train the movement patterns used when turning and cutting on the field. To do this drill, get into a lunge position with your back foot rotated outward, which means the heel is pointed out, elevate both heels off the ground, create a spiral rotation through your hips and torso, with your head turning and going right over the front leg, and hold this position while maintaining tension throughout the entire body.
Bear Crawl Hold
Bear crawl hold is designed to develop total body strength, improve core stability and shoulder endurance, and build the foundational strength needed for athletic movements. To do this drill, get on your hands and feet with your knees hovering just off the ground, keep your back flat and core engaged, and hold this position while creating tension throughout your entire body—your hands should be directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
Push up Hold
This exercise is designed to build upper-body strength, develop core stability, and teach you to generate tension throughout your entire body in a fundamental pressing position. To do this drill, get into the top of a push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, keep your body in a straight line from head to heels, and hold this position while maintaining tension through your arms, chest, shoulders, and core.
Handstand Hold
The handstand hold is designed to develop upper-body and shoulder strength. To do this drill, kick up into a handstand against a wall for support when starting out, keep your arms fully extended and body in a straight line, and hold this position while creating maximum tension from your hands through your entire body—gradually work toward holding a freestanding handstand.
Hang Hold
This exercise is designed to build grip strength, overall body strength, as well as decompress the spine. To do this drill, grab a pull-up bar with both hands using an overhand grip, let your body hang with arms fully extended, and hold this position for as long as possible while keeping your shoulders engaged and creating tension through your lats and core.
L Sit Hold
The L sit hold is designed to develop hip flexor strength and overall core strength. To do this drill, sit on the ground with your legs extended straight in front of you, place your hands on the ground beside your hips, press down through your hands to lift your entire body off the ground while keeping your legs straight and parallel to the floor, and hold this position while maintaining maximum tension throughout your body.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, building real strength for soccer requires a fundamentally different approach than traditional weight training. Soccer strength isn’t about how much you can bench press or squat in the weight room, it’s about developing an integrated system that can efficiently generate, transfer, and absorb forces through movement patterns specific to the demands of soccer.
When combined with on-the-ball training, fascia training, breath work, barefoot training, and other training methods, these body weight exercises help develop the explosive power, balance, coordination, and body awareness that translate directly to better performance on the field. Remember, you don’t need a weight room full of equipment or complicated lifting programs to become a stronger, more dominant soccer player, all you really need to learn to do is control your body and move efficiently as one integrated system
FAQs
What strength training should soccer players do for sports performance?
The best type of strength training for soccer players includes fascia training, breath work, body weight isometric holds, barefoot training, balance and coordination drills, plyometric exercises, and agility work. These training methods develop functional strength by teaching your body to generate, transfer, and absorb forces efficiently as one integrated system rather than isolating individual muscles.
Does traditional weight training improve performance for soccer players?
Traditional weight training mostly focuses on isolating individual muscle groups and working them individually, and doesn’t teach the body to generate, transfer, and absorb forces efficiently as one integrated system—which is exactly what soccer demands. While exercises like bench presses, bicep curls, and leg extensions can build muscle size and isolated strength, they don’t translate to the explosive power, balance, coordination, and movement patterns you actually use on the field when sprinting, changing direction, or performing technical skills under pressure, which makes this type of training suboptimal for soccer performance.
What is the best equipment that you need to build strength for soccer?
The best soccer training gear and equipment that you need to build strength as a soccer player includes a towel for toe retraction drills, a pair of kettlebells for kettle feet training, a pull-up bar or sturdy overhead structure for hang holds, and access to a wall for handstand support when starting. Beyond that, most of the strength training exercises for soccer are body weight-based and require minimal to no equipment—just your body, some open space, and the willingness to put in work, whether that is through soccer training, cross-training with other sports, or consistent practice of the isometric holds and fascia training exercises
