Most Important Muscles/Body Parts for Football???

[rbar89]

What do you guys think, are the most important muscles for use in football and why?

I would say counting down top 5:


5. Triceps (any pushing involves them, like blocking)

4. Shoulders (take a beating from hits and also used a lot in pushing, being bent over durin pushing uses them more )

3. Chest (Obviously its the reason bench is important, again very important for pushing aswell as shedding blocks and everything else)

2. Legs (everything u do in football involves using the legs whether its trying to stay on your feet while being tackled, pushing the pile, blocking, tackling, everything uses momentum from your legs)

1. Lower Back (its where u get ur hitting power from, which in a lot of ways is what football is about)


I know the body works as a unit in football but you have to admit some muscles/body parts are more used than others. IMHO i couldve switched 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 as they are kinda tossups. And I know hitting power also comes a lot from the glutes along with the lower back and other things, so i kind of counted those two as one. Just for me since ive started deads and GM's my hitting power has really increased.

So agree? disagree? Whats your guys top five?

[drew]

1. Abs (If you ain't got the guts, you can't transfer power. Simple dynamics)
2. Legs (Hamstrings and glutes are huge muscles and help you drive.)
3. Low back (Couple this with strong legs and abs and your opponent is on his ass all day)
4. Triceps (Sometimes you just gotta shove)
5. Balls.

[D Breyer]

I would say without a question the most important group of muscles for football is the core.

Oh, balls are pretty important too.

[rbar89]

1. Abs (If you ain't got the guts, you can't transfer power. Simple dynamics)
2. Legs (Hamstrings and glutes are huge muscles and help you drive.)
3. Low back (Couple this with strong legs and abs and your opponent is on his ass all day)
4. Triceps (Sometimes you just gotta shove)
5. Balls.

ya i knew abs too but i guess i kinda counted them with lower back or legs, and ya def balls are important too. Regardless i think abs are overrated for football and should be top five but not #1. they help for stability and hitting and everything but i dont think much of the power comes from them.

[Jinkies]

never thought about lowerbacks purpose in football, guess deadlifting will make a difference afterall

[Mike G]

1. Core - I know it's a cop out to list the entire core, but you can't have a strong lower back and weak abs and transfer power... (read Drews post). Abs are a big part with stability on the field.

2. Legs - One of the biggest aspects of football is to get lower than the other guy and drive. Might be able to get low, but if your legs are weak you probably aren't driving too much. Whether it's blocking, running someone over or tackling.

3. Mentallity - this includes balls, heart and intelligence. I have coached some really talented kids that were pussies and didn't do a thing on the field. Kids with insane speed and strength, but wouldn't hit. I have also played on teams with kids with amazing talent that would run through a wall, but didn't have the intelligence to learn a gameplan and their job.

4. Triceps - More important than chest in my mind. Arms are always inside when blocking or shedding.

5. Shoulders - Tough one to pick. Shoulders help with a lot, but my kids don't hit with their shoulders too much. We lead with our masks and drive through. I've found this helps the kids keep their heads up on every tackle and they rarely miss an open field tackle. This also leads to them driving more after impact and not losing the tackle after contact. Learned the technique in college from a coach who had worked at Miami as an assistant.

[rbar89]

never thought about lowerbacks purpose in football, guess deadlifting will make a difference afterall

anytime you bend down and then raise up with power trying to hit someone or pick someone up, your using your lower back just like a deadlift. I used to think the same thing, i never even thought about using your back in football but ever since i started doing deads and GM's my hitting power and overall football strength has gone up a lot.

[Jinkies]

I think shoulders deserve alot more credit then people are giving them especially on the line and in tackles. Wrapping up power and shoulder stablity and explosiveness with blocking.

For safety a strong neck is important and seems to have been left out, not only can they prevent injury but might add a little to your hitting power by having a strong top.

[Mike G]

Neck was my toss up with shoulders. I think shoulders are important, but no more so than the others in my list. However, having strong shoulders isn't really going to help you hit harder anymore than having a strong lower body/core/posterior chain.

[Jinkies]

It all depends on position, offensivelinemen Id put shoulders at the top. Runningback would be core and legs. QB also shoulder/tendon strength

Its going to vary

[emceepal]

Your whole body, but my lower back is kinda sore from destroying the sled. Sidetrack: Anyone ever use a one-man sled, that kind you can tackle? Those are fun as hell.

[rbar89]

Your whole body, but my lower back is kinda sore from destroying the sled. Sidetrack: Anyone ever use a one-man sled, that kind you can tackle? Those are fun as hell.

ya we use them in practice to tackle sometimes, although if it gets turned around the heavy metal tube things can fall on your leg and do some damage.

Also I think you guys are overrating shoulders a bit, its good to have thick wide shoulders since you hit with them and they take a beating, but i dont think too much strength comes from them unless your really leaning over a lot and incline pressing or practically overhead pressing your opponent I dont think they are very important. No one has really mentioned glutes, I think you get a good deal of power from them when you get low then explode up, but i guess they kinda count as legs.

[Mike G]

It all depends on position, offensivelinemen Id put shoulders at the top. Runningback would be core and legs. QB also shoulder/tendon strength

Its going to vary

I agree with QB to an extent. Linemen I don't agree with. Most linemen block with their hands in, if they get extended too much they get called for holding. Also, having strong shoulders and being able to Military press or do other typical shoulder exercises with a lot of weight wouldn't help as much as having a strong close grip. You aren't pushing over your head when you block, more like an incline. I agree that having strong shoulders helps with injury, especially for linemen who bang every play. But shoulder pads help with that. That is based on my experience. I know if I had to choose between a linemen having a big squat or having strong shoulders I would go with the squat in a heartbeat. In high school a linemen can get away with having a weaker upper body if they have a strong base. Usually not the case when it's the other way around. Coached a lot of kids and been on teams with kids with big benches and big militaries who got pushed all over the field because they didn't have strong legs. There were also a bunch of college kids that I played with that had lower numbers on their upper work, especially their shoulder lifts, but could squat a truck and hit like one too. Kids that went to D I schools after JUCO.

[laxguy1028]

Heart, if u dont have it you cant play

[rbar89]

Anyone else getting pumped for the season? I know i am.....

[emceepal]

Heart, if u dont have it you cant play

hell yeah, you gotta have "mad heart"

oh **** at practice we drove a one-man sled across the field (the width of the field), that was tough

[Isaac Wilkins]

I'd worry more about having healthy shoulders than big and strong shoulders, although for football players pretty much the whole body is important.

Pay special attention to your core and posterior chain. Both of these areas are weak almost across the board in young football players and will severely limit your speed and agility. If all of my football players could deep overhead squat 225 or more they'd be studs.

Also pay attention to your grip for most positions. The stronger your forearms and hands are the better offensive lineman and defensive player you'll be.

Other than that the other bodyparts mention are certainly important.

[sidewinder]

everything is important!

[jordonwuff]

^^^^^

Especially your pinky toe.

[droman]

1. legs
2. chest'
3. shoulders
4. abs
5. Back

I think your skill isthe most important thing. and as pete Carrol(USC coach) says to his trainers I want to train my players to move not be refrigirators

[jed]

Linemen top 5:
1. Core (lower back, obliques, abs)
2. Legs (quads, glutes, hammies)
3. Shoulders/Neck
4. Triceps
5. Forearms/Fingers, you really needa hang on to those SOB's across from you.
Skills top 5:
1. Core
2. Legs
3. Shoulders, really get hit there alot if you a halfback/fullback
4. Triceps/Biceps to hold on to the ball.
5. Neck

[schmitty199]

What do you guys think, are the most important muscles for use in football and why?

I would say counting down top 5:


5. Triceps (any pushing involves them, like blocking)

4. Shoulders (take a beating from hits and also used a lot in pushing, being bent over durin pushing uses them more )

3. Chest (Obviously its the reason bench is important, again very important for pushing aswell as shedding blocks and everything else)

2. Legs (everything u do in football involves using the legs whether its trying to stay on your feet while being tackled, pushing the pile, blocking, tackling, everything uses momentum from your legs)

1. Lower Back (its where u get ur hitting power from, which in a lot of ways is what football is about)


I know the body works as a unit in football but you have to admit some muscles/body parts are more used than others. IMHO i couldve switched 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 as they are kinda tossups. And I know hitting power also comes a lot from the glutes along with the lower back and other things, so i kind of counted those two as one. Just for me since ive started deads and GM's my hitting power has really increased.

So agree? disagree? Whats your guys top five?

There's really no right or wrong answer. Everything in the body's important to be a great football player. But heres mine.

1.Core

2.Hamstrings

3.Rest of legs

4.Triceps

5.Chest/Shouldars

[rbar89]

wow I started this thread so long ago, but it was a fun topic. Another question I got is what do all you football guys out their do in the offseason, as far as routines and supplements and stuff would be awesome to see. I'll post mine later too if people come back around this thread, but right now I'm busy and leaving for work in a few minutes.

[schmitty199]

wow I started this thread so long ago, but it was a fun topic. Another question I got is what do all you football guys out their do in the offseason, as far as routines and supplements and stuff would be awesome to see. I'll post mine later too if people come back around this thread, but right now I'm busy and leaving for work in a few minutes.

For supplements just whey protein. IMO pretty much everything short of steroids does about the same thing.

Core work and the Glute ham machine(hamstrings) every day you lift.

(Obviously not all of these on the same day. A couple from each catergory each day)

Explosive Lifts/Total body lifts:
Push Press
Power Press
Power Clean
Hang Clean

Lower Body:
Squats
Glute Ham(Everyday)
Calf Raises(About every day)
Single leg Hamstring curls
Single Leg Squats
DB Lunges

Upper Body-
Bench Press
Close Grip Bench
Incline Press
Pullups
Rows
Curls
Shouldar Shrugs(DB)
DB Press
Military Press
Pushups

Core-
There's just so many it's hard to really get into. Just try a bunch see what works for you.

[Stumprrp]

core + posterior chain is most important in any sport or any form of lifting.

triceps seem important to me to for shoving