How to design a football-specific lower body gym workout

James Donnelly
3 hours ago
5 min read

In this video, I’m going to break down how to plan your own football-specific lower body gym session. I’ll take you step by step through the key things I think about when planning a lower body session, so you understand what needs to be included and how everything should be structured.

What I’m going to show you is one example of an approach that works very well for me and the players I work with. You can adapt it to suit your own situation, level, and schedule.

1. You need a plan

The first thing to understand is that you need a long-term plan.

If you want real improvements in lower body strength and power, you can’t just do random workouts. One-off sessions or workouts done here and there won’t produce meaningful progress.

Progress comes from how everything fits together over time. That’s why training should be viewed as a long-term process, not as individual workouts that you hope will make a big difference on their own.

Once you see how much there is to cover, it becomes clear why random training doesn’t work.

2. The force–velocity curve

Next, I want to introduce the force–velocity curve. If you’ve watched my previous videos, you may have seen this before.

This curve shows the different types of strength and how they transfer into athletic performance.

At one end, we have maximum strength. This involves very high force but low movement speed.

At the other end, we have speed, where movement velocity is very high but force is lower.

In the middle, we have power, which combines force and speed.

When planning training, we want to cover all areas of this curve, not just one.

3. “Surfing the curve” across the season

I take players through a process I call surfing the curve, where we train different types of strength multiple times across the season.

In this video, I’m focusing specifically on an in-season lower body gym session.

During the season, I usually focus on the middle-to-upper portion of the curve — from peak power up to maximum strength.

As an example:

The lowest rep range I’ll use in-season is around 6 reps.

I’ll then move through 8 reps, 10 reps, and up to 12 reps (which is the highest I’ll go for strength work).

I’ll cycle back and forth between these ranges across the season, typically in 4-week blocks.

This ensures we thoroughly cover strength while still allowing recovery and performance on the pitch.

4. Strength must be paired with explosiveness

If you only train strength and don’t condition the muscles to move explosively, you risk getting stronger without becoming more powerful.

That’s why I also include work from the faster end of the force–velocity curve — plyometrics and ballistic movements.

For example:

True plyometrics may be paired with maximal strength work in one block.

In another block, they may be paired with strength–speed work.

The key is that strength and power are always developed together, not in isolation.

5. Adjusting for player level

Everything is tailored to the individual player.

If a player isn’t ready to lift heavy loads, we may use isometric exercises instead.

Isometrics allow us to develop maximum force without joint movement — the muscle contracts hard but doesn’t lengthen or shorten.

This is especially useful for youth players.

6. Warm-ups (RAMP method)

Before the main session, I use a RAMP warm-up:

Raise heart rate
Activate muscles
Mobilise joints
Potentiate the nervous system

I usually include at least two exercises for each component. I’ll cover warm-ups and cool-downs in more detail in a separate video.

7. Reps, sets, and rest

As mentioned earlier:

Strength work cycles through rep ranges (12 → 10 → 8 → 6 and back again).

Power and plyometric work typically stays between 3–7 reps.

With plyometrics, quality matters more than quantity. You need sufficient rest between sets so each rep is fast and explosive.

8. Deload weeks

Deload weeks are essential.

If you push training intensity continuously without recovery, performance will plateau or decline. Deload weeks give the body time to adapt and recover.

I usually structure training as:

4 weeks of progressive training
1 deload week (introducing the next block)

This keeps training intense but sustainable.

If a player is already inconsistent due to travel, injury, or schedule issues, a formal deload may not be needed because recovery is already built in naturally.

9. What needs to be trained in a lower body session

There is a lot to cover, which is why a long-term plan is essential.

Key elements include:

Isometrics
True plyometrics (short ground contact times)
Slower plyometrics and ballistic movements
Single-leg and double-leg strength
Reactive strength
Forward, backward, lateral, and diagonal movement
Hamstrings, quads, glutes, adductors, calves, tibialis anterior
Triple extension (ankle, knee, hip)
Squat and lunge patterns
Hinge patterns
Rotation and loaded carries
Full and partial ranges of motion
Landing mechanics
Jumping and deceleration
Running and movement mechanics

Many exercises will cover multiple elements at once, but across a training block, everything should be addressed.

10. Session structure

This is one structure that works very well:

RAMP warm-up
Quick, match-specific footwork (done while fresh)
Main session using tri-sets:
- Stability exercise
- Strength exercise
- Power exercise

I usually include three tri-sets in a session.

Because stability work is lower intensity, you can move efficiently between exercises without excessive rest, making sessions time-efficient.

11. Finishing the session

At the end of the session, I like to raise the heart rate again using:

Movement mechanics drills, or
Speed-repeat cardio-based work

This helps players leave the session feeling like they’ve worked hard, even if much of the session was focused on quality and control.

A cool-down then follows.

Final takeaway

Lower body gym training for football isn’t about isolated workouts.

It’s about:

Long-term planning
Covering the force–velocity curve
Developing strength and power
Improving movement quality
Building speed, resilience, and athleticism

When everything is structured properly, players become stronger, faster, more explosive, and more injury resilient — all while performing better on the pitch.

If you found this useful, feel free to leave a comment or ask questions below.

James

Matchfit Football

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