7 Best Leg Exercises for Soccer Players (Strength & Power)

Having a strong, powerful lower body is extremely important for Soccer Players. Lower body strength can help players with positioning, kicking power and can even help with endurance by becoming more efficient.

I’ve been a College Strength Coach for almost two decades and in this article, I’m going to discuss my 7 favorite leg exercises for soccer players to help improve their performance on the field.

If you want to make sure you’re maximizing every leg workout in the gym, these are the leg exercises I would make sure are part of your program.

Let’s get right to it.

Best Soccer Lower Body Exercises

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Clean Pulls

I’m a huge believer in Olympic lifts for athletes to build power and explosiveness. The first Olympic lift variation that I like to introduce to Soccer Players is the Clean Pull.

Clean Pulls are a less technical variation of the full Clean. The starting position is the same as a Clean (and the popular Power Clean variation) but the catch is removed. Instead, the athlete drives up, getting full extension through the hips, knees and ankles but keeps the arms straight throughout.

Clean Pulls allow Soccer Players to start training for power almost right away. As technique continues to become more proficient, the lifter can then progress to more complex variations.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Choose a suitable weight on the barbell and position it over your mid-foot.
• With feet hip-width apart, grip the bar with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width, maintaining a flat back and shoulders over the bar.
• Lift the bar by powerfully extending the hips and knees, keeping it close to your shins.
• As the bar passes your knees, explosively extend your hips and rise onto your toes, shrugging your shoulders.
• The bar should reach maximum height, with your body fully extended and shrugging upwards.
• Control the bar back down to the starting position (or drop the bar, reset and repeat).

Coaching Points

One of the biggest mistakes with clean technique is that lifters will shoot their butt up first, locking their knees out and then they end up pulling the bar with their back instead of their legs. This is most often caused by lifters trying to rush the first pull too much. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

Another common mistake is the lifter ‘swinging’ the bar away from their shins, usually because they are worried about the bar hitting their knees. However, the knees will naturally slide back out of the way as you extend.

Back Squat

Back Squat is the ultimate lower body exercise to build strength. No other exercise can match it when it comes to developing not just strong quads, hamstrings and glutes but low back, core and even upper back strength.

If you don’t feel you’re ready for Back Squatting with a Barbell just yet, you can try a simpler variation like Goblet Squats while you gain confidence in your technique. Back Squatting with a PVC Pipe is a great way to start learning the movement without having to use any weight.

How To

• Place the barbell on a squat rack at chest height. Stand facing the bar.
• Grip the bar wider than shoulder-width apart and duck under it, placing it on your upper traps.
• Stand up, lifting the bar off the rack. Take one or two steps back to clear the rack.
• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly pointing outward. Keep your chest up and eyes forward.
• Bend your knees and hips simultaneously, pushing your hips back and down.
• Lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground, keeping your knees over your toes.
• Push through your heels, extending your hips and knees to return to the starting position.
• Carefully walk the barbell back into the squat rack and lower it onto the rack.

Coaching Points

It is better to set the safeties one level too low vs one level too high, as the athlete can either let the bar off of their back or allow themselves to lean forward until the bar hits the safeties.

Reverse Lunge

Now let’s jump into some movements that focus on single-leg strength.

Single-Leg movements are critical for the physical development of soccer players because so much of the sport is actually done on one leg (even if it may not seem obvious). Jumping, sprinting, dribbling and (more obviously) kicking are all done on one leg at a time.

Single-Leg exercises also help fight against any lower body asymmetries that may occur over time (one side being stronger than the other). Asymmetries often lead to compensations (or are caused by compensations in the first place) and eventually oftentimes injury.

Reverse Lunges are one of my favorite single-leg movements because stepping backward takes away forward momentum which can be stressful to the knees. It’s also easier for athletes in my experience to maintain a more upright torso while doing Reverse Lunges as opposed to regular Lunges.

Instructions

• Squeeze the shoulder blades and engage the lats to create a stable back to help with bracing the upper body
• Once you’ve created enough room for yourself from the dumbbell rack (or wherever you pulled them from) you can begin the movement.
• Step backward with the left leg, giving yourself enough room to be able to drop into a lunge comfortably without feeling overextended.
• Keep the chest as upright as possible and drop the left knee to roughly one inch from the floor.
• Now drive through the heel and midfoot of the right foot to drive yourself back up tall.

Coaching Points (Fixes to Common Mistakes)

When you step back, make sure to keep the feet shoulder-width apart. If you’re feeling very off-balance in your lunge there is a good chance that you are stepping the back foot directly behind the front foot (essentially placing yourself on a tight rope).

Keep the front foot flat on the floor when in the lunge position. One of the most common mistakes is raising up onto the ball of the front foot. One of the reasons for this is often the next most common mistake that I see with Dumbbell Lunges…

Make sure to take a big enough step. Often times I see athletes take way too small of a step. This leads to lunge being extremely cramped and can lead to a whole host of other issues (like coming up on the ball of the foot as mentioned above).

Pistol Squat

I love Pistol Squats. I love Pistol Squats because they’re a bodyweight movement that will absolutely smoke your legs without putting any added stress on the posterior chain.

If you’re designing a strength and conditioning program you have to be really careful with how much you are taxing the posterior chain. So many exercises – Olympic lifts, squats, and hinging movements like RDLs and Bent Over Rows – all stress the posterior chain. This is part of what makes Pistol Squats truly special.

Pistol Squats are also a TRUE single-leg movement. Many single-leg movements like lunges and step-ups can be ‘cheated’ and an athlete can still compensate for a weaker side.

Pistol Squats are one leg and one leg only. No opposite leg to give you a little boost if you need it. Want to find out if one of your legs is actually stronger than the other? Do Pistol Squats.

Instructions

• Begin in a standing position, feet together, and arms extended forward for balance.
• Lift the left leg off the ground and fully extend it forward.
• Slowly lower your body by bending the right knee while keeping the left leg extended.
• Continue lowering until the hamstring of the right leg is resting on the calf, or as low as your flexibility and strength allow.
• You can also squat down to a box or bench if you’re not yet strong enough to do a full unassisted rep.
• Push through the heel of the right leg to raise your body back to the starting position.

Coaching Points

If you’re not able to do a Pistol Squat the first time trying, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most athletes I’ve worked with have to start by using a bench for pistol squats. The first thing you need to do to start progressing is figuring out where your real weakness is: strength or flexibility.

Some lifters simply don’t possess the strength at first to perform a full pistol squat on air.

On the other hand, many of the athletes I’ve coached actually have the strength to do a pistol squat, but they lack the mobility to be able to go through the full range of motion without falling or their opposite foot crashing into the ground.

Romanian Deadlift

Speaking of the posterior chain, let’s shift gears to a couple of lower-body exercises that focus on the posterior chain. First is RDLs, or Romanian Deadlifts.

I really like RDLs because they do a tremendous job of building strength throughout the entire posterior chain, from the Erector Spinae muscles of the low back, through the glutes and finally the hamstrings. Even the upper body which has to stay engaged to maintain posture throughout the lift gets challenged.

How To

• Begin by standing upright, holding a barbell in front of you with an overhand grip.
• Feet should be hip-width apart with a slight bend in the knees.
• Keeping a neutral spine and your chest up, hinge at the hips, pushing them backward.
• Allow the barbell to slide down close to your legs. Your back remains straight throughout.
• Lower the bar until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings or it reaches mid-shin level, whichever comes first.
• Engage your hamstrings and glutes, then reverse the motion, bringing the barbell back to the starting position.

Coaching Points

The ‘depth’ that each person gets will be different and absolutely solely dependent upon hamstring flexibility.

Do NOT try to ‘reach’ the barbell toward the ground because you believe the plates should touch the floor. If you have tight hamstrings you may be doing well to get the bar to mid-shin.

Nordic Hamstring Curl

Nordic Hamstring Curls are by far my favorite hamstring exercise and it’s not even close.

Why?

Because they work. Scientific reviews like this one constantly prove that including Nordic Hamstring Curls in a training program helps reduce the risk of a hamstring injury.

They also happen to be a really tough bodyweight exercise that if you build it into your team’s culture can become really competitive. Anything that can turn competitive in a weight room is something you want to have in the program.

How To

• Start on your knees with a partner holding your feet (dorsiflexed, toes in the ground).
• Hold your hands in front of your chest, brace your core and lock in your hips.
• Now, keep your body in a straight line (shoulders, hips and knees) and lean forward.
• Lower slowly and under control as long as possible.
• Touch your chest to the ground, using your hands if necessary (they will most likely be necessary)
• Finally, give yourself a little push to get started and then use your hamstrings to curl yourself back to the start.

Coaching Points

The ultimate goal is to be able to lower yourself to the floor, touch the ground with your chest, and then curl yourself up without using your hands. However, this takes practice and a ton of hamstring strength. Be patient and focus on your progress each time.

Don’t allow your hips to shoot out, breaking the straight line going through your shoulders, hips and knees.

Only use as much push with your arms coming off the ground as needed. How much is the right amount? Trust me, when you get it just right – you’ll know.

Sprint

You may not have expected to see sprinting on a list of lower body exercises, but that’s just how important I believe sprinting is for soccer players. This sprinting can be part of a full program complete with sprinting drills, but it can also be as simple as just getting out and sprinting.

I think too many soccer players have gotten away from doing sprints in their training programs. I see so many players lift, condition and do far too many ladder drills. However, going out, lining up and running as fast as possible is neglected far too much.

If you want to run fast, you need to run fast. Even more, if you want your hamstrings to be prepared (and not pull) to do a full sprint once you’re in a breakaway on the field – then you better be doing that in your training.

Final Thoughts

Are these the only lower body exercises soccer players can do to build strong and explosive legs? Of course not.

But, in my opinion, your training program should have all (or at the very least, most) of these exercises incorporated into it at some point.

Just make sure to focus on technique, don’t try to use more weight than you can safely handle and don’t slack on your nutrition and recovery. Do all of these things and you should see a big-time improvement in your on-field performance!

Related Posts

Finally, if you found this article helpful, then you may also enjoy checking out:

My Favorite Core Exercises for Soccer Players

The Best Upper Body Exercises for Soccer

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