Many people feel that a good workout must end with a wet and sweaty shirt. But is your shirt wetness a good indicator of how effective your workout was? The answer should be obvious, no. It is relatively easy to work up a good sweat and to get your shirt sopping wet. But yet, this seems to be the major criteria used by many football players. Jerry Rice, a great receiver, has also been quoted as making similar statements. He has very long workouts and when he was dead tired and sopping wet, he knew he had a great workout.
Long, arduous workouts are most effective for general overall conditioning. They get you in good physical shape which helps you perform for the entire game. However, such workouts do not enhance skill performance. To improve running and cutting capabilities, very specific exercises should be done that duplicate the actions involved in these movements. The training prior to competition should duplicate what you will encounter on the field during play. They should not consist of general conditioning exercises merely to “get in shape.”
This, however, appears to be a concept that has eluded players and coaches. As a result, we see players who are not able to carry out their assignments as well as possible. For example, there are only a handful of running backs who not only have great speed and acceleration but also the ability to make quick changes in direction. These abilities are crucial to effectively play in the backfield. But without doing specialized strength, speed and explosive exercises that duplicate what occurs in these skills, players do not improve in these skills. It is usually taken for granted that they are the best and can do all of these skills. But close examination of game tapes show that many of them are not capable of executing these skills, and when they do, execution is not as good as it could be.
For more details on specialized speed, strength and explosive exercises for running and cutting actions, see Explosive Basketball Training. Additional running information, especially on running technique, can be found in Explosive Running and Build a Better Athlete.