I am sure by now that you have received your “secret” summer football conditioning manuals. Let me guess it is filled with workouts like 300-yard shuttles, 110-yard sprints, “Gassers” and repeat 40’s? Yes, these drills make up the “meat and potatoes” of just about every summer football-conditioning program. But, let’s make your summer football-conditioning program more sport-appropriate.

If you are a student of the game, find time to look at film and track the average time a play takes (5.5 seconds), the average rest between plays (32 seconds) and the average rest between series (7 minutes). Remember that there is roughly 16-20 minutes between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third. Record how many snaps you play per game too.

Remembering that the more specific your conditioning can come to that which you will experience on game day, the great the chance of carry over. The predominant energy system when playing football is anaerobic the “Gold Standard” exercises described at the beginning of this article definitely task them. The ability to recover from repeated high effort work bouts is critical for you to compete at a high level late in the game. If I told you that you would be asked to be at the top of your game for anywhere from 3.5-4 hours, what type of activity would you think you were about to participate in? Prepare for 60 plays and you will be ready for 60 plays.

What should you do? Meet with your position coach to establish a list of routes that your position commonly performs and supplement those patterns one day a week. On a non-consecutive day, include sprints with changes of direction, resisted sled/prowler sprints, drills that put you in a situation to overcome a resistance then sprint, jumps into a sprint, reacting to a visual and audio cues, etc. You can get creative with your exercises. Remember that the closer these drills come to your position, the greater the carry over will be. Therefore, skill position players should be performing “longer” sprints then the lineman, etc. The options are truly endless.

Here is a 6-week template to use as a starting point:
Six weeks before camp – Two quarters of 20 and 15 reps with 2:30 minutes between quarters (35 plays with 40 seconds rest between plays)
Five weeks before camp – Two quarters of 20 and 20 reps with 2:30 minutes between quarters (40 plays with 38 seconds rest between plays)
Four weeks before camp – Three quarters of 15, 15 and 15 reps with 2:15 minutes between quarters (45 plays with 36 seconds rest between plays)
Three weeks before camp – Three quarters of 20, 15 and 15 reps with 2:15 between quarters (50 plays with 34 seconds rest between plays)
Two weeks before camp – Four quarters of 15, 15, 15 and 10 reps with two minutes between quarters (55 plays with 32 seconds rest between plays)
One week before camp – Four quarters of 15 reps with two minutes between quarters (60 plays with 30 seconds rest between plays)