Image via Complex Original
Saturday is for college stars. Sunday is for NFL pros. But the future of football is played under the lights each Friday night in high schools all across the country. If you want to be the best, you have to train like the best—even if that’s for your flag football team. So to help you out, we got up with NFL trainer Todd Durkin—who also heads up the Under Armour Performance Training Council—to dish on 9 NFL-approved drills you can add to your daily workout today.
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Split Squat
Stand with one foot about two feet in front of the other. Squat down by flexing your hip and knee of front leg. Allow heel of rear foot to rise up while knee of rear leg bends slightly until it almost makes contact with floor. Return to original standing position by extending hip and knee of forward leg. Repeat. Continue with opposite leg.
Optional: For a more intense workout you can do this with a barbell across your back.
Skaters Lunge
Put one foot on top of the bench. Make sure that your toe is pointed back to relax your ankle. Get in lunge stance and keep your shoulders high and abs tight. Hold one dumbbell in a goblet position—or start with body weight if you have not done this one before. Relax your back leg and drop down so your knee hovers just above the floor without crashing down. Drive up through that front heel using your glutes, hamstrings, and abs.
Dumbbell Chest Fly
Sit down with the dumbbells in your hands. Slowly lie back on the bench. Position the dumbbells at shoulder width. Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. The dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest, with your upper arm and forearm creating a 90-degree angle. Be sure to maintain full control of the dumbbells at all times. This will be your starting position.
Pull-Ups
Grab the pull-up bar in whatever position is most comfortable for you—close grip, overhand, wide, etc. Once your hands are tightly wrapped around the pull-up bar, pull yourself up and make sure your chin reaches above the bar.
Curls
Keep your elbows tight to your sides. Raise one dumbbell and rotate it until your forearm is vertical and your palm faces your shoulder. Lower the dumbbell back down and do the exact same with the opposite arm.
Sled Push
Start with your hands on the sled in front with your body at a 45-degree angle. Then drive your legs to begin sprinting and push the sled as fast as you can for a specified distance.
Hang Clean
Jump upward extending your body. Shrug your shoulders and pull the barbell upward with your arms allowing your elbows to flex out to the sides, keeping the bar close to your body. Aggressively pull your body under the bar, rotating your elbows around it. Catch the bar on your shoulders while moving into squat position. After hitting the bottom of squat, stand up immediately.
Shuttle Run
Sprint full speed to your specified distance, break down and plant your foot. Run back to your original starting point and repeat as many times as needed.
Stadiums Stairs
Start at the bottom of the staircase. Sprint up the stairs and concentrate so that you don’t trip. Once you reach the top of the stairs, run back down and repeat.