Soccer Core Workout: How to Strengthen Your Core and Get Abs for Soccer Players
When it comes to playing soccer, having a strong core is very crucial. Often, many people think that strengthening the core is all about working on the abs, but this is further from the truth.
Strengthening your core involves firming various muscles, including the lower back, obliques, and the muscles around your pelvis. Developing a strong core can help you achieve your fitness goal and provide real improvements to your game.
Your core is vital as it's involved in almost every soccer aspect, such as jumping, shielding, holding off opponents, striking, and even passing the ball. It's your core strength that determines how powerful, fast, and explosive you will be in the field.
Focusing on core strength will also boost your flexibility, endurance, and stamina for soccer players. Fortunately, the recipe for strong core and six-pack abs isn’t complicated at all. It all starts with the right diet and a routine of abs exercises.
If you want to strengthen your core and get abs to become a great soccer player, you have come to the right page. In this article, you will learn about the best diet for abs and various exercises that can give you great abs and a strong core within a short period.
It Starts in the Kitchen (The Best Diet for Abs)
If you want to get abs for soccer, you need to switch up your diet, as certain foods can boost metabolism and enhance fat burning.
Keep in mind that some foods can lead to more calories and sugar, increasing your weight gain and excess body fat risks.
It’s essential to fill your diet with whole and nutritious foods like fruits, whole grains, high-protein foods, veggies, and healthy fats. Below are the best foods for building strong core and six-pack abs:
Fruits and Vegetables:Fruit and vegetables are low in calories, but they contain essential antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These foods can boost weight loss and fat burning, and that's why they are a must-eat for anyone who wants to build abs.
According to recent research, including fruits and veggies in your diet can significantly reduce the risk of weight gain. It can also aid in the reduction of the waist circumference. Some of the best fruits for abs include grapefruits, blueberries, oranges, apples, and more. For vegetables, Broccoli, kales, chili peppers, green peppers, and spinach can lead to excellent results.
Whole Grains: Whole grains like oats, barley, quinoa, and buckwheat are high in fiber and can boost digestion, enhance weight loss and blood sugar regulation. They are also a good source of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. Scientists also indicate that whole grains can influence your body energy usage and reduce belly fat.
Nuts and Seeds: Nuts and seeds provide protein, fiber, and healthy fats, which are crucial for getting abs. You can include nuts like almonds, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, and pecans, alongside seeds like pumpkin, hemp, and chia to your daily diet.
Fatty Fish: Fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, sardines, and mackerel are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, essential for weight control. Studies reveal that eating fatty fish regularly reduces belly fat and reduced waist circumference, and lower triglyceride levels.
Legumes: Legumes like beans, peas, peanuts, and lentils are excellent sources of proteins, fiber, copper, magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins. Eating these foods will lead to better body composition and reduced belly fat. Besides adding the above foods to your diet, you should avoid a few foods if you want to get abs.
They include; refined grains, alcohol, fried foods, sugary snacks, and sugar-sweetened drinks. You can drink green or black tea instead of sugary drinks.
The Best Abs Workouts
Hardstyle Plank
Hardstyle plank is an effective exercise to activate and strengthen your core. It’s one of the hardest plank variations that every soccer player who wants a strong core should try. There is no equipment needed to do this exercise. You will only need a workout mat.
Lie on the ground with your face down, prop yourself up to achieve a forearm plank position. Ensure that your elbows are well-aligned beneath your shoulder with your hands balled up in fists. You should also ensure that your forearms are parallel to each other. Then hold the position for about ten seconds per set while taking diaphoretic breaths
If you are used to doing different types of planks, you may be tempted to keep moving when doing this exercise. But you should not go through the motions. The most crucial thing in hardstyle plank is to squeeze your whole body, including quads, glutes, core, back, and fists, as tight as you can. When done correctly, hardstyle planks can effectively activate your core and deliver multiple benefits to your muscles.
Dead Bug
The dead bug is an ab workout that involves keeping your trunk stable while moving the rest of your body. This workout is an effective way to train your core and help you build great six-pack abs. It doesn’t require you to have any equipment except your exercise mat.
To perform the dead bug exercise, lay face up on the ground with your arms in the air right above your torso. Ensure that your legs are bent 90-degrees in the air. Then lower your left arm above your head and straighten your right leg while sending it towards the floor. Pause when your leg is almost on the floor, then return to the starting position. Now repeat the opposite side. Perform about 14 alternating reps to complete one set.
For the exercise to be effective, you will want to ensure that your back stays in contact with the floor and keep your breathing as regular as possible. Along with strengthening your core, this exercise also helps to train left-right coordination between the upper and lower extremities. This will further improve cognition function.
Hollow Extension-to-Cannonball
The hollow extension-to-cannonball is another effective exercise you can perform to strengthen your core and get abs. It involves activating the core through simultaneous legs and arms extensions and hugging your knees like you are out at summer camp.
Position your body into a cannonball-type shape on your back while hugging your knees pressed into your chest. Ensure to achieve a position that you would make at the pool while out for summer camping. Extend your legs and arms simultaneously outwards into a hollow position while pressing your lower back to the floor. Hold that position for about five seconds before curling up again, and then perform five reps to complete one set.
Ensure to engage your core as much as you can when performing the extension phase. You can use the cannonball position for recovery. But don’t make the cannonball phase feel like you are totally at ease. Instead, perform it like you are holding a crunch.
Barbell Back Squat
If you want to have a strong core and lower back, you should include the barbell back squat exercise.
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-apart. Lift the barbell focusing your efforts evenly across the shoulders. Then send your glute back as if you are about to sit on a chair while bending the knees as deeply as you can. Return to the starting position by pressing through your heels to complete one rep. You can perform about 12 reps for one set. Contrary to the traditional squats, the barbell back squats engage the core as opposed to the legs.
Maintain tension in your ab muscles throughout the entire movement. This will keep the core engaged and lead to stronger abs. Once you have mastered one movement, you can add additional weights to the barbel and stay injury-free. But you should never add too much weight at once.
Dumbbell Side Bend
The dumbbell side exercise bend targets the external and internal obliques. It strengthens these muscles and tightens the entire side abs wall. This exercise involves holding a single dumbbell on one side of the body, and bending. To perform the dumbbell side bend, you will need a single medium-weight dumbbell.
Stand straight, and position your feet at hip-width. Hold the dumbbell with your right hand, while ensuring your palm faces inwards towards the trunk. While at it, ensure your back remains straight, and activate your core. Then bend to the right side as far as you can, but don’t go past the waist. Hold the position for about one second and return to the start to complete one rep. You can perform about 20 reps for one set.
When picking the dumbbell, make sure that you choose one medium-weight and avoid weights that feel impossible to lift. Unlike very heavy dumbbells, a reasonable weight will allow you to focus on keeping your abs tight when performing the exercise. This will deliver optimal results. All these exercises are effective in strengthening your core and giving your six-pack abs. You can do them three to four times a week before, after, or during training breaks.
FAQ
There is much controversy on whether it’s okay to work out the abs every day or not. Many trainers say it’s a big no, while others think it’s okay.
Before you decide how to work out every day, you need to weigh the pros and cons to know what’s right for you. Below are the pros and cons of working your abs every day.
Pros
Cons
For your abs to be visible, you have to strengthen the abs muscles and burn the belly fats. Abs workout is the most effective way to get abs. However, you have to do the workouts in the right way and take the right diet.
If you burn less fat than you take, you will still have high amounts of fats in your tissues. For workouts to be effective, you should aim to burn excess belly fat and strengthen the abs muscles. Some of the effective ab workouts include the dead bug and hardstyle plank.
No rule or timeline defines the specific time that one takes to get abs. After all, our bodies are different, and we have different genes. Many factors come into play in determining the amount of time you will take before developing six-pack.
Nonetheless, everybody has abs. They are only not visible because they are not strong, and layers of fat cover them. The abs become visible when you burn belly fat and strengthen your ab muscles. Other factors include your diet, the intensity, and frequency of your abs workouts.
Yes. Running can give abs, but it depends on how you do it. Running is essential for burning fat, enhancing metabolism, boosting mental health, and promoting cardiovascular-related activities.
While running involves the leg muscles, it doesn’t directly involve the core muscles. It all depends on how you run and what else you do besides run.If your main aim is to get those magical six-packs, you have to run while concentrating on the core muscles.
You can do this by tightening and focusing on your core as your run, especially when you're tired. This, with other core strengthening exercises, will work miracles for you.
With the right exercises, determination, and correct diet, your abs can be visible in just 30 days. The most important thing is to ensure that you are doing the right core strengthening exercises.
Some exercises like the Babel back squirts, dumbbell side-bends can work well when you do them consistently. Apart from performing the right exercises, you have to watch the diet you take. You should avoid fatty foods and sugar-sweetened since they can hinder you from getting a six-pack.
References
Best Abs Equipment
Last update on 2023-09-29 / This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
