Legs are a soccer player’s most important body part because they control the most crucial aspects of soccer, such as running, ball control, and bouncing. Using an exercise bike can exercise the muscles of the legs, but for the majority of fans, there is a lack of knowledge about proper leg training and balancing both strength and agility. Many soccer fans get their knowledge about fitness from the gym, but the knowledge of fitness instructors is often taken from the requirements of various fitness competitions for size and strength, which differ from the training needed by soccer players. To meet the strong visual effect requirements, fitness athletes need to have strong quadriceps and adductors. Soccer players, on the other hand, focus more on building up the adductors in the back of the thighs and the flounder muscles in the back of the calves to meet the need for strong leg swing and bounce.
Why do soccer players use exercise bikes for leg workouts?
To be a soccer player, one must have explosive power because soccer requires speed, power, and technique. Explosive power, also known as speed power, is a combination of strength and speed and plays a very important role in the quality of power. The explosive power of soccer players can be seen everywhere in the game, such as fast starting runs in different positions and directions, fast long-distance passing, and powerful long-distance shooting while striding or down shoveling, leaping or jumping for the top ball, etc., all of which reflect the athletes’ ability to play with the maximum power in the shortest time. Explosive power training is the basis of soccer players’ soccer-specific explosive power training, and it is also one of the important means to improve the competitive ability of soccer players.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of how to train the leg muscles, it is necessary to first understand the composition of the leg muscle groups and their control functions. The leg muscles are divided into four groups: the anterior thigh (biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, and suture), the medial thigh (adductor), the posterior thigh, and the calf (hallux valgus).
Exercise bike training: The recumbent bike
mainly exercises the muscles, including the quadriceps, gluteus maximus, posterior thigh muscles on the thighs, flounder muscles, and gastrocnemius muscles on the calves, in line with the soccer players’ focus on leg muscle training needs. The recumbent bike is liked by soccer players because it is easy to use, convenient, and effective. Tendon strength is more direct and effective in meeting the basic training requirements of soccer players on the body’s endurance, core muscles, and leg muscles. At the same time, the recumbent bike is also a good rehabilitation aid for soccer players because it is safe enough and does not cause stress on the knees. Choosing a home exercise bike as a DIY home gym is the primary choice for most people because it covers a small area—a small exercise bike that can meet the home fitness needs of fitness enthusiasts with insufficient family space. If you are worried about affecting your neighbors or family members, many people will also choose the quiet exercise bike as their main fitness equipment for home exercise of the leg muscles, endurance training, and core muscle groups. Some, like the 3-in-1 exercise bike, can be folded, allowing the home exercise bike to have a smaller footprint.
A soccer player needs to stick to a 90-minute game, with only one break in between, and constantly sprint, jump, accelerate, change directions, etc. So, using an exercise bike is a great way to improve both your endurance and the strength of your legs.
Which are the daily training moves for soccer players?
- Jump Lunge
Jumping lunges are the first workout. Strength training is mostly responsible for improving the strength of our single leg. Because most moves in football are done with one leg, this is critical.
This workout may also help to strengthen the stability of our bodies. Every time we land in a lunge stance, we must retain our balance in order to instantly do the following leap. Each leap causes a force to be exerted on the ground; jump as high as you can.
The legs leap back and forth, like scissors opening and shutting. We may also land on the same foot in the same position every time and finish the whole workout on one leg. Then swap legs and continue the motion.
We normally suggest completing 5-8 repetitions on each leg and repeating 3-5 sets while training.
- Lateral box jump
Lateral box jump training is the second sort of training. You’ll need a box or platform to leap on; stairs or other platforms will suffice.
Football players must do their greatest lateral box leaps since we do not just jump forward or upward throughout a game. This workout is just a slight change from regular box jumping, but it is still very good for you.
All of these plyometric workouts require you to push off the ground with maximal effort and jump as high as you can. So, every time you leap, you must continue to push yourself to jump higher.
Do 3-4 sets of 4-6 hops on each side of the box.
- Skater jump
The next exercise is the skater jump, which is a good training method for lateral jumping. It also improves our stability.
To perform the skater jump, jump to the other side with one foot and land on one foot. Keep challenging yourself to jump as high, far, and wide as possible.
Don’t use inertia to jump back and forth; that’s meaningless. because it can’t achieve the effect of training stability. So we must pay attention to the landing after each jump. This training recommends that you do 3–4 sets, each leg 10–12 times.
that you do 3–4 sets, each leg 10–12 times.
- Kneeling box jump
The kneeling box jump is similar to a regular box jump, except you start on your knees.
This requires the body to move faster and really engage those fast-twitch muscles. The whole process is from the knee to the foot, and then jumping up from the foot with force.
Or you can play freely. Jump with both feet and land with one foot. Or jump with your thighs and land with your legs.
In all of these exercises, we focus more on strength. Try to keep challenging yourself to jump higher every time. It is recommended to do 4-6 sets, 3-5 times in each set.
- Cont. bord jump
The last one is Cont. Bord Jump. This is a horizontal strength exercise, not a vertical one. Jump and land with both feet, connect them and immediately do the next jump as soon as you land. Every time you land on the ground, you must be stable, You have to pay more attention to stability.
We can also train with a single leg, or make any adjustments we want.
Again, the focus of this training is on strength, and the farther you jump each time, the better. It is recommended to do 4-5 sets of 4-6 reps each.
These improved explosive power and speed of soccer player training differ from the exercise bike training method, which focuses on thigh muscles and the core as the main training targets, whereas soccer training exercises primarily focus on explosive power and speed as a good training standard; a combination of the two is required to achieve the best leg training results.
