The offseason is arguably the most important training time football players get all year. Not only is it the longest uninterrupted period athletes have to train (without interference from practices, games, and school commitments), it’s also the best shot players have at setting up a safe and successful season. 

The overall training goals of offseason strength and conditioning are to prepare athletes for the physical demands of the long season by developing muscle mass, maximum strength, and explosive power. But because the offseason can be quite long (anywhere from 3-5 months for most teams), training priorities will change depending on what stage players are in their offseason training phase. Breaking the offseason into three mini-phases (early, mid, and late) we can hone in on these training priorities and set players up for a healthy and productive competitive season.
 
1. Early Offseason
Let’s say you’ve got about 12 weeks to work with your athletes before the training camp starts. The first four weeks is what we’d call the early offseason, and marks a transition for athletes from low-volume, post-season training (if they’re doing any) to the ramp-up of the offseason. These first few weeks of training should be dedicated to taking a step back from football-specific preparation and looking instead at your players’ general athletic abilities.
 
By focusing these early weeks of training on helping players develop a foundation of general strength and power, you’ll set them up for greater returns when training gets more demanding later on. The priorities for early offseason training are to increase the general athletic capabilities of your football athletes. This includes addressing any mobility issues or muscle imbalances (which can lead to injury if ignored) and improving general aerobic work capacity. After all, if your players don’t have the aerobic capacity to recover adequately between plays, that impedes performance in a big way.
 
2. Mid Offseason
In our hypothetical 12-week off-season, the second month of training functions as the mid offseason and is all about ratcheting up training intensity. By now you’ve addressed your athletes’ major weaknesses, improved their work capacity, and developed a base of general strength and athletic ability. In other words, you’ve finished your foundation. Now it’s time to build on it.
 
In the weight room, your athletes should be able to now maintain good athletic positions under resistance. The mid offseason is the time to start adding weight, increasing players’ muscle mass and their ability to produce force in functional positions. If your athletes need guidance in making smart dietary choices to facilitate the growth of lean muscle tissue, now’s the time to nail down nutrition. And with a foundation of strength under their belts, your athletes should now be able to start honing their sprint mechanics and acceleration abilities—moving away from general aerobic capacity to developing more sport-specific conditioning skills. Buy-in from your athletes is crucial during this period, as training gets harder but camp is still far enough out to not be an immediate concern, so keep your athletes motivated to stay the course!
 
3. Late Offseason
The final four weeks of our 12-week offseason marks the lead-up to training camp and the most demanding period of training during this phase. As camp looms closer, training priorities should focus on maximizing power production and sharpening your athletes’ field-specific skills.
 
Athletes should see a transition in their strength training toward more football-specific movements, ones that place a premium on the development and expression of strength in conditions of speed (i.e., power). Explosive compound strength combinations like deadlifts and box jumps, or bench presses and explosive med ball throws, should also be a training priority in the late offseason to help athletes hone their ability to produce high levels of force quickly (i.e., power). And if you haven’t already introduced change of direction sprint training into your athletes’ conditioning, now’s the time! Increasing players’ exposure to the types of biomechanical and conditioning demands they’ll see on the field will translate directly to improved performance when camp arrives. (Bonus: by addressing proper sprint and COD mechanics during the off-season, you’ll reduce your players’ risk of pulled hamstrings the first week of camp!)
 
The Takeaway
The main objective in any offseason football training program is to get your athletes ready to play. And while specific training priorities may vary throughout the long offseason, the overarching goal will always be to help players stay safe on the field. By helping your players grow big and strong, develop power and explosiveness (to overpower opponents and hike up the score), and introduce them gradually to conditioning demands (from aerobic capacity to max-velocity sprints and COD drills), you’ll see proof of your program’s success in the health of your athletes all season long.

Free Resource for Football Coaches
Want to learn more about creating the safest and most effective offseason football training? Check out Volt Athletics’ free ebook “The Ultimate Guide to Off-Season Football Training.” This strength and conditioning resource was written by the Sport Performance department at Volt Athletics, in collaboration with our Strength Coach Advisory Board, chaired by legendary football strength coach Boyd Epley at the University of Nebraska.

About the Author
Jace Derwin, CSCS, RSCC, is the lead sport performance specialist at Volt Athletics, the official strength and conditioning provider of USA Football and the U.S. National Team. Volt provides individualized sport-specific training programs to athletes and teams, built by certified strength coaches, through cloud-based technology. To learn more about Volt Athletics, visit www.voltathletics.com and like on Facebook and follow on Twitter.