Arm strength is one piece of the skill set needed by a quarterback, but it’s a key component to make the necessary throws.

Improving this area is not simply a matter of strengthening the arm. A quarterback needs all of the muscles in his body to work in harmony.

Evan Burk is a former offensive assistant at UCLA. He said additional throwing outside of practice and a standard weightlifting regimen are common tactics taken by young QBs, but this is not always the best approach.

Here’s an offseason approach Burk laid out for quarterbacks trying to increase their arm strength:

Two or three throwing sessions per week with 150 180 throws per session

Start with warm-up throws of approximately 10 yards to get the arm loose

Go through every phase of the passing game, completing 10 passes of each route that might be called. “Every single rep matters, because this is where a QB develops that timing with his receivers,” Burk said. “You want to get comfortable with all those different throws and be able to go 10-for-10 on each route.”

Throw the same routes, but add a defender or multiple receivers to the formation to practice different situations that might occur in a game. “You need to go through reads and learn to anticipate how your receivers might break and what the defense might look like,” Burk said. “Learning that muscle memory will help you make those throws with more strength and precision each time.”

End the workout with cone drills to improve footwork. Drop backs, agility drills and moving around in the pocket all help improve leg strength and mobility.

As for the weight room, here are exercises Burk suggests to strengthen muscle groups:

Squats

Leg lifts

Lunges

Crunches

Medicine ball workouts

Opening door with resistance band

“A football player builds his strength from the ground up,” Burk said. “Arm strength doesn’t necessarily come from strong arms. It has a lot do with legs, hips and core muscles, which generate a lot of power. Those core muscles will also help you absorb hits, which are most often delivered to the midsection.”

A simple test to determine how arm strength is improving is to stand at the goal line and throw the ball as far as possible. Take the average of the five throws and see how it compares to previous results.