Kicker Weight Lifting Simplified: Becoming a more explosive athlete while maintaining flexibility and good kicking mechanics will help you kick the ball farther and higher. Lifting weights with your team is the easiest way to get stronger. Most coaches have access to good information and design solid off-‐season programs. Transitioning from cross country to track? Use this 2-week training plan from STACK Expert Andrew Meyers. Today's NFL players are bigger, faster and stronger than ever before, but you may be surprised by how the game's biggest stars spend their time in the weight room. Players are no longer intent on packing on pounds of muscle in the off-season. Instead, the focus has shifted to football exercises that.

One player who knows the importance of speed? Treston Decoud. The former Oregon State cornerback was recently drafted by the Houston Texans thanks to his combination of size, speed and athleticism. 'Speed is everything—speed kills. That's what a lot of NFL coaches, college coaches, high school coaches look for,' Decoud told STACK.

Decoud hones his speed under the guidance of speed and conditioning coach J.J. McCleskey, a former cornerback who played six seasons in the NFL and is now director of training movements at ME Sports in Madisonville, Louisiana. McCleskey firmly believes efficiency and explosiveness are two pillars of speed. 'Speed is everything in the National Football League, but [it's about] being able to be efficient with your speed.

In and out of cuts, those transitional parts. Everyone talks about running the 40, but you never run a 40 in football. Being able to start and stop and be violent coming out of your transitions is important,' McCleskey says.

McCleskey also knows that an athlete can never reach his full speed potential if one leg is stronger or more powerful than the other. That's why he emphasizes single-leg training during his workouts. 'We're trying to get both legs even. Most people's right leg is stronger than their left leg. So we really want to concentrate on single-leg movements. You play football, you play other sports, on one leg,' McCleskey says.

'Speed is measured by how much force you put into the ground. If I'm running and my right leg is stronger, I'm decelerating [every other step] because my left leg isn't putting the same force into the ground. Just getting that left leg stronger will get you considerably faster.' Kerser When You Roll Thru Mp3 Download.

To build NFL-level speed and explosiveness, integrate these drills from McCleskey into your training. Circle-Around-The-Cone Drill This drill is about body control and the critical transition that occurs between short-area footwork and sprinting. The setup here is simple—all you need is one cone right next to you and a pair of cones about 5 to 8 yards downfield as your finish line. Begin on either the left or right side of the cone. To start, shuffle in front of the cone before backpedaling behind it.