Need a Muscle Expert

[Reventon]

What kinds of exercises strengthen the fast-twitch muscles in your legs to help improve your kicking power? I want to try out next your the the football team (American football) for kicker, but I need to work on getting some more distance on my kicks.

[Ozzmanfloyd120]

For leg strength, I'm a fan of leg extensions and box-squats... I'm not sure if they help the "twitch" muscles you're asking about, but I know they're awesome for strength and balance.

[FordGT90Concept]

If you're looking to kick a ball farther, kicking balls into a net is probably the best exercise.

[Reventon]

No but I know there are specific exercises that target the muscles that help you kick farther. The slow-twitch muscles are the ones exercised with more common workouts, like squats and such.

[FordGT90Concept]

They are the same muscles. When you do heavy weight with low repetitions, your muscles will tend to contract slower. If you do light weight and high repetitions, your muscles will tend to contract faster.

[Reventon]

Well I know one-legged squats target these muscles. A one-legged squat is when you hold onto a pole or something of the sort and squat with one leg, while you have one leg contracted.

[Reventon]

I think stretching helps a lot. I also just read that exercises that move the muscles in your legs quickly can help my leg speed. This would be like sprinting and shit like that.

[FordGT90Concept]

Stretches are very important before and after any exercise. With swinging legs and arms, doing so violently can strain the muscles and tendons. Stretches keep the muscles and tendons limber preserving the joint(s) range of motion.


There is only three types of muscle tissue: smooth, skeletal, and cardiac. Smooth muscle tissue is in blood vessels and your intestines. Cardiac muscle tissue is only found in your heart. Both of those are almost exclusively involuntary. Skeletal muscles are voluntary an as the name suggests, they are connected to the skeleton and provide motion of joints. There isn't two types of muscles inside the skeletal muscles. How they behave is determined by numerous things including the condition of the nervous system, nutrition, and exercises.

As stated previously, if you are looking to run faster and kick farther, you need to focus on lower weight at high repetitions. Running and kicking balls into a net are good exercises. Also remember to stretch before and after you do your exercises.

[JC316]

Stretches are very important before and after any exercise. With swinging legs and arms, doing so violently can strain the muscles and tendons. Stretches keep the muscles and tendons limber preserving the joint(s) range of motion.


As stated previously, if you are looking to run faster and kick farther, you need to focus on lower weight at high repetitions. Running and kicking balls into a net are good exercises. Also remember to stretch before and after you do your exercises.

Stretching before a workout is actually a bad idea, your muscles are cold and lacking in blood flow so you can actually hurt them. If you absolutely want to stretch, do it right after your warm up. Stretching after a workout is important.

Now, one of the biggest things for power is to remain loose. You think that you should really FLEX to get the power, but you are looking for leg speed. Same way I generate power when I serve in tennis, I am small for a tennis player, but I generate huge power for my size by snapping my arm, not flexing it.

Other than that, practice, practice, practice.

[FordGT90Concept]

Oops, yeah. You should always start off your exercise with an at least 5 minute jog.

[paulieg]

In my years as a personal trainer, I worked with athletes all the time who were always looking for some new exercise that would be better than what they were already doing. What I told them is the truth, and any CSCS or trainer worth their salt will tell you the same thing. The squat IS the king of all lower body exercises. Not only will it build lower body strength, but it will help with explosiveness, speed and balance. However, you can't just do "cute" squats like hack or box. Just do squats with heavy weight and good form.

[JC316]

In my years as a personal trainer, I worked with athletes all the time who were always looking for some new exercise that would be better than what they were already doing. What I told them is the truth, and any CSCS or trainer worth their salt will tell you the same thing. The squat IS the king of all lower body exercises. Not only will it build lower body strength, but it will help with explosiveness, speed and balance. However, you can't just do "cute" squats like hack or box. Just do squats with heavy weight and good form.

Lunges are good too. For endurance, you can do the chair sits. Put your back to a wall, then bend your legs so it looks like you are sitting in a chair, then hold it there.... Bet that most beginners can't last more than a minute.

[paulieg]

Lunges are good too. For endurance, you can do the chair sits. Put your back to a wall, then bend your legs so it looks like you are sitting in a chair, then hold it there.... Bet that most beginners can't last more than a minute.

Lunges are not needed, if you do squats correctly. It will do less than 1/2 of the job while wasting energy. This video is a bit dramatic, but there is some truth to it, and it's funny...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nppzGV1U8y8

[Reventon]

Well supposedly stretches are the most important thing for a kicker. Having full flexibility in your legs and being able to follow through on your kicks is what is important.

[paulieg]

Well supposedly stretches are the most important thing for a kicker. Having full flexibility in your legs and being able to follow through on your kicks is what is important.

But the question was what "strengthens the fast twitch muscle" not "What will give me more flexibility for kicking", right? It's squats that will build raw power in the legs. Stretching is a different concept entirely.

[Reventon]

Read this:

First, consider the muscle groups involved in performing a punt or kick. The muscles involved in punting are the Thigh/hip flexors and Quadriceps. And, for performing a soccer style field goal or kickoff, the Adductors. Thigh flexors or hip flexors (See Arrow) main function is to raise your leg and swing it forward.The speed of these muscles does not come in the weight room.It never has and never will, and kicking a ball very far is proof of that.There are two keys to getting more speed in your kicking leg. First, is knowing how to condition your muscles for speed.Muscles are composed of basically two fiber types. One type (slow twitch fibers) for speed and endurance, the ability to move against heavy resistance and to perform repetitions without tiring. And another type of fiber (fast twitch fibers) for speed and fast muscle contractions.The speed comes by conditioning the fast twitch muscle fibers in your leg muscles to perform what is called a 'fast twitch response' – which basically means to contract with speed and acceleration.The bottom line is you cannot condition your muscles for speed using the same techniques you use to train for strength. You may think you are making your muscles faster with strength training but your muscles will know the difference.This is what most coaches, athletes and trainers have not grasped; and this is why athletes are often disappointed with their speed training results.

What we have discovered is that muscles are best conditioned for speed using a strategy of isometric exercises with resistance bands.This is a training technique that by it's very nature transfers speed qualities back into the muscles that are opposing them.Isometrics using the resistance band, the way we teach it and the way we will show you in the video, will unlock the blazing speed and quickness of your fast twitch fibers.Once you start to exercise your muscles using this type of training, you will likely discover that up until now those muscles have been underdeveloped, and you will notice dramatic increases in your speed and kicking distance in a matter of days.The second key to leg speed is knowing precisely which muscles to condition. The thigh flexor muscle is a primary muscle group responsible for leg speed in punting and kicking. Proper conditioning of the thigh flexor muscle will add additional yardage to your punts and kicks. This same principle applies to the other kicking muscles I have already mentioned.

Collectively as a group, the thigh flexors are among the strongest muscle groups in the body.Ironically, in spite of their incredible inherent strength, they are still found to be developed far below their full potential for speed in most athletes. With weak and slow thigh flexors, your kicking ability will be significantly affected more than you could ever imagine. The only way I have ever been able to effectively isolate the thigh flexors is with resistance bands. No other method is more effective. The only way I have ever been able to increase their contraction velocity is with isometric training. Again, No other method is more effective. The thigh flexor muscles form the foundation for dramatically improving your kicking distance. And unless you have applied isometric training to your thigh and leg muscles using the resistance band, you have a huge reservoir of untapped muscular energy just waiting to be released!In addition the thigh flexor muscles are also the primary muscle group responsible for sprinting speed - so by conditioning your thigh flexor for speed you will likely see improvements in your sprinting speed as well as your kicking abilities. By doing the exercises the way we show you, you can’t help but improve your athletic performance.

[paulieg]

Read this:

Yeah, ok...resistance bands is the solution. LOL Tell an NFL kicker that. How about you do a little experiment. Do heavy squats for 2 months and see how your kicking distance improves, then do fitness bands and see which helps more. I understand the concentric and eccentric movements and how they effect fast twitch muscle fibers. I've never seen giant rubber bands ever create the results gained by squats. They are ok for fine tuning after you've got your base power from squats.

Honestly, I'm trying to help. All of the little things to fine tune fast twich muscle fiber are great AFTER gaining base strength. That should always come first, period. If you are not able to squat 1.5x your current weight, chances are you are nowhere near maximizing base strength. I'm not just giving my opinion here. I'm stating the prevailing opinion of most certified strength and conditioning coaches.

[Reventon]

I'm 150lbs, so 225? I'm sure I could do like 200. I have naturally strong legs, partly from playing soccer for a good 6 years.

[JC316]

Yeah, ok...resistance bands is the solution. LOL Tell an NFL kicker that. How about you do a little experiment. Do heavy squats for 2 months and see how your kicking distance improves, then do fitness bands and see which helps more. I understand the concentric and eccentric movements and how they effect fast twitch muscle fibers. I've never seen giant rubber bands ever create the results gained by squats. They are ok for fine tuning after you've got your base power from squats.


Not necessarily. Kicking a field goal is much like serving in tennis, you don't need raw power to generate the SNAP required to get speed and distance. Take for example two servers in tennis, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal. Nadal is built like a tank, huge arms, insanely strong, etc. Roddick is a fit, but skinny guy and certainly not as strong as Nadal. Nadal's top speed is MAYBE 125MPH, Roddick has been clocked at 155MPH. Equipment is a factor, but maybe a 3MPH difference. They both use a similar style and what not, but Roddick has the gumby arm, he can snap his arm where Nadal can't.

You do need to have a core strength, but having more strength doesn't always mean more power.

[paulieg]

Well, see what you can do for 4-6 reps with good form. You should get someone you trust to show you how to do them properly. If you don't, you can and will hurt yourself. You need to go low enough but not too far. Partials don't count.

Not necessarily. Kicking a field goal is much like serving in tennis, you don't need raw power to generate the SNAP required to get speed and distance. Take for example two servers in tennis, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal. Nadal is built like a tank, huge arms, insanely strong, etc. Roddick is a fit, but skinny guy and certainly not as strong as Nadal. Nadal's top speed is MAYBE 125MPH, Roddick has been clocked at 155MPH. Equipment is a factor, but maybe a 3MPH difference. They both use a similar style and what not, but Roddick has the gumby arm, he can snap his arm where Nadal can't.

You do need to have a core strength, but having more strength doesn't always mean more power.

I'd bet anything that both Roddick and Nadal formed their core lower body strength from squats. I do understand your point though. I'm not advocating he turn himself into a monster to kick better. At some point it could be counterproductive. I'm just saying that it is the best exercise to gain base strength.

[Kurosagi]

well strength in leg is part of the work but you would need to do the correct technique to be able to kick it far,if you was just building muscle in leg then just do a lot of weights that focus on all the legs and make sure you keep up your cardio work in the process.
Of course training to do it is important aswell.

[Reventon]

I plan on practicing my from and technique during the summer. And obviously getting my flexibility up.

[Steevo]

Whey with a creatine suppliment, stretching for no more than 30 seconds, test your strength and then alternate between sets.

Use a band to work out, a trainer can show you how. YOu can even do some excercise just flexing opposite muscle groups and holding it. Try flexing your leg like you are going to kick and hold it with your knee partially bent.


Weight exercise increases strength in the slow twitch muscle, but you still need that, so try doing one day per week of strength training on targeted muscles, and two days of strength training on supporting muscles. Then three days per week of band work, and then one off, spreading it out.


So monday band, tuesday supporting muscle strength, wednsday band, thursday supporting muscles, friday strength, saturday band, and sunday off.

[Reventon]

Do you mean no more than 30 seconds at a time? Because I am going to need to stretch for at least 10 minutes a day.

[Steevo]

No more than 30 seconds per muscle at time, more than that is a waste and offers no benefit.

[dcf-joe]

Another excellent exercise is doing leg presses. Besides doing squats, leg presses are probably the second best leg muscle builder. If you are wanting to be fast, then you should do low weight with high repetition. Or if you want to be a little bit slower, then you could obviously do high weights with low repetition.