Summer Football Training: What Football Players Should REALLY Be Doing This Offseason
- Jim Fultz
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
A lot of athletes think summer football training just means running routes, lifting a little, and showing up to camp.
But the athletes who make the biggest jumps between seasons usually attack the summer differently.
Summer is one of the biggest development windows football players get all year. During the season, the focus is usually on staying healthy, recovering, and maintaining performance. In the summer, athletes finally have the opportunity to truly improve physically.
This is where speed is developed. Strength is built. Explosiveness improves. Movement quality gets cleaned up. Confidence grows.
The athletes who separate themselves by August are rarely the ones doing random workouts every day. They are usually the athletes following a structured plan consistently.
Why Summer Football Training Matters
Football is one of the most physically demanding sports there is.
Athletes need:
Speed
Acceleration
Change of direction
Strength
Explosiveness
Mobility
Conditioning
Durability
You do not build those qualities during the season.
In-season training is important, but most athletes are balancing games, practices, recovery, soreness, school, and travel. The body is constantly trying to recover.
Summer gives athletes a chance to actually develop.
With fewer games and more recovery time, athletes can progressively improve strength, speed, movement efficiency, and power output in ways that are difficult to accomplish once the season starts.
A strong summer can completely change the trajectory of an athlete’s season.
What A GOOD Summer Football Program Should Include
Not all training programs are the same.
A good football performance program should focus on developing athletes physically while also keeping them healthy and progressing over time.
Speed Development
Speed is one of the biggest game changers in football.
But speed training is more than just running sprints.
Athletes should be working on:
Acceleration mechanics
Sprint posture
Force application
Change of direction
Lateral movement
Top-end speed development
Simply running conditioning drills every day does not automatically make athletes faster.
True speed training should be intentional and coached.
Strength Training
Strength is the foundation for almost every physical quality in football.
A properly structured strength program can help athletes:
Produce more force
Become more explosive
Improve resilience
Reduce injury risk
Handle contact better
However, one of the biggest mistakes many athletes make during the summer is jumping straight into max testing or extremely high intensity lifting without first rebuilding a proper training base.
After spring sports, inconsistent lifting schedules, or time away from structured training, many athletes need a General Physical Preparation (GPP) phase before true high-intensity work makes sense.
The reality is that day one maxes are often not true maxes anyway.
If an athlete has not trained consistently, their movement quality, work capacity, stability, and lifting efficiency may not be where they need to be yet. Immediately maxing out can increase fatigue, reinforce poor movement patterns, and sometimes even increase injury risk.
A good summer program should progressively build athletes back up before pushing maximal intensity.
That means developing:
Movement quality
Work capacity
Strength foundations
Mobility
Stability
Technical proficiency in the weight room
From there, athletes can safely progress into higher intensity strength and power phases throughout the summer.
The goal is not just to see how much weight an athlete can lift on day one.
The goal is building stronger, faster, more explosive athletes by the time the season actually begins.
Explosive Training
Football is explosive by nature.
Athletes should be training explosiveness through:
Plyometrics
Jumps
Med ball throws
Reactive drills
Sprint work
Explosive training helps athletes improve first-step quickness, power output, and overall athleticism.
Mobility & Recovery
One of the most overlooked areas of training is recovery and mobility work.
Football players often develop tight hips, stiff ankles, poor thoracic mobility, and movement compensations over time.
A good program should include:
Mobility work
Recovery strategies
Soft tissue work
Proper warm-ups
Movement preparation
The goal is not only performance, but durability throughout the season.
Conditioning
Football conditioning is not long-distance running.
Football is built around repeated high-intensity efforts with short recovery periods.
Conditioning should reflect the actual demands of the sport.
Athletes should develop:
Work capacity
Recovery between plays
Repeat sprint ability
Mental toughness
Conditioning should support speed and power development — not destroy it.
What Parents Should Look For In A Football Training Program
There are a lot of programs that simply try to exhaust athletes.
That is not the same thing as developing athletes.
Parents should look for programs that provide:
Qualified coaching
Structured progression
Speed development
Age-appropriate programming
Injury reduction focus
Performance testing
Coaching attention and feedback
Positive culture and accountability
Athletes should understand why they are doing something not just leave tired every day.
The best programs focus on long-term athletic development, not just making athletes sweat.
Should JV Athletes Train Differently Than Varsity Athletes?
Yes, but not completely differently.
The foundation of athletic development stays similar, but the focus and intensity often change depending on the athlete’s training age and experience level.
JV Athletes
Most JV athletes still need to build the foundation.
That includes:
Movement quality
Coordination
Body control
Basic strength development
Sprint mechanics
Confidence in the weight room
For younger athletes, mastering fundamentals matters more than chasing numbers.
JV athletes usually do not need advanced intensity methods or extremely high training volume.
They need structure, consistency, and coaching.
Varsity Athletes
Varsity athletes are often trying to maximize performance.
At this stage, athletes may need:
Higher force production
Increased intensity
More advanced strength development
Greater explosive output
Position-specific demands
Better recovery management
Varsity athletes are usually refining and maximizing performance, while JV athletes are still building the base.
Both levels matter.
One is building the foundation. The other is building on top of it.
The Biggest Mistakes Football Players Make During The Summer
One of the biggest mistakes athletes make is confusing hard work with smart training.
Some of the most common mistakes include:
Only doing skill work
Skipping strength training
Doing random workouts from social media
Too much conditioning
Never sprinting at full speed
Maxing out constantly
Ignoring recovery
Following programs with no progression
Sweating more does not automatically mean you are improving.
The best summer programs are structured, progressive, and focused on long-term athletic development.
Final Thoughts
The athletes who improve the most by August are usually not the athletes doing the most random work.
They are the athletes following a structured plan consistently.
Whether you are a JV athlete trying to build confidence and fundamentals, or a varsity athlete preparing for your biggest season yet, summer is an opportunity to separate yourself from the competition.
At JJR Next Level, our Athlete Performance Program focuses on developing speed, explosiveness, strength, mobility, conditioning, and long-term athletic development for football players of all levels.
Summer training is not just about working harder.
It is about training with purpose.
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