Will training at the gym slow you down on the pitch?

Bold talk! Many athletes who follow RumoAoPro send messages asking if strength training at the gym can slow them down and today we will be clarifying this issue and revealing the myths and truths about strength training.

There's a bit of truth when some people say that training in the gym and getting big can slow you down, but that will only happen if you train the wrong way. Otherwise, when strength and gym training is implemented in the right way, it will only benefit the athlete.

Let's create a situation as an example in which 2 players, player A would be Éverton Cebolinha and player B would be Gil from Corinthians, will perform a squat with the free barbell, and let's assume that the 2 players will perform 1 repetition with the maximum load that they can lift. 

Continuing with our example, the Corinthians defender and the Grêmio striker manage to lift 150kg, concluding that they have the same strength, right? More or less, Gil managed to complete the squat movement in just 3 seconds, on the other hand, Éverton took 5 seconds to do the same. This means that even though they have lifted the same weight, Gil is stronger than Everton because he can apply his strength with greater speed and that is the fundamental point. 

It's no use being a player who lifts kilos and kilos and isn't able to use that strength on the soccer field, and that's why we at RumoAoPro are so insistent that you have to work to become a functionally strong player. and not just look strong because you have a 40cm bicep.

Moving on, let's take a look at shooting and sprinting situations. The amount of time your foot touches the ground is minimal. In other words, you have very little time to apply your strength to the ground and propel your body forward. In fact, it takes .6 to .8 seconds to produce its maximum force and when we are taking a step or running we don't have enough time for that. Therefore, our maximum force in this situation is irrelevant, what matters is how fast you can apply force that you have on the ground.

In conclusion, training at the gym will not slow you down, but to become a strong and fast player at the same time, you must focus on training that, in addition to working on your strength, will also address your explosion and mobility, as this you will be able to use that strength in different movements and directions and that way you will become a player that nobody will want to play against.

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