Football athlete accelerating from a sprint stance on a practice field

Training guide

Football training program.

A real football training program is more than a lift and a run. It builds speed, strength, power, conditioning, recovery, and nutrition into one weekly structure — and it changes based on your position, your schedule, and your current numbers. This guide shows what that actually looks like, with a free sample week and the performance benchmarks each position group trains toward.

01 / The structure

What a football program has to cover

SPEED & ACCELERATION

Football speed is won in the first ten yards. Field sessions train starts, acceleration mechanics, and max-velocity work at full recovery — never as conditioning.

STRENGTH & FORCE

The weight room builds the force behind every sprint and collision: posterior-chain strength, single-leg force, and upper-body armor for contact.

REPEAT SPRINT CONDITIONING

Games are repeated short bursts with incomplete rest. Conditioning sessions train that exact work-to-rest tolerance instead of slow, steady cardio.

RECOVERY & NUTRITION

Adaptation happens between sessions. Restoration days, sleep, and a fueling plan matched to body weight and training load keep the whole week working.

02 / Sample week

A free sample training week

Four days, the way a performance staff would lay them out: speed fresh on Monday, force work Tuesday, upper-body power Thursday, repeat-sprint capacity Saturday. Every exercise links to a form video.

MON

ACCELERATION / MAX VELOCITY

First-step projection and upright speed · 55 min
TUE

LOWER STRENGTH / FORCE

Force production and posterior-chain resilience · 70 min
THU

UPPER POWER / ARMOR

Collision strength and shoulder durability · 65 min
SAT

REPEAT SPRINT CAPACITY

Football-specific work-to-rest tolerance · 45 min

03 / Benchmarks

Performance targets by position

These are the testing ranges each position group trains toward — from group average up to top-tier marks. A good program grades where you are now and attacks the biggest gap first.

PositionEventTarget range
WR / RB / DB40-YARD DASH4.36–4.52 SEC
10-YARD SPLIT1.50–1.57 SEC
20-YARD SHUTTLE4.05–4.24 SEC
VERTICAL JUMP35.5–40 IN
BENCH 22515–22 REPS
QUARTERBACK40-YARD DASH4.60–4.81 SEC
10-YARD SPLIT1.60–1.68 SEC
20-YARD SHUTTLE4.15–4.35 SEC
VERTICAL JUMP31–35 IN
BROAD JUMP111–120 IN
LB / TE40-YARD DASH4.50–4.69 SEC
10-YARD SPLIT1.55–1.63 SEC
THREE-CONE6.85–7.06 SEC
VERTICAL JUMP33.5–38 IN
BENCH 22521–27 REPS
OL / DL40-YARD DASH4.85–5.11 SEC
10-YARD SPLIT1.68–1.78 SEC
20-YARD SHUTTLE4.45–4.66 SEC
BROAD JUMP105–113 IN
BENCH 22524–32 REPS
K / P / LS40-YARD DASH4.72–4.95 SEC
10-YARD SPLIT1.63–1.72 SEC
20-YARD SHUTTLE4.25–4.45 SEC
VERTICAL JUMP29–33.5 IN

04 / Fueling

The nutrition side of the program

PROTEIN

Roughly 0.9–1.0 g per pound of body weight per day anchors muscle repair and keeps power output climbing.

CARBOHYDRATE

Carbs are fuel, scaled to training load — more on field and conditioning days, timed around the hardest sessions.

HYDRATION

A baseline near 0.65 oz per pound of body weight, plus extra on training days, keeps speed work sharp.

Get your version of this program

RACKED Performance builds the full program around you — your position, your schedule, your equipment, your test numbers, and your diet — with every exercise, coaching cue, and macro target filled in.

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