• University football teams employ specific workouts during the offseason to stay in shape and improve skills for the next season. While the most important aspect of offseason football workouts is strength training; endurance, speed and reflex exercises also play important roles in a football workout. Depending on the position, different skills may be more important to focus on during a workout.
  
  

Strength

• A typical strength training workout for university football includes exercises that work the core, chest, shoulders, legs, neck and trunk. These exercises may include dead lifts, bench presses, squats, power cleans, auxiliary lifts for lower body, chest and shoulders, lunges, hyperextensions and sit-ups. All university football workouts include some combination of these exercises or add others for maximum muscle development. Most strength training exercises in a university football workout require use of free weights or weight machines. Body weight is often not enough to build muscle to the level at which it needs to be to perform well on the football field. Different positions require different muscles to be stronger and so may focus on that muscle group more during strength training. For example, a quarterback must have strong shoulders, arms and core to achieve a powerful throw and so may do additional exercises to improve those muscle groups.
  
  

Speed and Endurance

• Speed and endurance portions of university football workouts may be combined with strength training and agility exercises. For example, players lift lighter weights quickly for more repetitions and complete more sets. Plyometrics and Olympic lifts are common exercises used to enhance speed and agility. These exercises must first be performed properly before the player shifts his focus to how fast and how many repetitions he can complete. A speed ladder is also common for agility and speed. Speed ladders consists of slightly offset squares or spaces that players must quickly bounce through. They are commonly seen in the entertainment industry as tires that players quickly move through.
  
  

Drills and Plays

• Drills and plays are the most specific portion of a university football workout. They vary depending on the team and position or side of the ball. Offensive players run different plays and drills than defensive players while receivers run different plays and drills from linemen. Common drills include passing and catching drills, blocking drills, contact drills, running drills and agility drills. Each drill is meant to improve a specific set of skills that may not apply to all players or positions. Running plays is also important to a university football workout because it allows improvement of skills specific to each position and forms a more cohesive team.