Soccer strength training · Apex, NC

Soccer strength training for the player who has to sprint again

A soccer player is never asked to lift a barbell in a match. She is asked to push the ground hard, stop on one leg and win a shoulder-to-shoulder duel. That is strength, just wearing cleats.

The worry we hear first

Parents tell us they don't want a soccer player who looks like a lineman.

Fair. That is not what strength does at this age. Early on, much of a young player's strength gain comes from learning to use the muscle they already have.

What changes is quieter. The burst off the mark gets sharper. The plant leg holds on the cut. The shove from a defender stops moving her off the ball.

Where the season wears players down

Club soccer is ball-heavy by design. Very little of the week goes to the legs and hips that carry every touch.

Then the calendar stacks: club, school season, tournaments, maybe ODP. Thousands of decelerations land on a body that was never built to absorb them.

Strength is the piece that turns that workload into fitness instead of fatigue.

The framework: build the body first, then use it hard. Ball work is what the player does. Strength is what she does it with. A stronger body handles more sprints, more cuts and more minutes before anything gives.

What we measure

Strength — the main lower-body lifts, scaled to age and experience, so we know what the legs can actually produce.
Jump height — countermovement and single-leg, left and right, in inches. A gap between legs is common in players with a dominant kicking foot, and the plant leg often tells the story.
First-step speed — because strength that doesn't show up in a start is not the strength we are after.
Movement and landing quality — how the hips and knees line up when she stops, squats and lands.

Jump and speed numbers are captured with Output Sports technology, then re-tested as training goes on.

A soccer athlete holding the bottom of a squat with an upright chest — Depth and position are owned before any load goes on the bar.

What a soccer player needs to be strong at

Hips and thighs — squats, hinges and split squats for the push behind acceleration.
One leg at a time — nearly every sprint stride, cut and shot happens on a single leg, so single-leg work carries most of the program.
Hamstrings — the muscles that slow the leg at top speed and take the strain late in a match.
Trunk and upper body — enough to hold position in a challenge and shield the ball.

Is it safe for a young player?

Supervised, progressive strength training has been reviewed by both the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Neither found harm to growth or growth plates. We walk through what they concluded here.

The riskier path is the common one: a full year of sprinting and cutting on a player with no strength base at all.

Where this comes from

How training works

Test first. Every player starts with a baseline, so the plan answers her numbers rather than a template.
Prepare the body. Hips, ankles and groin opened up, then braking and landing drills while she is fresh.
Power. Short, fast efforts such as jumps and throws, with full rest between them.
Strength. The main lifts, coached in a group of 3–5 so a coach sees every rep.
Re-test. Progress shows up as numbers you can compare, not a feeling from the sideline.

Load is planned around club and school soccer, and eased in heavy match weeks. How we think about weekly hours explains the reasoning.

A soccer athlete reaching through a single-leg deadlift with her standing knee soft — Balance on one leg under load is the same job as planting to strike a ball.

Coach Aaron demonstrating a pistol squat, a single-leg squat to full depth — **Pistol squat demo** A two-legged lift lets the stronger leg cover for the weaker one. One leg at a time, there is nowhere to hide.

Who coaches it

Coach Aaron Larmore is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with more than 20 years of coaching. His athletes have earned 150+ college scholarships, including 100+ at the Division I level, along with 14 High School All-Americans and 13 national team members. Most athletes in the program are 11 to 18.

Where we train

Small groups of 3–5 players at The Performance Academy, 1010 Classic Rd, Apex — a short drive from Cary, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina and Raleigh. Directions.

Coming from Pittsboro or Wendell? The same program runs online through the Athlete Academy app, with video feedback on her lifts and testing done in Apex.

Start with an Evaluation Day

Questions parents ask

Will lifting slow my soccer player down?

Not when it is coached for speed. Acceleration depends heavily on how hard the legs push into the ground, so strength usually makes a player quicker over the first few steps. We train it alongside sprint and jump work and test both, so you can see the effect instead of guessing.

How often should a soccer player strength train?

For most club players, two sessions a week is a solid base, with a third possible in the off-season. During the season we shorten sessions and plan around match days so she keeps her strength without arriving to games tired.

Can strength training lower ACL risk for girls in soccer?

Strength and landing control are among the most studied ways to reduce knee injury risk, and both are trained here. No program removes risk entirely, and pain or injury always goes to a medical professional first. Our article on ACL risk in girls soccer explains what families can do.

Does this replace her club fitness work?

No. Club fitness is usually running. This is the strength, braking and single-leg control that running alone does not build. We work around the club schedule, not over it.

Where is the gym?

The Performance Academy, 1010 Classic Rd, Apex, NC 27539. We train in person with families from Apex, Cary, Raleigh, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and Morrisville. Athletes in Pittsboro, Wendell and beyond train online, with testing in Apex.