Football The game that makes millions of hearts throb as their favorite team kick and tackle their way to make maximum goals and reach the top of the table. It is a 90-minute crazy ride of adrenaline rush and emotions. But how and where did it all this madness began?

The history of football dates back to more than 100 years. It all began in England back in 1863. The rugby football and association football had parted their ways to different courses. Thus, the first sport’s governing body was formed.
A stroll down the century reveals that there were hordes of games varying with different techniques of football were played in different parts of the world.
There were parts of the world that played football employing only legs and feet, often without any laws or protection. Other parts of the world played using both hands and legs (referred to as rugby football).

The scientific evidence suggests that this sport was a exercise regime from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.
The similar game was played in Japan as Japanese Kemari. It began some 500600 years back, and is still played today. It’s a sport that lacks the competitive element, with no struggle for possession of the ball. It’s a game in which players stood in small circles with small gaps between them. All they have to do is pass the ball to each other with their feet, trying not to let the ball touch the ground.

The Han Dynasty’s version of football called Tsu’ Chu consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair which had an opening. The ball measured 3040cm in width into small nets (on each side) made of long bamboo canes. This game had did not permit the player to hit the target unimpeded. It allowed the use of chest, back, and shoulders while trying to tackle the attacks from opponents. This was the game closest to football that is played currently. Use of hands were not permitted.
The American football can be traced back to 1892. The purpose of American football carrying the ball in the hands to the opposition’s end and ultimately into their end zone, which is referred to as touchdown. It is achieved by either team running with the ball until tackled or throwing the ball down the filed to a team mate.

A football player requires all round athleticism irrespective of their field position. There would be certain aspects that may be more important to one position than another. It still plays a key role in developing core strength and abilities of a player.

The best workout regime for a football player is the one that help the player build up maximum strength, speed, agility, endurance, and explosiveness.
The best system is to use a 5X5 program. This allows the body to exert maximum force spread across multiple sessions. A 20 to 40 second of rest between each set is advisable to let the muscles breathe and avoid muscle fatigue.

Make sure that you make every muscle of your body work. When athletes target only a specific muscle, they often end up with injuries, during the workout sessions or on the field.

The basic outline of this workout session is 3 days of weight lifting for upper body, lower body, and full body explosiveness. Keep one day reserved for plyometrics (jump training) and another day for speed and agility work.

Upper body workout
The upper body workout consists of flat bench press, inclined dumbbell press for chest, rows for strengthening the back, shrugs to strengthen the deltoids, and military press for shoulders.

Lower body workout
Lower body workout usually involves strengthening the legs and lower back. Doing dead weight squats and front squats improves and strengthens the quadriceps (thigh muscles). Deadlifts helps in improving lower back posture and strengthening it at the same time. Leg curls strengthen your hamstrings and makes them lean at the same time. Calf raises work on strengthening your calf muscles. The last two exercises can be done on weight machines.

You can incorporate push press, power cleans, snatches and abs to add explosiveness.

Workout to increase speed, agility, and acceleration
Do a warm up (like jogging and dynamic stretching) of at least 5 minutes.

Acceleration
Do sprints and uphill sprints of 3X10m, 2X25m, and 2X20m respectively.

Speed
Increase the length of sprints to 4X40m and 3X60m to work on the speed.

Agility
A 4X20m shuttle which involves sprinting from one marker back to another corner. Do these in receptions.

It is important to keep in mind that you rest and recover before you begin another sprint. This will help you attain 7080% of what you accomplished in your previous run.

Ball control is the foundation of playing football. A football player can only master the technique of controlling the football if he or she is able to properly coordinate various parts of their body. There are a number of variations and combinations and methods that help in terms of controlling the ball.
A younger player develops his or her techniques with these set foundations that enable and motivate them to play the sport better and experience all the joy the sport can bring.
Here are a few techniques
Running with the ball:
When a player is running well with the ball, he or she should be to control it all times. This comes with good balance and excellent stability. Keeping the head up while running with the ball allows continuous flow of receiving information and modifying your movements to adapt to the play. Dribbling is the movement the player makes with the ball when faced by an opponent or an obstacle. It allows the player to keep the possession of the ball and eliminate one or more opponent at the same time.

Controlling the ball:
The controlling movements focuses on direct control of the ball and gathering control over the ball while moving ahead in the field. Speed is of essence in this play. Juggling the ball increases the dexterity of the football player and helps keep the ball in control.

Passing the ball:
Being an essential part of team-play, it is action of passing the ball (with foot) to a team-mate. Being one of the core component of the game, passing allows the team to keep the possession of the ball in the same team, change the direction of play, counter-attack, and provide a decisive or final pass. A type of short or long pass, called crosses usually leads to a shot. They generally serve as the last pass before the football player can score a goal. This brings us to the next part, shooting.

Shooting:
The main objective of shooting the ball is to kick-dispatch the ball into the opponent’s goal. It is a cumulation of an attack, which is what football is all about tackling your opponents all the way to take one final shoot at the ball and score a goal. Shooting the ball requires skills, how well the player can kick-shoot the ball with accuracy. Physical stamina, power coordination, balance, determination, audacity, and self-confidence play a vital role in this technique.