Anthony Turner is the programme leader for MSc Strength & Conditioning at Middlesex University.

I’ve just come back from a serious groin injury. What exercises can I do to strengthen it for football?
Daniel Edgar, via e-mail
Following injuries of this type – muscle tears – it's important to reduce the quantity of scar tissue laid down as part of the healing process.

Scar tissue is less extensible than muscle tissue and unless you undergo a stretching protocol local to that area, you could find yourself with a reduced range of motion at the hip and a high probability of reoccurrence (because what you could once do relatively easy is now overstretching).

Therefore, do plenty of stretching for that area but of course, you need to stretch it through the specific planes of motion that will challenge it in a game of football.

It's no good having excellent flexibility in a direction you will never actually use. Athletes faced with this problem perform unloaded squats, trying to get as low as possible.

This movement naturally stretches the groin and the movement is specific to football. Following this, start to increase your stance width (thus increasing the intensity of the stretch) and then finally, squatting with your feet in different positions – one foot in front of the other or at an angle to the other.

Gradually start to increase the load and speed of movement to again be sure to meet the specific challenges faced by the groin with each game.


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I’m a goalkeeper and I want to improve my throwing. What muscles should I work on? And what exercises can I do?
James Stewart, via e-mail 
You need to undergo a strength-training programme and your exercise selection needs to be specific to the movement skill (to ensure a carryover from the gym to the field).

So, specific to throwing, obviously depending on which throw you are referring to, is the dumbbell fly and the dumbbell bent-arm-pullover.

As always, master the technique with light weights and plenty of reps and then gradually start to reverse this. That is, progress to heavy weights and few reps.

Now that being said, as is the case with most football skills (and generally all the skills across all the sports), the majority of power is produced by the legs.

Think about boxers: the best ones generate their power from their legs, whilst the rubbish ones swing from the shoulder.

To further prove my point, try this: throw the ball as far as you can two times, however, for one throw use your full body and for the other, use only your chest and arms (i.e., keep your feet planted and your leg muscles relaxed).

Let me know how you get on! So once again, and certainly not for the last time, I find myself prescribing the back squat.

The dumbbell fly:

Start with arms outstretched to the side


Maintaining that slight bend in the elbow raise the dumbbells above the chest


Start with arms outstretched behind the head


Maintaining that slight bend in the elbow raise the dumbbell above the chest

What’s the best kind of running training I can do for football?
Russell Taylor, via e-mail 
A common theme to all my answers is that you must be specific. Therefore, long distance (and therefore slow-velocity) running is applicable and a valuable tool.

After all, you do track back and jog here and there. However, more often than not, you perform short sprints in multi-directions.

Your running programme therefore needs to reflect this. So, jog a bit, sprint a bit, jog a bit (to catch your breath), sprint a bit and so on.

If you can, sometimes sprint off to the left or right or run at an angle. Try to keep mixing up the amount of time you spend jogging and sprinting to again reflect the demands/specifics of the game.

As you get fitter, more and more of your run should be spent sprinting.


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