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Exercises

Strength training for athletes: power, legs, upper body and trunk

Published October 29, 2026

Strength training for athletes is built on a few movement patterns trained hard and fast: power from power cleans, box jumps and rotational med ball throws; legs from back squats, trap bar deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts and Bulgarian split squats; upper body from the bench press, landmine press, chin-ups and one-arm rows; and trunk from Pallof presses and Copenhagen planks. Lift three days a week in the off-season and two short days in season, put power work first, and keep most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure.

  1. Power Clean Glutes, Hamstrings, Traps
  2. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  3. Trap Bar Deadlift Quads, Glutes
  4. Bulgarian Split Squat Quads, Glutes
  5. Chin-Up Lats
  6. Barbell Bench Press Chest
  7. Pallof Press Abs

Power first

Fast, explosive work goes at the start of a session, when you are fresh enough to move at full speed. One lift, one jump and one throw cover the vertical, horizontal and rotational power most sports use.

Full-body power

Power Clean

Glutes, Hamstrings, Traps

The power clean trains the whole body to produce force fast, from the floor to the catch. It is the classic lift of athletic programs because it rewards speed over grinding strength.

How to do it

  1. Set up like a deadlift with the bar over your midfoot and your hands just outside your legs.
  2. Lift the bar to your knees with your back flat, then drive hard through the floor as it passes your thighs.
  3. Shrug and pull yourself down under the bar, rotating your elbows forward fast.
  4. Catch it on your shoulders in a quarter squat, then stand up.

Cues

  • Slow off the floor, fast past the knees
  • Elbows fast
  • Catch high, then stand

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms early: keep them long until the legs and hips finish.
  • Catching with low elbows: whip them forward so the bar sits on your shoulders.

Swap for: Hang Clean, Clean Pull, Kettlebell Clean & Press

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Lower-body power

Box Jump

Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings

A few box jumps before the heavy lifts prime the legs and train takeoff power with little fatigue. For athletes, the box is a target to land on quietly, not a height to chase.

How to do it

  1. Stand a short step from a sturdy box.
  2. Dip into a quarter squat and swing the arms back.
  3. Spring onto the box and absorb the landing quietly.
  4. Straighten up on top, then step back down.

Cues

  • Quick dip
  • Soft landing
  • Step down

Common mistakes

  • Using a box so tall you land in a deep squat: lower the box.
  • Jumping tired: keep sets short.

Swap for: Jump Squat, Lateral Box Jump, Single-Leg Box Jump

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Rotational power

Med Ball Rotational Throw

Abs

Swinging, throwing, hitting and tackling all turn the hips before the arms. Throwing a med ball sideways into a wall trains that turn at full speed, from both sides.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to a wall in your hitting stance, holding a medicine ball at your back hip.
  2. Load into the back leg as you would before a swing.
  3. Turn the hips hard and throw the ball into the wall.
  4. Catch, reset, and repeat. Train both sides.

Cues

  • Load, then turn
  • Hips lead the arms
  • Throw through the wall

Common mistakes

  • Throwing only with the arms: start with the back hip.
  • Training only your dominant side: do both directions.

Swap for: Med Ball Woodchop, Landmine Rotational Press, Cable Woodchop

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Lower-body strength

A squat, a heavy hinge, a hamstring hinge and a single-leg lift. Together they build the force behind sprinting, jumping, tackling and changing direction, on two legs and on one.

Leg strength

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The back squat lets you load the legs heavier than any other exercise, and lower-body strength underpins sprinting and jumping. Sets of 3 to 6 build it without much muscle soreness.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar across your upper back below the neck, hands just outside your shoulders, and unrack it.
  2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little.
  3. Breathe in, tighten your stomach as if bracing for a punch, and sit down between your heels.
  4. Stand back up keeping your chest and hips rising together.

Cues

  • Breathe and brace
  • Chest and hips rise together
  • Whole-foot pressure

Common mistakes

  • Hips shooting up first out of the bottom: lighten the bar and keep your chest rising with them.
  • Letting the stomach go soft between reps: re-brace at the top of each one.

Swap for: Front Squat, Box Squat

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Hip and leg strength

Trap Bar Deadlift

Quads, Glutes

The trap bar lets an athlete pull heavy from an upright, jump-like stance with less lower-back stress than a straight bar. It is a heavy lower-body lift that is easy to coach in a team setting.

How to do it

  1. Step inside the trap bar with the handles beside your feet.
  2. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and grip the handles.
  3. Flatten your back, take the slack out, and stand up by pushing the floor away.
  4. Lower under control. Each warm-up set adds weight toward your working sets.

Cues

  • Push the floor away
  • Flat back
  • Slack out before you pull

Common mistakes

  • Yanking the bar off the floor: pull the slack out first.
  • Rounding the back as the weight climbs: hold the ramp until the setup is solid.

Swap for: Barbell Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Kettlebell Deadlift

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Hamstrings and glutes

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

The Romanian deadlift loads the hamstrings through a long stretch, the range they work in when you sprint and decelerate. It complements the squat and trap bar, which load the knees more.

How to do it

  1. Stand with a barbell at your thighs, hands just outside your legs, feet under your hips.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back, sliding the bar down your thighs.
  3. Stop when your hamstrings are fully stretched, usually just below the knee, with your back flat.
  4. Push your hips forward to stand up, glutes tight at the top.

Cues

  • Hips back
  • Bar stays on your legs
  • Back flat

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat: keep them soft and still.
  • Reaching for the floor: stop where your back would round.

Swap for: Weighted Back Extension

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Single-leg strength

Bulgarian Split Squat

Quads, Glutes

Most of sport happens on one leg at a time. The split squat builds each leg on its own and shows if one side is behind, without needing a heavy bar.

How to do it

  1. Set the top of your back foot on a bench and place your front foot a long stride ahead.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, and keep your front foot flat.
  3. Drop your back knee straight toward the floor until the front thigh is close to level.
  4. Press through the front foot to rise, then finish all reps before switching legs.

Cues

  • Go deep for the inner thigh
  • Front foot flat
  • Rear foot is just a kickstand

Common mistakes

  • Pushing up with the back leg: let it relax and make the front leg do the work.
  • Front knee collapsing inward: keep it pointed the same way as your toes.

Swap for: Dumbbell Split Squat, Step-Up, Reverse Lunge

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Upper-body strength

Pair every press with a pull. The bench and landmine press build pushing strength for blocking, fending and throwing, while chin-ups and rows keep the back and shoulders strong enough to match.

Upper-body pushing strength

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

The bench press is the heaviest upper-body push most athletes can do, and pushing strength matters in blocking, fending off and contact. Keep the reps lower in season.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, and squeeze your shoulder blades back and down into the pad.
  2. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulder width, unrack it, and hold it over your shoulders with locked elbows.
  3. Lower the bar to your lower chest, around nipple height, with your elbows angled roughly 45 to 70 degrees from your sides.
  4. Touch your chest without bouncing, then press the bar up and slightly back until it is over your shoulders again.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades stay pinned
  • Bar to the nipple line
  • Drive your feet into the floor

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: let them sit a bit closer to your ribs so your shoulders stay comfortable.
  • Lifting your hips off the bench to finish a rep: keep your glutes down and count that rep as your last.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

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Standing one-arm press

Landmine Press

Shoulders

Pressing the end of a barbell from a standing stance, one arm at a time, trains the shoulder in an angle most shoulders tolerate well and makes the trunk resist rotation. It suits throwing and overhead athletes who avoid strict overhead pressing.

How to do it

  1. Wedge one end of an empty barbell into a landmine or a corner, and load the free end with plates.
  2. Stand facing the loaded end, feet about shoulder width, and lift the end of the bar to your upper chest.
  3. Wrap both hands around the sleeve end, elbows under the bar and close to your ribs.
  4. Squeeze your glutes and keep your ribs down, then press the bar up and forward along its arc until your arms are straight.
  5. Let your shoulder blades reach forward at the top, then lower under control until the bar is back at your chest.

Cues

  • Both hands on the sleeve
  • Press where the bar wants to go
  • Ribs down, glutes tight

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish the rep: if your chest tips back as the set goes on, take a plate off and keep your ribs stacked over your hips.
  • Pushing straight up against the arc: the bar is fixed at the floor, so aim up and forward and let it travel its own path.
  • Elbows flaring out wide: keep them under the bar so the press stays in line with your shoulders.

Swap for: Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Kettlebell Overhead Press, Dumbbell Shoulder Press

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Vertical pulling

Chin-Up

Lats

Chin-ups build the lats, upper back and biceps against your own body weight, a direct measure of relative strength. Add weight once you can do 8 clean reps.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with your palms toward you and hands shoulder-width.
  2. Pull your elbows down and back until your chin is over the bar.
  3. Lower to a full hang with straight arms.
  4. Keep your legs quiet and your body still between reps.

Cues

  • Palms toward you
  • Chin over the bar
  • Dead hang at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Kipping or kicking to finish: stop the set when you cannot pull cleanly.
  • Half reps at the top: straighten your arms fully every time.

Swap for: Close-Grip Chin-Up, Assisted Pull-Up

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Horizontal pulling, one arm

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Lats, Upper Back

Rowing one arm at a time balances all the pressing and lets each side work fully on its own. Brace on a bench and load it heavy.

How to do it

  1. Put one hand and the same-side knee on a bench, or your hand on a chair seat with both feet on the floor, so your back is flat.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in the other hand with your arm hanging straight.
  3. Pull your elbow back toward your hip until the dumbbell reaches your ribs.
  4. Lower it until your arm is straight again, finish all reps, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Elbow to your hip
  • Back flat as a table
  • Full stretch at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Twisting your chest open to lift the dumbbell higher: keep both shoulders level.
  • Shrugging the shoulder up toward your ear: pull the elbow back, not the shoulder up.

Swap for: Band Bent-Over Row, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, Seated Cable Row

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Trunk and adductors

Athletes need a trunk that resists being twisted and inner thighs that handle hard cuts and wide stances. These two train exactly that and take little time at the end of a session.

Anti-rotation trunk strength

Pallof Press

Abs

Holding a cable straight out in front of you while it pulls you sideways trains the trunk to stay still against a twisting force, the job it does in contact and in every cut.

How to do it

  1. Set a cable at chest height, stand side-on to it and grip the handle two-handed at your chest.
  2. Step away until the cable pulls, feet hip-width.
  3. Press the handle straight out, hold for two seconds without turning, then bring it back.

Cues

  • Hands on the midline
  • Don't turn
  • Hold it out

Common mistakes

  • Standing too close, so the cable barely pulls.
  • Letting the arms drift toward the stack.

Swap for: Cable Woodchop, Landmine Twist

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Adductor strength

Copenhagen Plank

Adductors, Abs

The Copenhagen plank loads the inner thighs with body weight, a muscle group most lifting programs leave out even though cutting and kicking sports depend on it.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your side next to a flat bench or sturdy chair, propped on your bottom forearm with the elbow under your shoulder.
  2. Lay your straight top leg on the seat so the inside of your foot and ankle rest on it; tuck the bottom leg under it or let it rest on the floor.
  3. Press the top foot down into the seat and raise your hips until your body runs in one line from head to feet.
  4. Hold for the set's time or lower and raise your hips for reps, then turn over and do the other side.

Cues

  • Push the seat away with your top foot
  • Hips stacked, not rolled back
  • Breathe while you hold

Common mistakes

  • Starting with the foot on the seat before you can hold a side plank: rest your knee there instead until 30-second holds feel solid.
  • Hips drifting backward so the plank turns into a pike: keep your hips in line with your shoulders.

Swap for: Band Hip Adduction, Cossack Squat, Balance Board Lateral Squat

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

Off-season, three days a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets48 a week
  • Per workout~55 min
  • EquipmentPlyo Box, Barbells, Dumbbells, Flat Bench +5

You have a training history, your season is over, and you have two to four months to get stronger and more powerful before preseason.

The off-season is when strength gets built, so the week has the most volume: 48 working sets across a lower day, an upper day and a power day. Heavy sets stay at 2 reps in reserve, enough to drive strength without grinding.

Day 1: Lower strength
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Box Jump 4 × 3 3 90 s
Barbell Back Squat3 warm-up sets first 4 × 3–5 2 3:30 min
Romanian Deadlift 3 × 6–8 2 2:30 min
Bulgarian Split SquatPer leg. 3 × 6–8 2 2 min
Copenhagen PlankSeconds per side. 3 × 15–30 2 1 min

Open Day 1: Lower strength in the session builder

Day 2: Upper strength
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 4 × 4–6 2 3 min
Chin-Up 4 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
Landmine PressPer arm. 3 × 6–8 2 90 s
One-Arm Dumbbell RowPer arm. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
Pallof PressPer side. 3 × 8–10 2 1 min

Open Day 2: Upper strength in the session builder

Day 3: Power
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Power Clean3 warm-up sets first 5 × 2–3 3 2:30 min
Med Ball Rotational ThrowPer side. 3 × 5–6 3 75 s
Trap Bar Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3 min
One-Arm Dumbbell RowPer arm. 3 × 10–12 2 75 s

Open Day 3: Power in the session builder

How to run it
Lift on three non-consecutive days, such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Do conditioning and skill work on the other days, and keep the power day at least 48 hours away from the lower day.
How to progress
Use double progression: add 5 to 10 pounds when every set reaches the top of its rep range at the target reps in reserve. Every fourth or fifth week, cut the sets in half for a lighter week before pushing on.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

In season, two short sessions

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentPlyo Box, Trap Bar, Pull-Up Bar, Adjustable Cable +4

You are competing every week and practicing several times, and you want to keep the strength you built without carrying fatigue into games.

In season, practice and games take most of your recovery, so each session drops to 11 working sets at 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Low volume with heavy loads is meant to hold strength and power, not build them.

Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Box Jump 3 × 3 3 90 s
Trap Bar Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–4 3 3 min
Chin-Up 3 × 5–6 2 2 min
Pallof PressPer side. 2 × 8–10 2 1 min

Open Day A in the session builder

Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Med Ball Rotational ThrowPer side. 3 × 4–5 3 1 min
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 3 2:30 min
Bulgarian Split SquatPer leg. 3 × 5–6 3 90 s
Copenhagen PlankSeconds per side. 2 × 15–20 3 1 min

Open Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Do Day A early in the week, about three days after a game, and Day B at least two days before the next one. With two games in a week, do Day A only.
How to progress
Do not chase new maxes. Keep the off-season loads; if a set moves fast at 3 reps in reserve, add 5 pounds. If you feel flat in games, drop one set from every lift.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

First year in the weight room

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets33 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, Dumbbells, Adjustable Cable +2

You are a high school or college athlete, or an adult picking up a sport, and you have lifted little or not at all.

In your first year, almost any well-done strength work makes you stronger, so the plan teaches the main patterns with moderate weights at 3 reps in reserve. Two alternating full-body days, three times a week, give each pattern 3 to 6 sets a week.

Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Back Squat2 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–8 3 2:30 min
Barbell Bench Press1 warm-up set first 3 × 6–8 3 2 min
One-Arm Dumbbell RowPer arm. 3 × 8–12 3 90 s
Pallof PressPer side. 2 × 8–12 3 1 min

Open Day A in the session builder

Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Box Jump 3 × 3 3 75 s
Romanian Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–8 3 2:30 min
Chin-Up 3 × 3–8 2 2 min
Bulgarian Split SquatPer leg. 2 × 8–10 3 90 s

Open Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Lift three times a week on non-consecutive days and alternate A and B: A, B, A one week, then B, A, B the next. Learn the power clean from a coach later; box jumps cover power for now.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds to the squat and Romanian deadlift and the smallest jump to the bench and rows each time every set reaches the top of the rep range at 3 reps in reserve. After three months, move to 2 reps in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is the best strength training routine for athletes?

A routine that trains power, squats, hinges, single-leg lifts, presses, pulls and trunk work, three days a week in the off-season and two in season. The plans on this page follow that split: lower, upper and power days, then two short full-body days in season.

What are the 5 basic strength exercises?

Most programs are built on five patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull and single-leg work, often with a carry or trunk exercise as a sixth. For athletes that is the back squat, trap bar deadlift, bench press, chin-up and Bulgarian split squat.

What are the best strength exercises for athletes?

Power cleans, back squats, trap bar and Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats, bench press, chin-ups, one-arm rows and box jumps. Add a trunk exercise like the Pallof press and the Copenhagen plank for the adductors.

How often should athletes lift during the season?

Twice a week, short and heavy, with fewer sets than the off-season. One session in weeks with two or more games. The goal in season is to keep strength, not to build it.

Will lifting make athletes slower or bulky?

Not when the lifting is aimed at strength and power. Low-rep heavy sets and fast lifts make athletes stronger without much added weight. Size gain is slow and depends mostly on eating more.