Recently, I wrote an article about how to build your leg muscles like a Parkour pro. Not only do I love to explore how to cross train other sports workouts into my own, so did a lot of friends whom I shared the information with. This week I am going to do the same thing; however, I am going to use some soccer exercises.

Soccer players have extremely strong leg muscles, but they also know how to use them for speed and for endurance. This routine will help.

First exercise is the one-legged squat. To do this prepare for a regular squat without weight. Then find something to hold for balance and lift your left leg out in front of you. Then, squat using your right leg only, using a chair, tree, etc. for balance. Do ten reps, and then switch legs.

Follow this up by doing an uphill sprint. Ideally, you can find a stretch of road with an incline to accommodate a quarter mile sprint. If not, you can use a treadmill on high speed with an incline. Or lastly a flat track sprint for a quarter mile. Whatever mode you choose, come back to the start with a slight jog. The purpose of an uphill run is that it forces you to drive your knees higher and push harder to propel forward.

Once back at the starting position, it is time for some plyometrics. Plyometric exercises are explosive and build speed and strength. One such exercise is an explosive jump or frog hop. Here you get into a squat stance and slowly lower your body until your quads are parallel. Then, you need to jump into the air as high and as fast as you can. Once you land, slowly lower your body until your quads are parallel once again and repeat for ten reps.

Now, go do another sprint.

The last exercise in this series is designed for speed and control. Get some chalk or something to mark off a square. You want each of the four corners to be one stride apart. To do this, make a mark on the ground and stand on it. Step forward, and on this new spot make a mark. Then step to the right and do the same thing and then complete the square. With this box you are going to stand on one mark with both feet and then jump to any of the other corners. The goal is not to jump very high; rather, jump very fast. The pattern does not matter, just the speed and control. You want to make sure you land on your marks. Do this for one minute.

Then do another sprint.

Now, start the cycle over for at least two more rotations.