Many youth players are motivated by peer pressure. They like to compete with each other to be faster or better. Suicide sprints are a good conditioning drill that can make use of peer pressure as a motivator. Begin by setting cones out in a field to mark 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards and 50 yards out. Line up your youth team as if they were going to race. Announce that anyone who doesn't finish in the top five will have to run two laps after the exercise. On the whistle blow, have the team run to the 10-yard mark, touch the ground and run back to the starting line. Once they reach the starting line, they must run to the 20-yard mark, touch the ground and return. This repeats until they reach the 50-yard line and return. Whoever is in the best condition will win the race, while those who fall far behind may be motivated to improve.
Burpees are another exercise that can be very effective with youth football players. Burpees can build muscle strength in all muscle groups while also testing lung capacity. A burpee starts with the youth members quickly moving from standing to squatting. In the squat position, they transition to a push-up position by kicking their legs back and spreading the arms out shoulder-width apart. A push-up is then completed. Once reaching the "up" position, the youth should jump to squat, and then jump straight up as high as possible. This completes one repetition. Ten repetitions complete one set.
Push-ups and sit-ups can become routine for youth sports participants. Spice them up and maximize their training potential by changing them to isometric endurance exercises. When doing push-ups, for example, have the youth do them at a modified four-count, with the first count as a move to the full "down" position. On count "two," the youth raise up halfway. Count "three" returns to the full down position, while count "four" is the full "up" position.