Just like SpongeBob and Sandy in their karate gear, football players need to wear lots of important equipment to ensure safe play. This includes helmets (with facemasks, chinstraps, chin guards, and sometimes visors), mouthguards, shoulder pads, and cleats.

Additionally, some players wear protective gloves, thigh/knee/elbow pads, back plates, neck rolls, and knee braces. The NFL is also now using Guardian Caps, padded helmet covers that help reduce injury risk!

Protective equipment helps lower the risk of injury in a sport as fierce as football. So if you’re going to play, make sure you do it safely and with all the proper equipment!

While playing football means an intense training and practice schedule, it also means intense training and practice guidelines. Before starting to play, football players must stretch and warm up, which lowers the risk of muscle and joint injuries while also preparing the body for physical activity.

Speaking of preparing the body, let’s talk about football diets! There’s one key rule: food is fuel, and better food means better fuel! You need lots of energy and nutrients so you can play longer and stronger.

Football combines a lot of different physical tools like strength, agility, and speed. In order to best utilize all these tools, football players do a ton of different exercises. These include: strength training, calisthenics, aerobics, yoga, and even less physical drills for things like hand-eye coordination.