Aerobic Capacity is what everyone refers to as "base fitness" or "run in the legs."
When most people set up footy training programs it's usually similar in line with one of these scenarios:
1 - The ball during games moves constantly and never stops, and we should train ourselves that way
2 - AFL teams do (insert running drill here) so we should too
#1 - WATCH THE PLAYER, NOT THE GAME
If you watch the ball flying around between 36 different players on the ground then of course it will be going end to end at the speed of sound, but we're not the ball are we?
Players at AFL level will run 50 - 100m to be part of a chain from back to forward but might only get used once.
Drop that down to local level and the player might run 50m to get in on the chain but more often then not, once they play their part in the chain via handball or kick, work rate stops.
Watch the players one day, or use yourself as an example, this is how it will work 99 times out of 100.
At the local/amateur level, we just don't run like AFL players do as we don't have the capacity for it and the game styles and team tactics are very much different apart from the top divisions of each league.
#2 - AFL Running Drills
Th mantra for footy training for eons and eons is how much can you do and then how much more can you do after that, and this is supposed to prepare us for games.
I don't buy it.
Not ALL training needs to be exhausting and you know what, 20% of your total training time is probably more then enough (pulled that figure out of my arse to be honest).
AFL teams do repeat 1km runs and similar drills which is fine because you know why?
These players are elite athletes.
Their bodies are made to handle the volumes that they do, which is why they were able to be drafted in the first place.
How many elite athletes do we have local/amateur level?
There might be 2 - 3 tops per team with the potential to be elite athletes, with potential being the operative word there.
They could be but they aren't, for whatever reason.
OK so we should train players to how players actually move throughout a game and we should probably not try and copy what AFL teams do or we'll break our players, who need to work and look after their kids tomorrow.
Aerobic Capacity is the foundation, or the base, of endurance of any description but it can't rally be tested on it's own.
Rather it will show how strong or weak it is throughout other speed and endurance based activities.
From a physiological point of view, aerobic capacity is how effective you can supply oxygen to working muscles in low intensity environments.
Low intensity refers to running performed at anything below 60 - 65% intensity, or about a 5 - 6 out of ten effort level.
Getting back to #1 above, the player jogs to make position, probably breaks into 3/4 speed to get into the chain, moves at a 100% once they get the ball then goes back to jogging after that.
Until the player can get back into a play chain, then they are jogging far more than anything else.
Aerobic Capacity and Endurance - the greater your aerobic capacity, the more work you'll be able to perform BEFORE fatigue so instead of seeing how much you can do when you're already tired which is nothing but decreased speed, decreased skills and decreased decision making, train to be able to do more before all these things that makes you lose games creeps in.
Dane Swan made a monster of a career out of playing like this.
Aerobic Capacity and Speed - I rate speed as number 1 for footy as it THE game changer BUT the ability to be able repeat speed is a close second.
A lot of teams train repeat speed but it's usually an exercise in futility.
Why?
Because without speed in the first place what are you training?
Repeat moderate speed? WTF is that??
A waste of time that's what it is.
I digress a bit but to be able to repeat speed, once you have speed (a future post) then simply trying to run fast repeatedly isn't really going to build much in this case after 3 - 4 sessions.
What you actually should be doing is to improve your rate of recovery between sprints which is what?
Aerobic Capacity.
It always comes back to Aerobic Capacity.
Now I agree that training it is boring, it really is.
Doing anything that slow and tedious seems like a waste of time but not doing it is a bigger waste of time in my book.
The vital thing is to not think that it;s being effective because it is - it's going to allow you to do more work before fatigue and to be able to repeat speed far better then the next player.
If you're really creative, and I am, then you could easily insert aerobic capacity drills into skill work which would accomplish 2 things:
1 = Aerobic Capacity Training
2 - 100's more touches of the footy at training then normal.
Win/Win.
You HAVE to start the process of building aerobic capacity RIGHT NOW either at team training or by having your players do it in their own time.
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