PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #2 - BETTER FITNESS TESTING

The first night of training usually includes the dreaded time trial over 2 - 3kms but my question is - what are you rally testing?

We all know that there is never a case in a game of footy when you'll run that type of distance all in 1 go, at that type of speed.

So what can this test provide us in terms of player assessment?

For mine I'll go with how well they've looked after themselves during the off-season more than anything.

Here's some my biggest rules for testing at this time of the year.

1 - Only test what you retest under the same conditions with the same equipment.

2 - Store away your testing data from past years to compare as the aim is for players to get better every year but footy clubs rally work on a 12 month cycle which starts again and again and again where elite tams strive for improvement every year.

3 - How you get the result can be MORE important hen what the result is. I'll use myself as an example as I am a sprinter type of athlete built for short explosive bursts with recovery. Let's say me and a more endurance based athlete both do a 1.5km time trial and we finish with the same time. We might have got the same result but compared to the endurance athlete I would have spent far more time above my anaerobic threshold then the endurance athlete and thus I can't give much more after that as fatigue has already built up but the endurance athlete can go for much longer. On the flip side I can cover 20 - 30m in a far quicker time then the endurance bloke, which is what footy is mostly made up of - short traces to the ball or contest over and over and over again. A constant speed test might be best followed to see where your players hit their own thresholds so you can program accordingly.

4 - Whatever you test, make sure you train to i prove it, then test again. A single test on it's own is useless.

5 - Other assessment markers for fitness include anaerobic threshold, resting heart rate and recovery heart rate - all that can be implemented with minimal equipment and cost. Personally, I'd also use a speed test or 2 as well some form of skill based test for kicking and handballing.