A couple of weeks ago over the Christmas break I decided to do a repeat speed training block. Reason 1 is because I wasn't sure of what gym stuff I would access too and I'd done about a million squats since September so I due for a new stimulus.
I also knew I might be sketchy with my footy training appearances so I thought if I just do this now then I'll have it under my belt and I can build on it a bit more in 4 or so weeks time while maintaining now.
So I had 2 workouts I alternated with and I trained every 2nd day until all 8 sessions were completed. I didn't make this up by the way and I actually don't know where I got it from but I found in my archives so credit to someone for this.
Session 1
40m sprint every 30secs x 5 sets + 20m sprint every 20secs x 10 sets + 10m sprint every 10secs x 10 sets.
The 40m sprints progressed from 5 to 7 to 10 to 12.
The 20m sprints progressed from 10 to 12 to 15 to 17.
The 10m sprints progressed from 10 to 15 to 20 to 20 (same 2 sessions in a row).
Session 2
I wanted to incorporate some agility into this as well so I did a 16 - 17m up and back sprint (I counted steps and it was my foot x 55 up and back).
If your not conditioning your self to sprint stop, change direction and sprint again then rethink your program. Rarely will clubs do this, or do this properly and I know my club hasn't done it since I've been there.
Anyway it started with 2 x 8 x ub with 24secs rest with each sprint taking 7 - 8secs. Even if it took slightly longer I just kept the rest at 24secs. This progressed from 2 x 8 to 2 x 10 to 2 x 12 to 2 x 14.
There was a surprising amount of volume in this when I added this up too:
Session 1 progressed from 500 to 670 to 900 to 1020m. Session 2 progressed from 640 to 800 to 940 to 1200m.
The total volume covered in the 8 sessions totaling 5490m. 6kms of high quality sprints is a great result in 16 days. I'm really not into "slow" sprints (200's anyone?). Bare in mind that elite sprinters can hold max velocity (top end speed) for maybe 2 -3secs before they start to slow down and you can see how the further you make the sprint, the less of a sprint it actually is. They don't have any carryover to a real game of footy and if they do then you should be teaching your players to rotate far more often.
My results were quite pleasing too even though with block training your best results won't come until the same amount of time as the block has come around. This is because block training is used to specifically train a strength or fitness quality so as to over train it somewhat so then you give it a rest and let it super compensate where hopefully it comes back bigger and better then before. So for a 2 week block mine, I'll see the major benefits in a weeks time.
I took a lot of heart rates in between "portions" of workouts as well as after them. Fitness is not a matter of how far you can. It can be, but footy fitness has a great speed element so therefore there must be a time limit or distance limit that's relative to footy. 10kms at a jogging pace is not relative to footy because if you did that on a Saturday without sprinting you would not touch the ball.
With these bursts of speed comes fatigue which is really where you're fitness comes in because it's how fast you can recover to go again at top speed that makes you a fit player.
At the completion of my workout I always finished up in the 174 - 186 heart rate range which is 95 - 100% of my heart rate max so I was working extremely hard each and every session.
Even though the volume increased each session my heart rates still only took 3 - 5mins to return to 60% of my heart rate max which is when I would go again if it was between portions of a session. If you go toonearly when you;re not recovered enough then those 7sec sprints will be 9 or 10sec sprints and you're done. This is a clear example of why possessing speed is also important and again if you're not training it then what's the point of training repeat speed? What are you actually repeating?
Back to heart rate recovery, I also used some diaphragmatic breathing during recovery which got me back to 60% far quicker then just regular breathing. I would strongly suggest that when you finish up an intense activity then do 30 - 60secs of diaphragmatic breathing to get your self back to a parasympathetic state and thus quicken up recovery.
Anyway my current block is now geared back towards to speed with a block on developing stiffness in the lower leg. This block will go for 5 weeks but it's not very demanding as it's a lot of low level jumps and hops so I'll still be able to do some maintenance work for repeat speed and aerobic capacity and go to footy training when work allows.
Wow it's hot....................................
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
What Have You Done to Dominate 2014 So Far?
Things got pretty hectic at the end of 2013 there so once again I'll endeavor to be more regular in 2014 but I'm pretty sure I've said that every year since I started this!!
Anyway I was looking back on what I've done so far this year and thought I would give it some air time on here so you can maybe take some idea's or pointers from it.
Background - for those new to the site I'm naturally an explosive guy and not geared (not care) towards anything over 10secs. I can get away with it a little bit in footy from being able to read the play quite well and possessing pretty good skills but NO MORE. Back when I was a young'en I was the same but I also had very good aerobic capacity which fuelled my anaerobic capacity and I would finish top 5 in all our 3km time trials and was 1st or 2nd in speed and repeat speed.
Now I want that back!
Block 1 - September 1st to October 19
Focus - Sprinting and Back Squat Strength
What I Did:
Sprinted 34 out 42 days with a mix of starts, acceleration and max velocity drills. Speed needs to be trained every 5 days just to be maintained and considering I barely trained last year, my sprinting speed was almost snail pace. All up I sprinted just under 6kms in that time.
Last off season I got my back squat up to 130 odd kgs and wanted to get that back there as soon as I could so I didn't have to squat heavy the entire off and pre-season. I tested at 113kgs in the last week of the season so I had a bit of work to do. I squatted 31 out of 41 days and that included a blown back 1/2 way through that I battled through like a trooper. In the end I managed 128.5 which is close enough in my book.
I also did hip thrusting block where I did some form of glute or hip thrust for 35 out of 41 days not really going for numbers but rather feeling every rep of every set.
Results:
10m sprint went from 2.2 to 1.6secs and 40m sprint went from 6.22 to 5.56secs so excellent results there. Bare in mind that they weren't professionally timed but i think they're pretty close the way I film it and time it off the video.
I also did daily training of the foot/ankle complex to improve stiffness which i think helped tremendously. I posted about here but have read a lot more about it since and I think it deserves another go.
Back squat tested at 113kgs the week before the program and retested at 128.5kgs after the program. The most impressive part of this was that i didn't have lift higher then 122.5kgs during the program to get it up that high. Frequency and sub-maximal training rules!!
It was a pretty full block as I also tried out a sub-maximal but not as frequent bench pressing program just to hit the upper body with something. The big surprise here was that I didn't have to go over 85% for any of the program either and went from 100 x 1 pre-program to 100 x 3, an projected increase of 9kgs in 4 weeks!
Takeaways:
If you wanna get faster then sprint, and sprint frequently but obviously it requires some expert programming which I'll be providing very soon so look out!
Also if you have the luxury, and if you want it enough you'll make sure you do, then high frequency sub-maximal work could be the answer you're looking for in getting stringer quickly. And without the nervous system burn out and joint pain.
Block 2 - October 20 to November 23.
Focus - Triphasic Training
I ran a whole pre-season of this last year and as it states in the manual, only the one's who can go the hardest for the longest, survive as it can beat you up good and proper (which it did). The constant heavy loading gave my back hell but just a very dull ache not an actual injury or anything. This year I decided to do a shorter block of it.
What I Did:
Instead of doing a whole 26 weeks + the in season model for another 12 or so of it, I cut it back to 5 weeks as a top off for my new back squat strength. I decreased the %'s down a bit too. So I ended up doing 2 weeks of eccentric focus, 2 weeks of isometric focus and 1 week of concentric focus each with french contrast training too.
I also continued with sprinting 3/week with a tilt to the max velocity side of things in regards to volume break partitioning and I introduced some tempo runs to work on my aerobic capacity with footy training coming up soon.
Results:
Back Squat tested at 131kgs for memory but it's not about the numbers with Triphasic it's about change of direction and rate of force development on the field. Bench Press tested back at 100 x 1 for memory.
Takeaways:
I think you can get the same out of applying the principles in any program then running the entire program in regards to eccentric and isometric loading.
Block 3 - November 24 - December 21
Focus - Sub Maximal Explosive Lifting
What I Did:
Again using sub maximal load I started heavy in week 1 and decreased the weight each week to up the velocity of my lifting to hopefully carryover to training for early next year. Again I sprinted 3/week again favoring max velocity work a bit more then starts and acceleration. I also kept up the tempo runs which increased with volume each session.
Results:
I peaked in week 2 of this program but there was a lot of "getting it done before Christmas" going on so my focus was lost a little but the speed of most of the reps in week 2 was excellent.
Takeaway:
You can lift heavy, but you can't lift heavy fast. So drop the weight 10 - 20% and focus on acceleration because if you do anything as slow as a maximum squat on the footy field, you won't be seeing the ball too often.
Block 4 - December 11 to January 11
Focus - Repeat Speed
I have 2 sessions of this to go so I'll update this at the end of the week.
A long one for the 2014 comeback but let me know what you've done and what you still hope to achieve in your preparation for season 2014.
Anyway I was looking back on what I've done so far this year and thought I would give it some air time on here so you can maybe take some idea's or pointers from it.
Background - for those new to the site I'm naturally an explosive guy and not geared (not care) towards anything over 10secs. I can get away with it a little bit in footy from being able to read the play quite well and possessing pretty good skills but NO MORE. Back when I was a young'en I was the same but I also had very good aerobic capacity which fuelled my anaerobic capacity and I would finish top 5 in all our 3km time trials and was 1st or 2nd in speed and repeat speed.
Now I want that back!
Block 1 - September 1st to October 19
Focus - Sprinting and Back Squat Strength
What I Did:
Sprinted 34 out 42 days with a mix of starts, acceleration and max velocity drills. Speed needs to be trained every 5 days just to be maintained and considering I barely trained last year, my sprinting speed was almost snail pace. All up I sprinted just under 6kms in that time.
Last off season I got my back squat up to 130 odd kgs and wanted to get that back there as soon as I could so I didn't have to squat heavy the entire off and pre-season. I tested at 113kgs in the last week of the season so I had a bit of work to do. I squatted 31 out of 41 days and that included a blown back 1/2 way through that I battled through like a trooper. In the end I managed 128.5 which is close enough in my book.
I also did hip thrusting block where I did some form of glute or hip thrust for 35 out of 41 days not really going for numbers but rather feeling every rep of every set.
Results:
10m sprint went from 2.2 to 1.6secs and 40m sprint went from 6.22 to 5.56secs so excellent results there. Bare in mind that they weren't professionally timed but i think they're pretty close the way I film it and time it off the video.
I also did daily training of the foot/ankle complex to improve stiffness which i think helped tremendously. I posted about here but have read a lot more about it since and I think it deserves another go.
Back squat tested at 113kgs the week before the program and retested at 128.5kgs after the program. The most impressive part of this was that i didn't have lift higher then 122.5kgs during the program to get it up that high. Frequency and sub-maximal training rules!!
It was a pretty full block as I also tried out a sub-maximal but not as frequent bench pressing program just to hit the upper body with something. The big surprise here was that I didn't have to go over 85% for any of the program either and went from 100 x 1 pre-program to 100 x 3, an projected increase of 9kgs in 4 weeks!
Takeaways:
If you wanna get faster then sprint, and sprint frequently but obviously it requires some expert programming which I'll be providing very soon so look out!
Also if you have the luxury, and if you want it enough you'll make sure you do, then high frequency sub-maximal work could be the answer you're looking for in getting stringer quickly. And without the nervous system burn out and joint pain.
Block 2 - October 20 to November 23.
Focus - Triphasic Training
I ran a whole pre-season of this last year and as it states in the manual, only the one's who can go the hardest for the longest, survive as it can beat you up good and proper (which it did). The constant heavy loading gave my back hell but just a very dull ache not an actual injury or anything. This year I decided to do a shorter block of it.
What I Did:
Instead of doing a whole 26 weeks + the in season model for another 12 or so of it, I cut it back to 5 weeks as a top off for my new back squat strength. I decreased the %'s down a bit too. So I ended up doing 2 weeks of eccentric focus, 2 weeks of isometric focus and 1 week of concentric focus each with french contrast training too.
I also continued with sprinting 3/week with a tilt to the max velocity side of things in regards to volume break partitioning and I introduced some tempo runs to work on my aerobic capacity with footy training coming up soon.
Results:
Back Squat tested at 131kgs for memory but it's not about the numbers with Triphasic it's about change of direction and rate of force development on the field. Bench Press tested back at 100 x 1 for memory.
Takeaways:
I think you can get the same out of applying the principles in any program then running the entire program in regards to eccentric and isometric loading.
Block 3 - November 24 - December 21
Focus - Sub Maximal Explosive Lifting
What I Did:
Again using sub maximal load I started heavy in week 1 and decreased the weight each week to up the velocity of my lifting to hopefully carryover to training for early next year. Again I sprinted 3/week again favoring max velocity work a bit more then starts and acceleration. I also kept up the tempo runs which increased with volume each session.
Results:
I peaked in week 2 of this program but there was a lot of "getting it done before Christmas" going on so my focus was lost a little but the speed of most of the reps in week 2 was excellent.
Takeaway:
You can lift heavy, but you can't lift heavy fast. So drop the weight 10 - 20% and focus on acceleration because if you do anything as slow as a maximum squat on the footy field, you won't be seeing the ball too often.
Block 4 - December 11 to January 11
Focus - Repeat Speed
I have 2 sessions of this to go so I'll update this at the end of the week.
A long one for the 2014 comeback but let me know what you've done and what you still hope to achieve in your preparation for season 2014.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
5 Random Footy Training Tips Part 3
Back with another 5 random tips but first I need to do a bit of a shout out.
Over the weekend I put in some big days and managed to get through the entire ASCA Level 1 Strength and Conditioning course (online version). I also managed to get up and back to Wangaratta on Sunday (3hrs each way!!) to get involved with the TAC Cup Murray Bushrangers.
Not long after I started this blog I received an email from Matt Glossop, head Strength and Conditioning coach of the Bushies and since then we have exchanged emails in regards to footy training and stuff.
He actually invited me up but I ran out of time but Saturday as I was doing it hard I thought stuff it, I'll go tomorrow! So I did.
With 105 kids picked for try outs and 90 in attendance that day in 30 degree weather, they were put through 5 - 6 blocks of training ranging from strength testing (which I took) to skills, to game sense stuff to fitness and even marking stuff.
Even though the group was o big full of 15 to 17 year olds, it ran like clockwork which was very impressive.
Anyway a big thanks to Matt and hopefully i can get up there again soon.
But back to the randoms...
Random Tip #11 - Pyramid Runs
I first did these back in 1999 - 2000 in a very wet but humid day in Warrnambool. You break the ground up into 4 quarters. You sprint the outside portion, jog the middle portion that cuts back to the middle of the ground and walk the inside portion back to the start.
Set 1 is a quarter of the ground, set 2 is half of the ground, set 3 is 3 quarters of the ground and set 4 is an entire lap.
Once you're group gets back to the start after the walking portion you start the next set.
If you're feeling particularly fit then run back down the ladder starting with the full lap to 3 quarters to half to 1 quarter.
I actually remember enjoying these for some reason which I don't think would be the case now.
Random Tip #12 - Avoid Road Runs
I haven't done a road run for almost 10 years now. If you think that each step you take can yield about 2- 3 times your bodyweight through 1 little leg and each km can make up around 800 steps, you can easily see how stress can build up and how something so low intensity like jogging can cause nasty injuries.
Opt for grass whenever you can for running and you'll be able to play better for longer.
Random Tip #13 - 50 to 50 Runs in 60secs
A few years after the pyramid runs and at a different club we would use these during pre and in-season training. Basically the entire squad lines up about 25 - 30m out from goal at 1 end of the ground. The whistle goes and you have 60secs, I think to sprint down and AROUND a goal or point post and back. You'd have 60 - 90secs rest and go again doing about 5 sets.
This is a killer but you can use auto regulation and for those who don't make it back take the next set off and jump back in 2 sets later.
I actually had my current team do these a couple of years ago and they were pretty happy with them. It's brutal but only takes 10mins so it's very efficient.
Random Tip #14 - Organise Training to Suit Your Game Style
We all do drills that mimic how we want to play but sometimes the fitness work doesn't quite match up properly. If you want a team that runs up and back then actually incorporate that in your drills. For example you might be doing a full ground kicking drill but instead of kicking to the cone in front of you and jogging through to it, have a few separate cones that once you kick the ball, you must turn around and sprint to.
If you want to play a possession game then you'll need a good dose of shirt and fast drills for acceleration.
Random Tip #15 - Determine Interchange Frequency
OK so we're not AFL teams here but tagging off the back of point 4, if you want your on-ballers to rest regularly then again make this a point of training.
Have them do 3 - 5min bursts of intense running and / or skill drills then let them rest for 2 - 3mins or however long you want them to do it in a game for.
There's no point doing tired skill drill after tired skill drill if you're game is going to built around frequent changes to keep players fresh.
It will also give you an idea of how quick each player recovers so some might only need 90 - 120secs while others might need the full 5mins.
I just found out today that the mighty Swans picked up Jeremy Laidler from Carlton - what a steal!! He'll play at least 15 games for us this year and be part of our premiership team so thanks Carlton!
Over the weekend I put in some big days and managed to get through the entire ASCA Level 1 Strength and Conditioning course (online version). I also managed to get up and back to Wangaratta on Sunday (3hrs each way!!) to get involved with the TAC Cup Murray Bushrangers.
Not long after I started this blog I received an email from Matt Glossop, head Strength and Conditioning coach of the Bushies and since then we have exchanged emails in regards to footy training and stuff.
He actually invited me up but I ran out of time but Saturday as I was doing it hard I thought stuff it, I'll go tomorrow! So I did.
With 105 kids picked for try outs and 90 in attendance that day in 30 degree weather, they were put through 5 - 6 blocks of training ranging from strength testing (which I took) to skills, to game sense stuff to fitness and even marking stuff.
Even though the group was o big full of 15 to 17 year olds, it ran like clockwork which was very impressive.
Anyway a big thanks to Matt and hopefully i can get up there again soon.
But back to the randoms...
Random Tip #11 - Pyramid Runs
I first did these back in 1999 - 2000 in a very wet but humid day in Warrnambool. You break the ground up into 4 quarters. You sprint the outside portion, jog the middle portion that cuts back to the middle of the ground and walk the inside portion back to the start.
Set 1 is a quarter of the ground, set 2 is half of the ground, set 3 is 3 quarters of the ground and set 4 is an entire lap.
Once you're group gets back to the start after the walking portion you start the next set.
If you're feeling particularly fit then run back down the ladder starting with the full lap to 3 quarters to half to 1 quarter.
I actually remember enjoying these for some reason which I don't think would be the case now.
Random Tip #12 - Avoid Road Runs
I haven't done a road run for almost 10 years now. If you think that each step you take can yield about 2- 3 times your bodyweight through 1 little leg and each km can make up around 800 steps, you can easily see how stress can build up and how something so low intensity like jogging can cause nasty injuries.
Opt for grass whenever you can for running and you'll be able to play better for longer.
Random Tip #13 - 50 to 50 Runs in 60secs
A few years after the pyramid runs and at a different club we would use these during pre and in-season training. Basically the entire squad lines up about 25 - 30m out from goal at 1 end of the ground. The whistle goes and you have 60secs, I think to sprint down and AROUND a goal or point post and back. You'd have 60 - 90secs rest and go again doing about 5 sets.
This is a killer but you can use auto regulation and for those who don't make it back take the next set off and jump back in 2 sets later.
I actually had my current team do these a couple of years ago and they were pretty happy with them. It's brutal but only takes 10mins so it's very efficient.
Random Tip #14 - Organise Training to Suit Your Game Style
We all do drills that mimic how we want to play but sometimes the fitness work doesn't quite match up properly. If you want a team that runs up and back then actually incorporate that in your drills. For example you might be doing a full ground kicking drill but instead of kicking to the cone in front of you and jogging through to it, have a few separate cones that once you kick the ball, you must turn around and sprint to.
If you want to play a possession game then you'll need a good dose of shirt and fast drills for acceleration.
Random Tip #15 - Determine Interchange Frequency
OK so we're not AFL teams here but tagging off the back of point 4, if you want your on-ballers to rest regularly then again make this a point of training.
Have them do 3 - 5min bursts of intense running and / or skill drills then let them rest for 2 - 3mins or however long you want them to do it in a game for.
There's no point doing tired skill drill after tired skill drill if you're game is going to built around frequent changes to keep players fresh.
It will also give you an idea of how quick each player recovers so some might only need 90 - 120secs while others might need the full 5mins.
I just found out today that the mighty Swans picked up Jeremy Laidler from Carlton - what a steal!! He'll play at least 15 games for us this year and be part of our premiership team so thanks Carlton!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
5 Random Footy Training Tips Part 2
Random Tip #6 - Practicing Skills
Skills are king in footy, there is nothing surer. You can be fat, slow and unfit but if you have skills then you can still getaway with everything else you lack.
Why?
Because you don't have to do as much work. It's a known fact that the top 4 teams actually do less work then the other 14 teams.
Why?
Because they're skills and team work are the best. You know what they say, "lots of hands make light work"...or something like that.
Skills are required to be at their peak from the first bounce of the game til the final siren so it's a great idea to train them in a non fatigued and fatigued state.
I believe this should be actually programmed into your pre-season training.
For the first 3rd of your pre-season practice all skills (or the majority of them) in a non fatigued state and get as many reps per player in as you can.
For the middle 3rd introduce some skill work under fatigue and gradually ramp it up so by the last 3rd you're doing almost exclusively fatigued (to varying degrees) skill work.
Make sure to set a standard though which brings me to my next point.
Random Tip #7 - Test What's Important
When you test something regularly, there's a fair chance you'll get improvement out of most if not every player to some degree. Being held accountable is a very underrated part of local and amateur football.
You don't want to test everything unless you have enough coaching staff to do it all but the big one's for me would be:
Re-visit these test 3 or 4 times during the pre-season and another 3 or 4 times during the season. Keep your players honest!!
Random Tip #8 - Sprint Drills with Time or Distance Limits
Everybody has varying degrees of fitness and capacities for various qualities. Somehow you've got to cater for the blokes who aren't up to the level of your reigning best and fairest winning mid-fielder who can run all day. You can't just run them into the ground as they attempt to "catch up".
They'll get injured and not be able to play or they'll get demotivated and not want to play. Either you're a man down before you even start.
I've written about auto regulation training in the past and it's a perfect choice to use in this case. What it means is that you make set point that players to get to in each drill and if they can't reach it, then they sit out the next set to allow them extra recovery. You wouldn't want them out on the ground when they can't run so why do it at training?
Alternatively you might have a 'fit" set point and an "unfit" set point to cater for more players.
Random Tip #9 - Hat Drill
This is a drill my old country team used to run in the 2000's. You'd set up hats that form a circle just inside the boundary line by about 5m that starts from about 20m out from goal and finishes on the other side in the same spot. Break your team into 2 groups (doesn't matter the mix of fitness levels) and 1 group rests while the other goes and vice-versa.
The last 25 - 50m of the drill has different color hats laid out every 5m or so. The first different color hat is 1 point, the 2nd color hat is 2 points and so on til the last hat.
The aim is for everyone to reach the 1st different colored hat in 90secs or however fast you think most players should be able to cover the distance. That is the set point. If you don't reach that hat then you sit out the next set, rest up and jump in for the 2 sets later.
The beauty of this drill is that it caters for both fit and unfit players. The unfit players are striving to just make sure they get to do every set. The fit players are striving to get the maximum score for the entire drill. So if you have 6 different colored drills at the end of the course and you do 5 sets, the maximum score is 6 x 5 = 30 points.
Random Tip #10 - Keeping Track of Who's Training
This can be a fair bit of extra work but if possible keep track of who attends training and how frequently. This can give you an idea of where players should be with their fitness throughout the entire pre-season.
There's plenty of blokes who just glide along and don't want to push too much out of their comfort zone. By knowing that they've done the last 8 sessions in a row then you know that they've got some pretty good training volume under their belt and that where there is a split of the team for running drills, they can move up a grade.
This will hopefully push those middle of the pack players up into the top group providing you with more depth during the season when you need it.
On the flip side you get the blokes who have done no training but want to run their own guts out which will more then likely end up in injury so it also let's you know who "hold back" and work up gradually which takes us back to random rule +1 - avoid injuries.
Skills are king in footy, there is nothing surer. You can be fat, slow and unfit but if you have skills then you can still getaway with everything else you lack.
Why?
Because you don't have to do as much work. It's a known fact that the top 4 teams actually do less work then the other 14 teams.
Why?
Because they're skills and team work are the best. You know what they say, "lots of hands make light work"...or something like that.
Skills are required to be at their peak from the first bounce of the game til the final siren so it's a great idea to train them in a non fatigued and fatigued state.
I believe this should be actually programmed into your pre-season training.
For the first 3rd of your pre-season practice all skills (or the majority of them) in a non fatigued state and get as many reps per player in as you can.
For the middle 3rd introduce some skill work under fatigue and gradually ramp it up so by the last 3rd you're doing almost exclusively fatigued (to varying degrees) skill work.
Make sure to set a standard though which brings me to my next point.
Random Tip #7 - Test What's Important
When you test something regularly, there's a fair chance you'll get improvement out of most if not every player to some degree. Being held accountable is a very underrated part of local and amateur football.
You don't want to test everything unless you have enough coaching staff to do it all but the big one's for me would be:
- Kicking
- Repeat Speed
- Aerobic Capacity
Re-visit these test 3 or 4 times during the pre-season and another 3 or 4 times during the season. Keep your players honest!!
Random Tip #8 - Sprint Drills with Time or Distance Limits
Everybody has varying degrees of fitness and capacities for various qualities. Somehow you've got to cater for the blokes who aren't up to the level of your reigning best and fairest winning mid-fielder who can run all day. You can't just run them into the ground as they attempt to "catch up".
They'll get injured and not be able to play or they'll get demotivated and not want to play. Either you're a man down before you even start.
I've written about auto regulation training in the past and it's a perfect choice to use in this case. What it means is that you make set point that players to get to in each drill and if they can't reach it, then they sit out the next set to allow them extra recovery. You wouldn't want them out on the ground when they can't run so why do it at training?
Alternatively you might have a 'fit" set point and an "unfit" set point to cater for more players.
Random Tip #9 - Hat Drill
This is a drill my old country team used to run in the 2000's. You'd set up hats that form a circle just inside the boundary line by about 5m that starts from about 20m out from goal and finishes on the other side in the same spot. Break your team into 2 groups (doesn't matter the mix of fitness levels) and 1 group rests while the other goes and vice-versa.
The last 25 - 50m of the drill has different color hats laid out every 5m or so. The first different color hat is 1 point, the 2nd color hat is 2 points and so on til the last hat.
The aim is for everyone to reach the 1st different colored hat in 90secs or however fast you think most players should be able to cover the distance. That is the set point. If you don't reach that hat then you sit out the next set, rest up and jump in for the 2 sets later.
The beauty of this drill is that it caters for both fit and unfit players. The unfit players are striving to just make sure they get to do every set. The fit players are striving to get the maximum score for the entire drill. So if you have 6 different colored drills at the end of the course and you do 5 sets, the maximum score is 6 x 5 = 30 points.
Random Tip #10 - Keeping Track of Who's Training
This can be a fair bit of extra work but if possible keep track of who attends training and how frequently. This can give you an idea of where players should be with their fitness throughout the entire pre-season.
There's plenty of blokes who just glide along and don't want to push too much out of their comfort zone. By knowing that they've done the last 8 sessions in a row then you know that they've got some pretty good training volume under their belt and that where there is a split of the team for running drills, they can move up a grade.
This will hopefully push those middle of the pack players up into the top group providing you with more depth during the season when you need it.
On the flip side you get the blokes who have done no training but want to run their own guts out which will more then likely end up in injury so it also let's you know who "hold back" and work up gradually which takes us back to random rule +1 - avoid injuries.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
5 Random Footy Training Tips
Been away for a while unfortunately. We went camping over the long weekend then I had a bucks weekend the next one which hasn't affected my own training too much, but it has affected my updating consistency which is dicey at best anyway.
I have 1 week left of my 5 week Triphasic Training block which I will update you all on once I'm done.
I'm also putting together a "running for footy' report/manual thing which I'm not sure of what it will end up being yet but should hopefully get completed in some form in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime I have 2 pages of dot points on varying methods, drills and such to do with footy training. Some are in the gym, some are off the track and some are on the track. As the title suggest they are just random thoughts that I'll put out there, challenge the norm a bit, make you think a little about why you train like you train and how you might improve it to become a better player in season 2014.
Here we go!
Random Tip #1 - Number 1 Goal is to Avoid Injury
Whether you design programs just for you, a small group of footy mates or your actual club, the number goal to accomplish is to avoid injury to you or a teammate. What this means is that for everything you plan on doing, there must be some "risk vs benefit" assessment done.
Going back into the 80's and the old school 100 x 100 meter sprints looks great on paper but lets look at the risks versus the benefits.
Risks - hamstring tears, quad tears, chronic soreness, the inability to do anything else for a week let alone train for footy, performance drop, motivation drop, overuse injuries to name just a few.
Benefits - I actually can't think of any to be honest...maybe some mental toughness but that can be gained through a lot safer and efficient means.
Now I don't think that anyone does this shit anymore (well I hope not), but if you are a coach in charge of pre-season training then maybe spare a thought for the bloke who's just turned for his first run in mid Feb, or the "Plugger', the burly 110kg full forward for the 2's who probably need to be on a modified program for the time being.
Would you rather 30 really fit players and 10 team injuries or 40 pretty players and none?
Random Tip #2 - Game Simulated Drills
The AFL try and emulate game simulation as much as they can to be ready for game speed velocites and skill requirement. I don't think amateur and local teams do anywhere near enough. For early pre-season drills I don't have a problem with general drills where you handball to that hat and kick to that hat, drills where you know where to go next.
But as you edge closer to practice games and the season proper, there needs to be form of "chaos" training. Chaos training refers to not knowing what's going to happen next - just like a game - so you can set you're drills up where once you get the ball, the coach can direct you straight away to where you need to go and then you have 2 - 3m radius of which to dispose of the ball. Games based on modifications of your game plan are a great way to incorporate this.
Random Tip #3 - Repeat Speed
Local footy is full of repeated sprints, even more then AFL. With lesser skill development the ball hits the ground far more then the big boys who now have a more consistent running gamer going with the breaking of zones and Pagan's paddock type game plans.
The thing that has been overlooked forever is that once the ball hits the ground there is a race to get it. When there is a race there is a requirement of speed because whoever gets there first, gets the ball. Having the ability to run a 3km time trial in 10 minutes means bugger all when you can't sprint 20m in less then 3.5secs.
So for starters you need to work on speed development - this is huge and is the reason your best mate plays a higher grade then you even though you get the same amount of possessions and such - he's quicker. That is what separates the elite from the rest in 99% of cases.
Once speed is improved then you must work on being able to repeat that speed throughout a game. Remember though, you can't have great repeat speed without speed in the first place!!
Look at this example:
Player A has a "first bounce" 20m sprint time of 2.9secs and Player B 3.2secs. By quarter time slight fatigue has set in so those numbers might drop to 3.0 and 3.3 respectively. At half time they might drop away again to 3.1 and 3.4 and go into the final quarter at 3.3 and 3.6secs respectively.
As you can see player A has all the advantage because he basically finishes the game with the same amount of speed that player B started with.
So get fast then get fast over repeated bouts.
Random Tip #4 - Repeat Sprints + Skill Development
Tagging off the last tip, once you get the ball now you've got to do something with it! The next step is to add a degree of skill development to the drill. So you might do your repeated speed drill then immediately go to a skill based drill such as precise kicking into the forward 50. Initially you might start with lane work but as you progress through, make the skill requirement harder and more game simulated.
Random Tip #5 - Outnumbered Competition Drills
These drills aren't anything new - we all know the one where you pair up and the coach basically kicks the shit out of the ball and you spend the next 10 exhausting minutes getting the ball back! This is fine except it's not what really happens in a game.
A better way to do this might be to set up a number of zones on the ground with 2 teams placing them in the forward 50, back 50 and the midfield. For the first half of the drill, more players for the back and forward 50 teams but less for the midfield team. This means there is a battle for the outnumbered midfield team to get the ball into their forward 50 which will have more players then the opposition so you have to work hard to get the ball but then you only need to make the right decision to hit up the free target in the forward 50. From there you can just go back and start again from the middle.
Do that for 5 - 20mins then switch so no you have more midfielders but less forwards and backs. Don't be afraid to throw some spanners in the mix and even up lines or teams to see how they organise each other once the numbers are evened out.
This can be a great drill to teach your midfielders to work extra hard through the middle and for your forwards to work together in the 50 to free a player up and your backs to link up and run off the half back line.
Put some boundaries in for where players can go as you don't want 3 backs running into the midfield.
Let me know your thoughts on these and I'll hopefully pop some more up during the week.
I have 1 week left of my 5 week Triphasic Training block which I will update you all on once I'm done.
I'm also putting together a "running for footy' report/manual thing which I'm not sure of what it will end up being yet but should hopefully get completed in some form in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime I have 2 pages of dot points on varying methods, drills and such to do with footy training. Some are in the gym, some are off the track and some are on the track. As the title suggest they are just random thoughts that I'll put out there, challenge the norm a bit, make you think a little about why you train like you train and how you might improve it to become a better player in season 2014.
Here we go!
Random Tip #1 - Number 1 Goal is to Avoid Injury
Whether you design programs just for you, a small group of footy mates or your actual club, the number goal to accomplish is to avoid injury to you or a teammate. What this means is that for everything you plan on doing, there must be some "risk vs benefit" assessment done.
Going back into the 80's and the old school 100 x 100 meter sprints looks great on paper but lets look at the risks versus the benefits.
Risks - hamstring tears, quad tears, chronic soreness, the inability to do anything else for a week let alone train for footy, performance drop, motivation drop, overuse injuries to name just a few.
Benefits - I actually can't think of any to be honest...maybe some mental toughness but that can be gained through a lot safer and efficient means.
Now I don't think that anyone does this shit anymore (well I hope not), but if you are a coach in charge of pre-season training then maybe spare a thought for the bloke who's just turned for his first run in mid Feb, or the "Plugger', the burly 110kg full forward for the 2's who probably need to be on a modified program for the time being.
Would you rather 30 really fit players and 10 team injuries or 40 pretty players and none?
Random Tip #2 - Game Simulated Drills
The AFL try and emulate game simulation as much as they can to be ready for game speed velocites and skill requirement. I don't think amateur and local teams do anywhere near enough. For early pre-season drills I don't have a problem with general drills where you handball to that hat and kick to that hat, drills where you know where to go next.
But as you edge closer to practice games and the season proper, there needs to be form of "chaos" training. Chaos training refers to not knowing what's going to happen next - just like a game - so you can set you're drills up where once you get the ball, the coach can direct you straight away to where you need to go and then you have 2 - 3m radius of which to dispose of the ball. Games based on modifications of your game plan are a great way to incorporate this.
Random Tip #3 - Repeat Speed
Local footy is full of repeated sprints, even more then AFL. With lesser skill development the ball hits the ground far more then the big boys who now have a more consistent running gamer going with the breaking of zones and Pagan's paddock type game plans.
The thing that has been overlooked forever is that once the ball hits the ground there is a race to get it. When there is a race there is a requirement of speed because whoever gets there first, gets the ball. Having the ability to run a 3km time trial in 10 minutes means bugger all when you can't sprint 20m in less then 3.5secs.
So for starters you need to work on speed development - this is huge and is the reason your best mate plays a higher grade then you even though you get the same amount of possessions and such - he's quicker. That is what separates the elite from the rest in 99% of cases.
Once speed is improved then you must work on being able to repeat that speed throughout a game. Remember though, you can't have great repeat speed without speed in the first place!!
Look at this example:
Player A has a "first bounce" 20m sprint time of 2.9secs and Player B 3.2secs. By quarter time slight fatigue has set in so those numbers might drop to 3.0 and 3.3 respectively. At half time they might drop away again to 3.1 and 3.4 and go into the final quarter at 3.3 and 3.6secs respectively.
As you can see player A has all the advantage because he basically finishes the game with the same amount of speed that player B started with.
So get fast then get fast over repeated bouts.
Random Tip #4 - Repeat Sprints + Skill Development
Tagging off the last tip, once you get the ball now you've got to do something with it! The next step is to add a degree of skill development to the drill. So you might do your repeated speed drill then immediately go to a skill based drill such as precise kicking into the forward 50. Initially you might start with lane work but as you progress through, make the skill requirement harder and more game simulated.
Random Tip #5 - Outnumbered Competition Drills
These drills aren't anything new - we all know the one where you pair up and the coach basically kicks the shit out of the ball and you spend the next 10 exhausting minutes getting the ball back! This is fine except it's not what really happens in a game.
A better way to do this might be to set up a number of zones on the ground with 2 teams placing them in the forward 50, back 50 and the midfield. For the first half of the drill, more players for the back and forward 50 teams but less for the midfield team. This means there is a battle for the outnumbered midfield team to get the ball into their forward 50 which will have more players then the opposition so you have to work hard to get the ball but then you only need to make the right decision to hit up the free target in the forward 50. From there you can just go back and start again from the middle.
Do that for 5 - 20mins then switch so no you have more midfielders but less forwards and backs. Don't be afraid to throw some spanners in the mix and even up lines or teams to see how they organise each other once the numbers are evened out.
This can be a great drill to teach your midfielders to work extra hard through the middle and for your forwards to work together in the 50 to free a player up and your backs to link up and run off the half back line.
Put some boundaries in for where players can go as you don't want 3 backs running into the midfield.
Let me know your thoughts on these and I'll hopefully pop some more up during the week.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
42 Day Block Completed and Results!!
So for the last 6 weeks I've been training like a mad man where I managed the following:
- 30 sprint sessions in 40 days
- 27 squat sessions in 41 days (would have been more if my pelvis didn't discombobulate!)
- 35 hip thrusting sessions in 41 days
Yep block training gone mad!
Obviously the focus was on sprinting speed so why didn't I just sprint and go home?
Hip Thrust Strength + Back Squat Strength + Sprinting = Speed
You could probably just do these 3 exercises in your life and be faster then 90% of the people on your Facebook page (even the one's you "don't" know.
So the results?
I tested my 10 and 40 meter sprint about a week and half before I started the program which was actually the Tuesday before out last game but considering I barely trained this year and basically only played on a Saturday my readiness was fine (no soreness from the weekend and also not run down from a long season).
10 Meter Sprint = 2.2 seconds
40 Meter Sprint = 6.22 seconds
Bloody slow!!
With these times you can work out of you need to work on strength or speed which courtesy of Kelly Baggett, looks like this:
Step 1 - Test 10 meter sprint
Step 2 - Depending on your 10 meter time you'll add a specific amount of time to it
- 1.6 - 1.7 seconds add 3.25
- 1.5 - 1.6 seconds add 3.10
- 1.5 seconds or less add 3.0
Step 3 - Test 40 meter sprint
Step 4 - Compare your estimated and actual time
- if timed is slower then your estimate then work on speed / max velocity
- if times is faster then estimate then work on strength / acceleration
Step 5 - You can go a step further for further clarification and do a split time of 20 meters (which I didn't do):
- if first 20 meters is faster then your second 20 meters then it conforms you need to work on speed / max velocity
- if your second 20 meters is faster then your first 20 meters then work on strength / acceleration
So for my pre-program sprints looked like this:
Step 1 - 2.2 seconds
Step 2 - 2.2 + 3.25 = 5.45 (if you're slower then 1.7 seconds then you're meant to drop fat and get stronger which is what I was planning to do anyway during my 42 day program so my estimated should have been slower then this as I was so far off to start with)
Step 3 - 6.22 seconds
Step 4 - Timed 40 was sslloowweerr then estimate so my focus needed to go on speed / max velocity.
Now here's what happened some 55 days later:
10 Meter Sprint - 1.6 seconds
40 Meter Sprint - 5.56 seconds
An improvement of just under 25 and 11% respectively (if my math is correct which it probably isn't)
Assessing them again:
Step 1 - 1.6 seconds
Step 2 - 1.6 + 3.25 = 4.85
Step 3 - 5.56 seconds
Step 4 - Again my timed was slower then my estimated indicating I still need to work on speed.
The encouraging thing is that my speed did increase as you can see here:
Pre Program Test
40 meter time (6.22) - 10 meter time (2.2) = 4.02 seconds for last 30 meters
Post Program Test
40 meter time (5.56) - 10 meter time (1.6) = 3.96 seconds for last 30 meters
You can also see that my 10 meter sprint decreased by more then 25% which was helped by taking my back squat from 113 to 128.5 for 1 rep during the 42 day program. I also increased my romanian deadlift from 95 x 3 to 115 x 4, Squat Clean from 20 to 65 x 5, high pull from 45 to 75 x 5 and bench press from 100 x 1 to 100 x 3 using a sub maximal high-ish volume program.
So now I have developed another 5 week block that will take me up to Christmas where I am running another cycle of Triphasic Training but only for 5 weeks to top off my high frequency squatting for the last 7 weeks.
I must also thank Bret Contreras, Joel Smith, Christian Thibaudeau and Kelly Baggett (linked from above) who all had some input on this program through some emails we exchanged.
So the moral of the story is if you wanna get better at something then do it, and do it a lot!
- 30 sprint sessions in 40 days
- 27 squat sessions in 41 days (would have been more if my pelvis didn't discombobulate!)
- 35 hip thrusting sessions in 41 days
Yep block training gone mad!
Obviously the focus was on sprinting speed so why didn't I just sprint and go home?
Hip Thrust Strength + Back Squat Strength + Sprinting = Speed
You could probably just do these 3 exercises in your life and be faster then 90% of the people on your Facebook page (even the one's you "don't" know.
So the results?
I tested my 10 and 40 meter sprint about a week and half before I started the program which was actually the Tuesday before out last game but considering I barely trained this year and basically only played on a Saturday my readiness was fine (no soreness from the weekend and also not run down from a long season).
10 Meter Sprint = 2.2 seconds
40 Meter Sprint = 6.22 seconds
Bloody slow!!
With these times you can work out of you need to work on strength or speed which courtesy of Kelly Baggett, looks like this:
Step 1 - Test 10 meter sprint
Step 2 - Depending on your 10 meter time you'll add a specific amount of time to it
- 1.6 - 1.7 seconds add 3.25
- 1.5 - 1.6 seconds add 3.10
- 1.5 seconds or less add 3.0
Step 3 - Test 40 meter sprint
Step 4 - Compare your estimated and actual time
- if timed is slower then your estimate then work on speed / max velocity
- if times is faster then estimate then work on strength / acceleration
Step 5 - You can go a step further for further clarification and do a split time of 20 meters (which I didn't do):
- if first 20 meters is faster then your second 20 meters then it conforms you need to work on speed / max velocity
- if your second 20 meters is faster then your first 20 meters then work on strength / acceleration
So for my pre-program sprints looked like this:
Step 1 - 2.2 seconds
Step 2 - 2.2 + 3.25 = 5.45 (if you're slower then 1.7 seconds then you're meant to drop fat and get stronger which is what I was planning to do anyway during my 42 day program so my estimated should have been slower then this as I was so far off to start with)
Step 3 - 6.22 seconds
Step 4 - Timed 40 was sslloowweerr then estimate so my focus needed to go on speed / max velocity.
Now here's what happened some 55 days later:
10 Meter Sprint - 1.6 seconds
40 Meter Sprint - 5.56 seconds
An improvement of just under 25 and 11% respectively (if my math is correct which it probably isn't)
Assessing them again:
Step 1 - 1.6 seconds
Step 2 - 1.6 + 3.25 = 4.85
Step 3 - 5.56 seconds
Step 4 - Again my timed was slower then my estimated indicating I still need to work on speed.
The encouraging thing is that my speed did increase as you can see here:
Pre Program Test
40 meter time (6.22) - 10 meter time (2.2) = 4.02 seconds for last 30 meters
Post Program Test
40 meter time (5.56) - 10 meter time (1.6) = 3.96 seconds for last 30 meters
You can also see that my 10 meter sprint decreased by more then 25% which was helped by taking my back squat from 113 to 128.5 for 1 rep during the 42 day program. I also increased my romanian deadlift from 95 x 3 to 115 x 4, Squat Clean from 20 to 65 x 5, high pull from 45 to 75 x 5 and bench press from 100 x 1 to 100 x 3 using a sub maximal high-ish volume program.
So now I have developed another 5 week block that will take me up to Christmas where I am running another cycle of Triphasic Training but only for 5 weeks to top off my high frequency squatting for the last 7 weeks.
I must also thank Bret Contreras, Joel Smith, Christian Thibaudeau and Kelly Baggett (linked from above) who all had some input on this program through some emails we exchanged.
So the moral of the story is if you wanna get better at something then do it, and do it a lot!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Pelvis Broken but Mending
Since I was in my early to mid 20's I've had some reoccurring back troubles. After each footy game it would be stiff as a board where I couldn't really bend down to get my shoes on after the post game shower. It would come good later and off I went again.
It wasn't until the mid 2000's when I was working at the YMCA that I started going to a Chiropractor who would do free consultations 2 or 3 times a year to drum up some business (he was located across the road from us) that I actually had done x-rays done where there was some minor damage to the right side but nothing major.
We concluded that the near on 2 hours of basketball played on concrete each day at and after school may have affected my pelvic stability and brought on some loose ligaments. With my programming skills I am able to hold it at bay for 90% of the time and it pulls up footy nicely most of the time even now at 35.
So back to these squats. The load wasn't something I shouldn't or couldn't do. About 10 days prior I did 110kgs for 2 reps so I've built up to it and didn't expect any trouble with it. I think I remember just holding the bottom for a slight second longer knowing it was the last rep of the session and to get a good one in to finish with. I also remember not loosing any tightness while I was down there which is usually what blows out a person's back during squats.
I did have some very light lingering pain from my am session where I did some prone single leg hip extension work which my back didn't like for some reason but in my previous sets and warm up exercises it wasn't a problem. Anyway I don't really know why it popped but it did.
So I hobbled to the car and rubbed some Voltaren cream on it to get me through my evening clients then heat packed when I got home and also in bed that night with another dose of Voltaren.
I could not find a position that I couldn't feel the ache in while in bed so I had a prick of a night sleep wise (coupled with a snoring almost 3 year old in the bed too!!) so it was about the same when I woke up.
I Voltarened again in the morning and heat packed a few times during the day. The Voltaren didn't really seem to be doing anything but the heat pack was bringing some slight relief.
Come Thursday evening and I headed back to train upper body. I had some sprints ad some basic lower body stuff scheduled in but wasn't going to do any of it. The main sprinting stuff was prowler sprints on what I call level 2 (I have 4 levels I can push from on my prowler with level 1 being the lowest level).
The beauty of the prowler is that you can still train the legs more then effectively even with knee or lower back pain. The velocity is low so there's minimal impact and the position takes compression stress off the spine as well. In amongst my bench press sets I managed to do 10 sets of progressively weighted prowler sprints that actually took 95% of the lower back pain away. I knew the upper body training would help it anyway but this was a pretty good bonus.
The dull ache came back once I got home but I slept pretty well and when I moved I didn't really feel it that much.
Today (Friday) I woke up a bit better then the day before and again heat packed through the day.
With my schedule thrown out anyway I thought I'd back up my 14 or 15 sets of bench presses with another 9 today (yes you can back up the next day with the same exercise) and thought I'd try some light squats to see where I was at. I did some glute bridges that always fry my glutes pretty good and then popped 75kgs on the bar. I unracked it and took in some deep breathes and went into a slight hip hinge where I could feel it so chucked in the towel. Quickly grabbed the 30kg dumbbell and whipped out 2 x 8 goblet squats to train the pattern and had no problems at all with it.
I think I'll head in tomorrow and do some more glute and goblet squat stuff and hopefully I can get some 40 meter sprints in and by Monday hopefully I can back to the program which has only a week to go anyway.
The point? Continue to train when you're injured, even the injured area.
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