Over the couple of weeks I've mentioned the upcoming release of the Aussie Rules Training Online Consultancy and Training program that I'll be running through some software that I purchased late last year.
Well it's here!!
All programs are personally made up for YOU by ME, they are not automated programs - I don't roll like that.
I have only 25 spots available for right now so do not hesitate to jump on this as I don't expect these spots to last the week.
So if you are interested then email me at aussierulestraining@mail.com and well start the process ASAP.
I'll be back with a better training info update in a couple of days.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Turn Strength into Power
Last week I went in to detail on how to build strength without the use of weights or equipment so they type of stuff you could actually use in a team training setting.
This week we'll look at developing power, the ultimate expression of strength.
You can build strength in the gym but strength, max strength in particular, is a high load, low velocity movement meaning the weight might be bloody heavy but that means the actual movement is pretty slow.
This is great to build foundation strength that can be turned into what you want or need it to be but on it's own, its not optimal.
Enter medicine balls.
The best part of medicine balls is the release phase. Some of you might be familiar with dynamic effort weight training where you use 40 - 60% of your max and do 8 - 12 sets of 1 - 3 reps focusing on acceleration except there's 1 big problem.
For just about any free weight exercise you can think of, there's a deceleration phase which is actually protective tension of sorts from the brain so that you don't keep accelerating and snap your arm clean off. Quite dramatic I know!
But with medicine balls this deceleration phase doesn't exist because you accelerate and accelerate until you release the ball so it trains true power.
For the upper body your best options are chest throw variations either from a lying, sitting or standing position. To focus solely on the upper body muscles the lying or sitting against a wall variations are your go to variations.
For lower body you can use variations that train the lower body exclusively or you can use full body power options. For the lower body you can use scoop throwing variations and foe the full body power you can use push press or chest throw variations.
As for sets and reps it's all about power so your best served with doing single reps with about 15 - 30secs between them which you'll probably need to retrieve the medicine ball with anyway. Do these at the start of your sessions too because you want to be in a fresh state to get the full benefit from them.
So all up do 10 - 15 sets of 1 w/ 15 - 30secs reps between them doing 1 - 2 exercise variations.
This week we'll look at developing power, the ultimate expression of strength.
You can build strength in the gym but strength, max strength in particular, is a high load, low velocity movement meaning the weight might be bloody heavy but that means the actual movement is pretty slow.
This is great to build foundation strength that can be turned into what you want or need it to be but on it's own, its not optimal.
Enter medicine balls.
The best part of medicine balls is the release phase. Some of you might be familiar with dynamic effort weight training where you use 40 - 60% of your max and do 8 - 12 sets of 1 - 3 reps focusing on acceleration except there's 1 big problem.
For just about any free weight exercise you can think of, there's a deceleration phase which is actually protective tension of sorts from the brain so that you don't keep accelerating and snap your arm clean off. Quite dramatic I know!
But with medicine balls this deceleration phase doesn't exist because you accelerate and accelerate until you release the ball so it trains true power.
For the upper body your best options are chest throw variations either from a lying, sitting or standing position. To focus solely on the upper body muscles the lying or sitting against a wall variations are your go to variations.
For lower body you can use variations that train the lower body exclusively or you can use full body power options. For the lower body you can use scoop throwing variations and foe the full body power you can use push press or chest throw variations.
As for sets and reps it's all about power so your best served with doing single reps with about 15 - 30secs between them which you'll probably need to retrieve the medicine ball with anyway. Do these at the start of your sessions too because you want to be in a fresh state to get the full benefit from them.
So all up do 10 - 15 sets of 1 w/ 15 - 30secs reps between them doing 1 - 2 exercise variations.
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Friday, February 28, 2014
5 Random Footy Training Tips Part 6
First a little update from Aussie Rules Training.
Excitement Factor #1 - I'm in the midst of writing a brand new footy manual! I haven't released one in a while and I'm always learning new stuff so as of right now (it might change possibly) the idea is to have a 12 month training manual from September/October all the way through to September the next year. Programs, info galore thus it's taking a while to gather it all and have it all make sense. It will possibly replace the other manuals I have as it will basically put them all together in the single manual with some bits taken from them along with all the new stuff I have.
Excitement Factor #2 - Late last year I purchased some online training software of which I'm in also in the middle of putting my own videos into (tedious and drawn out process!). I had 200 on there already but this requires individual videos of each exercises, not groups of exercises like I had. I'm now up to 357 vids with another 40 odd on my phone needing to be uploaded and another 50+ I reckon to be filmed and also uploaded. With this software I'll be able to program for anyone anywhere in the world and it has plenty of features within it in regards to its set up and nutritional component. I hope to coincide this release with the manual but I'm spinning wheels trying to get them both done!
Anyway back to randoms...
Random Tip #26 - Getting Stronger Without Weights
It could be said that the stronger you are, the better athlete you are. It's not a perfect statement but a stronger athlete has greater capacity for power, speed and even endurance then a weaker one. Strength is the foundation of which all other strength and fitness qualities is built on.
Most clubs will not have the luxury of having a gym set up available for use by players but you can still get your players stronger at training without weights but is doing push up ladders and sets of 50m walking lunges getting you stronger or just building up fatigue and a little endurance?
Enter isometric dynamic bodyweight exercises.
ID exercise take bodyweight exercises to the next level as they require a far greater force output then traditional reps.
These can be done a few ways of which I'll cheat and use a tip # for each variation.
Random Tip #27 - Iso Dynamic Power Rep
An ID power rep is performed by going down into the bottom deep position of a squat, split squat or push up and holding for at least 3secs. At that point your objective is to push out of that position, the mechanically weakest position of the exercise until you are at the starting position. The isometric contraction (no movement) means that you must generate as much force as you can to get out of that position meaning greater. For the power rep variation do single reps focusing on holding perfect positioning when you explode out of the bottom position.
Random Tip #28 - Iso Dynamic Plyometric Power Rep
This is the same as a power reps except now you're aiming to generate even more force out of the bottom position because now you wanna try and elevate the ground with your feet or hands. Again do these in single reps. An important part of this variation is the landing mechanics which you might need to master before trying these plyometric reps. You want to make sure that you are again maintaining correct positioning through the entire rep and also upon landing where the stress should be evenly distributed through the ankles, knees and hips for lower body exercises and the wrists, elbows and shoulders for upper body movements.
#29 - Power and Plyometric Power Reps
I underlined the "s" because this is the difference. Once you mastered single reps with a reset between each one like in points # 27 and 28, then move to continuous reps of 3 - 5 per set. So for squats and squat jumps you jump up and upon landing you are to assume immediately get yourself back into the starting position (hence the need to ace landing mechanics as mentioned above somewhere) where you "stick" the landing for at least 3secs and go again.
#30 - Partner Assisted Power and Plyometric Power Reps
This is a step up from the power and plyometric power reps but can be used for both variations. This is where a partner will provide some low to moderate resistance to you while you are paused in the deep position. So you descend into your push up or squat position then your partner pushes you downwards where you are now resisting this a]downwards action by actually trying to push or squat up. They will want to provide enough resistance so that you can't actually move and then once they release their grip, you go lie a slingshot and spring out of it. With the power required to get out of this position with the added resistance it will probably result in a plyometric power rep anyway. Again follow the single reps with a reset between each rep then move to continuous reps.
This video from Jeremy Frisch and his team down at www.achieveperformance.net over in the US gives you an idea of what I'm talking about at the 2:25 minute mark. Watch the whole thing they have some real good stuff you won't even knew existed before except for what I've put on this blog
Thursday, February 13, 2014
5 Random Footy Training Tips Part 5
Back with another bunch of randoms so let's get right to them!
Random Tip #20 - Partial vs Full Beep Test
I'm pretty sure we all know what the beep test is and how it's usually performed. Set up 2 cones 20m apart and make sure you make the other end before the recorded beep which gets quicker and quicker every beep. The test goes for a good 30mins if you can get to an elite level which is probably 15 or more. I think the record for AFL is 17 something.
Now like all tests this doesn't really give you any sign of how good a player you'll be but it does give an indication that endurance is a strong suit if you can hit the mid teens or thereabouts.
I have read of teams doing partial beep test from about level 8 which really makes more sense then wasting energy on the really slow bits which is ultimately recovery during a game but for this it's just pointless.
My suggestion would be to maybe initially test from the start but if you have periodic planned re-testing then each time start from a different spot each time.
Initial Test - start at level 1
1st Retest - start at level 3
2nd Retest - start at level 6
3rd Retest - start at level 9
As you progress through pre-season training you will inherently increase volume so the as you go along you'll need to manage fatigue as there's only so much good juice to go around. In the end you make this a repeat speed type test and it saves time and energy mid to late pre-season for more game specific training drills (performed before the beep testing of course!)
Random Tip #21 - Partner Sprints
What is the point of footy? Competition.
And what is the one thing that is hardest to replicate during footy training? Game specific speeds.
Chase sprints can bridge this gap a little.
Not every player will go as hard as you want them to all the time but chase sprints can rectify this. By adding a competitive element to each sprint you can ensure that training intensity is as high as it can be for those all important bragging rights of who wins and who loses.
Partner sprints can be done a variety of ways but its important that you use a whistle for each sprint start cos no one likes a cheater!
Try doing from standing start, 3 point start, standing backwards, standing sideways, lying up or down or any other position you like but don't make these more then 10m long and rest at least 60secs between each sets as they will also serve for speed development.
Random Tip #22 - Chase Sprints
A step up from partner sprints are chase sprints. These are characterised by having a player start 2 - 3m in front of the another player where the object is for the player at the front to stay ahead of the the player at the back for the duration of the sprint which again is ran over 10m or so. The player at the back probably won't catch them but again the competitive element will ensure they try their darndest to do so.
Again use a whistle start and rest about 60secs between sets.
Random Tip #23 - Acceleration Chase Sprint
For this variant the player at the front will start from a push up position while the player at the back starts from a regular standing position. The focus is on the player at the front to explode out of the low position using forceful hip extension and arm drive.
Random Tip #24 - Combo Chase Sprint
For this variant 1 player trains acceleration while the other player trains the drive and almost max velocity phase.
The player at the back will this time start about 10m back from the player in front. When the whistle goes only the player at the back goes while the player in front waits for the second whistle.
As the player at the back passes a cone 3 - 5m from his starting line then the 2nd whistle goes and the player in front now goes, again trying to accelerate as quick as he can so the player at the back can't catch him.
To make this acceleration focused start the player at the back 5 - 8m behind the player at the front and set a cone up about 3 - 5m from his starting point.
To make this max velocity focused start the player at the back further back, say about 15 - 20m and set his 2nd cone up about 7 - 10m from the player at the front.
This will focus on max velocity for the player at the back.
Random Tip #25 - Footy Specific Chase Drills
OK, so this can be done by using footy and a skill element to the drill.
For example start off with the player at the back about 5m back and place a ball about 3m in front of the player at the front. Both players go on the same whistle with the player in front needing to pick the ball up and dispose by hand or foot to a leading player up the ground while the player at the back does his best to tackle him.
Again the player in front trains acceleration as well as skills under pressure while the player at the back trains acceleration. To make this max velocity focuses just make the drill longer with as in tip #24.
Random Tip #20 - Partial vs Full Beep Test
I'm pretty sure we all know what the beep test is and how it's usually performed. Set up 2 cones 20m apart and make sure you make the other end before the recorded beep which gets quicker and quicker every beep. The test goes for a good 30mins if you can get to an elite level which is probably 15 or more. I think the record for AFL is 17 something.
Now like all tests this doesn't really give you any sign of how good a player you'll be but it does give an indication that endurance is a strong suit if you can hit the mid teens or thereabouts.
I have read of teams doing partial beep test from about level 8 which really makes more sense then wasting energy on the really slow bits which is ultimately recovery during a game but for this it's just pointless.
My suggestion would be to maybe initially test from the start but if you have periodic planned re-testing then each time start from a different spot each time.
Initial Test - start at level 1
1st Retest - start at level 3
2nd Retest - start at level 6
3rd Retest - start at level 9
As you progress through pre-season training you will inherently increase volume so the as you go along you'll need to manage fatigue as there's only so much good juice to go around. In the end you make this a repeat speed type test and it saves time and energy mid to late pre-season for more game specific training drills (performed before the beep testing of course!)
Random Tip #21 - Partner Sprints
What is the point of footy? Competition.
And what is the one thing that is hardest to replicate during footy training? Game specific speeds.
Chase sprints can bridge this gap a little.
Not every player will go as hard as you want them to all the time but chase sprints can rectify this. By adding a competitive element to each sprint you can ensure that training intensity is as high as it can be for those all important bragging rights of who wins and who loses.
Partner sprints can be done a variety of ways but its important that you use a whistle for each sprint start cos no one likes a cheater!
Try doing from standing start, 3 point start, standing backwards, standing sideways, lying up or down or any other position you like but don't make these more then 10m long and rest at least 60secs between each sets as they will also serve for speed development.
Random Tip #22 - Chase Sprints
A step up from partner sprints are chase sprints. These are characterised by having a player start 2 - 3m in front of the another player where the object is for the player at the front to stay ahead of the the player at the back for the duration of the sprint which again is ran over 10m or so. The player at the back probably won't catch them but again the competitive element will ensure they try their darndest to do so.
Again use a whistle start and rest about 60secs between sets.
Random Tip #23 - Acceleration Chase Sprint
For this variant the player at the front will start from a push up position while the player at the back starts from a regular standing position. The focus is on the player at the front to explode out of the low position using forceful hip extension and arm drive.
Random Tip #24 - Combo Chase Sprint
For this variant 1 player trains acceleration while the other player trains the drive and almost max velocity phase.
The player at the back will this time start about 10m back from the player in front. When the whistle goes only the player at the back goes while the player in front waits for the second whistle.
As the player at the back passes a cone 3 - 5m from his starting line then the 2nd whistle goes and the player in front now goes, again trying to accelerate as quick as he can so the player at the back can't catch him.
To make this acceleration focused start the player at the back 5 - 8m behind the player at the front and set a cone up about 3 - 5m from his starting point.
To make this max velocity focused start the player at the back further back, say about 15 - 20m and set his 2nd cone up about 7 - 10m from the player at the front.
This will focus on max velocity for the player at the back.
Random Tip #25 - Footy Specific Chase Drills
OK, so this can be done by using footy and a skill element to the drill.
For example start off with the player at the back about 5m back and place a ball about 3m in front of the player at the front. Both players go on the same whistle with the player in front needing to pick the ball up and dispose by hand or foot to a leading player up the ground while the player at the back does his best to tackle him.
Again the player in front trains acceleration as well as skills under pressure while the player at the back trains acceleration. To make this max velocity focuses just make the drill longer with as in tip #24.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
5 Random Footy Training Tips Part 4
Had a busy and not really-home break so far bit it's all over so I'm back with another 5 randoms tips post.
Random Tip #16 - To Gain an Edge, Train What the Others Don't
Here's 99% of footy trams pre-season training summed up: long and slow runs, some 200 or 400's with no justification for distance or rest periods and some exceptionally poor sprint and agility programming.
Now apart from most teams missing the boat on getting the basics correct why not focus on what they don't train as well as what you must train?
You MUST train aerobic capacity - no argument there. But do you need to spend session after session doing it? Negative.
So with some decent programming there should be time to train some other fitness qualities such as maximum speed, repeat speed, agility, hip strength, core stability/strength (sit ups is not core stability work!) and footy specific variations of all these points.
If you're team hasn't already, then then they should really look into getting a strength and conditioning coach, not personal trainer, or at least liaise with one. Hint - I'm a second away from qualifying as level 1 strength and conditioning coach!
Random Tip #17 - Individualise to Some Degree
AFL strength and conditioning is all about individualisation within a team setting. Players have personal programs that are implemented within their teams training such as specific rehab, gym and fitness programs. Now of course us local teams don't have the coaches and know-how to do all they do (but re-read the last part of tip #16) but for everyone to be successful you need to find a way.
You must have already heard that "you're only as good as your bottom 6 players", and that could not be more true so is it more critical to make sure they improve or the players that turn up year in year out and do a lot of stuff on their own?
Breaking fitness drills into groups is a good start encouraging players to eventually move to the group above them. Auto regulating training is also a good way to ensure most players are training at the level that is suitable for them. I wrote about this years ago and actually got a bit of a bashing on bigfooty.com for it when I posted it over there but low and behold the AFL now do this, calling it max aerobic training (for memory).
Random Tip #18 - Position Specific Training
This is similar to tip #17 and again requires a bit of know-how about what each position requires - but a bit more then endurance for on-ballers. If you have a burly full forward who you want to park in the forward 50 then it doesn't make much sense to have him running 400's with the midfield group does it? And this will possibly rob him of his strength and explosiveness which is what he really needs for 1-on-1 battles and leads.
Random Tip #19 - Assessing and Testing
Random Tip #16 - To Gain an Edge, Train What the Others Don't
Here's 99% of footy trams pre-season training summed up: long and slow runs, some 200 or 400's with no justification for distance or rest periods and some exceptionally poor sprint and agility programming.
Now apart from most teams missing the boat on getting the basics correct why not focus on what they don't train as well as what you must train?
You MUST train aerobic capacity - no argument there. But do you need to spend session after session doing it? Negative.
So with some decent programming there should be time to train some other fitness qualities such as maximum speed, repeat speed, agility, hip strength, core stability/strength (sit ups is not core stability work!) and footy specific variations of all these points.
If you're team hasn't already, then then they should really look into getting a strength and conditioning coach, not personal trainer, or at least liaise with one. Hint - I'm a second away from qualifying as level 1 strength and conditioning coach!
Random Tip #17 - Individualise to Some Degree
AFL strength and conditioning is all about individualisation within a team setting. Players have personal programs that are implemented within their teams training such as specific rehab, gym and fitness programs. Now of course us local teams don't have the coaches and know-how to do all they do (but re-read the last part of tip #16) but for everyone to be successful you need to find a way.
You must have already heard that "you're only as good as your bottom 6 players", and that could not be more true so is it more critical to make sure they improve or the players that turn up year in year out and do a lot of stuff on their own?
Breaking fitness drills into groups is a good start encouraging players to eventually move to the group above them. Auto regulating training is also a good way to ensure most players are training at the level that is suitable for them. I wrote about this years ago and actually got a bit of a bashing on bigfooty.com for it when I posted it over there but low and behold the AFL now do this, calling it max aerobic training (for memory).
Random Tip #18 - Position Specific Training
This is similar to tip #17 and again requires a bit of know-how about what each position requires - but a bit more then endurance for on-ballers. If you have a burly full forward who you want to park in the forward 50 then it doesn't make much sense to have him running 400's with the midfield group does it? And this will possibly rob him of his strength and explosiveness which is what he really needs for 1-on-1 battles and leads.
Random Tip #19 - Assessing and Testing
A lot more teams seem to be doing some form of testing these days which is very good to see. The next step they need to take though is to actually program their training to improve these tests. Teams will now often test a distance run, a sprint of 60 - 100m, some form agility and so called "strength tests" of push ups and sit ups.
This poses 2 questions to me straight away?
1 - Why have they chosen these tests?
and;
2 - Will they actually train them specifically or just train as normal and hope they get better at them?
It seems to me that point 2 is prevalent if local/amateur footy so its time to take the next step with this.
Random Tip #20 - Speed Work to Start Short and Finish Long
During sprinting there are 2 main phases being the acceleration stage and the max velocity phase.
Acceleration usually refers to first 20 - 30m with max velocity being the next 20 - 30m.
Within 100m sprints there are a few more stages like the initial start, the drive phase between acceleration and max velocity and also speed endurance that follows max velocity but for the sake of footy let's keep this simple.
In footy you'll sprint as hard as you can over 10m then you do for any other distance. One can only hold max velocity for 1- 2secs at best before we start to slow down so if you are doing 100m sprints as a test (which I suggest you don't) then it's more a test of who is slowing down the slowest.
Anyway you need to start at the start so start at accelerations over 10 - 20m and work them up to the 40 - 60m mark while layer on introducing some max velocity work with flying sprints over 10m and working up to 30m. You don't really need to go any further with these distances because with speed development it's all about quality of work, not quantity. This also means you need FULL REST BETWEEN SETS!!
Yep, that's so important it needs capitals because if I see anymore incomplete rest speed work I'll shoot someone!
Ponder those til next time - 2 Weeks til Footy!!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Repeat Speed Training Block
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....................................
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....................................
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.
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