ARE YOU PREPEARED FOR 2026?

With tomorrow being Saturday February 1, it marks 6 - 7 weeks before practices games will be played and that means there might be only 12 training sessions between now and then to train up the principles you want your team to follow for season 2026.  

Over the 4 main phases of the game laid out below, and that could be extended to 5 if you prefer to divide transition into offensive and defensive, you should have 3 - 4 solid principles for each that you train up and nail for a single season.

Too few and you're not covering enough of what happens in a game and too many and the players just can't take it all in enough to master them all.

If you're still a few principles short of fully rounding out your team's approach in 2026, then scour the options below and get to it!

  

DEFENSIVE PRINICPLES

• FORWARD PRESS DEFENSE
• LANE RUNNING
• 666 CONNECTION
• EXPLOITING THE STAND RULE
• KICK OUT STRATEGIES
• OVERLAP

 

TRANSITION PRINCIPLES

• FORWARD PRESS DEFENSE
• LANE RUNNING
• MIDFIELDER RUNNING PATTERNS
• 666 CONNECTION
• EXPLOTING THE STAND RULE
• CREATING/UTILISING LENGTH
• WING PLAY
• PLAYING BETWEEN THE LINES
• OUTNUMBER ADVANATAGES
• MANUFACTURING CORRIDOR
• OVERLAP
• RUCK RUNS

 

OFFENSIVE PRINCIPLES

• 666 CONNECTION
• CREATING/UTILISING LENGTH
• FORWARD PLAY

 

STOPPAGE PRINCIPLES

• TEAM FORMATIONS
• CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE VOL 1
• CENTER BOUNCE CLEARANCE VOL 2

Alternatively, if you'd got something you'd like me to look over and give some feedback on then feel free to let me know.

INDIVIDUAL + TEAMMATE EFFECTS ON SMALL SIDED GAMES

This hot-off-the-presses study looks at quantifying the effects of individual players and teammates on small-sided games through repeated-game observations.

Does 1 or a group of players drive a team's success or do all players need to contribute to become a winning team?

Find out below.

• In the study 31 people participated in 3v3 soccer matches
• Teammate combinations explained 20 – 23% of team success but individual players only 11 – 12% with the kicker there being that was substantial residue variance of 64 – 69% which indicates that performance depends on multiple factors beyond those 2 alone
• Scouting/analytics should better account for the emergent properties of team interactions when evaluating players
• Football outcomes often emerge from chains of events involving multiple players making it statistically complex to isolate individual impact
• 2 players of the same skill set may underperform if they occupy the same spaces and limit each other’s opportunities
• Collective team performance arises from the interpersonal interactions between players, with interaction quality differentiating unsuccessful and successful outcomes
• In football, team tactics are governed by complex processes resulting from networks of interdependent parameters, suggesting that performance emerges from the coordination patterns between specific player combinations and not solely from isolated individual abilities
• Ecological dynamics predicts that a player’s apparent quality may be significantly shaped by environmental context (teammates, tactical roles, opposition strength)
• By repeatedly shifting team configurations in small-sided games, we isolate the relative effects of individual players and their teammates on overall performance
• The study also looked at if unopposed player skill levels, tested and quantified pre-study, were maintained in games
• The highest male goal scorer (32 goals) had an individual player effect of -.6 suggesting their offensive production was accompanied by negative defensive contributions or occurred disproportionately in matches their team lost
• The highest female goal scorer (38) had an individual player effect of +1.34 indicating more consistent alignment between offensive/defensive production and overall team contribution
• The correlation of unopposed skill level and individual player effects during competition was weak for both genders
• Team performance was maximised when players with different skill skillsets were combined, highlighting the importance of complementary roles in driving team success
• In AFL the distribution of individual contributions within teams significantly affects match outcomes, with more evenly distributed goal-scoring patterns associated with greater success suggesting team effectiveness emerges not just from individual capabilities but from how those capabilities are distributed/coordinated within the group
• Team effectiveness depends not only on the competencies of individual members but also on their ability to coordinate, communicate and adapt to dynamic situations
• This study only used 3v3 but in 11v11 results may not fully transfer where positional roles/formations introduce additional layers of interdependence

OUTSIDER COACH #9 - ALAN COUZENS PART 4

We've made the final part of this series on performance coach Alan Couzens where we've broken down his content into lactate, training zones, metabolic fitness and aerobic development. Today we look at various ways you can train to his principles as well as a bunch of other helpful tips to guide you along the way + a snapshot of how l've incorporated a lot of them myself. 

BEGINNER PROGRAM

This is for someone whose walking pace places them in upper zone o/lower zone 1 who is training for a 5k...Have 1 day  metabolic day consisting of a 2 – 3hr bike/hike, very easy, just keep moving...Have 2 run days of 75 – 90mins each with 15min zone 0/1, 15min zone 1/2, light dynamic mobility, 10 x 30secs gradual speed increase to 5k effort with long walk recovery, 15min warm down...Do 1 – 2 full body gym sessions/week...Add in 2 – 3 short/easy recovery days x walk/gentle yoga

WALKING

For 90% of people, yes...For very fit people, no...Stroke volume will come very close to maximum levels at relatively low levels of intensity (40 – 50% VO2Max) where there is a maximal stimulation on the stretch of the heart at easy efforts which increases the size of the left ventricle leading to lower heart rates at rest and during exercise...40 – 50% VO2Max is a very easy effort and for a normally fit person with a VO2Max of 40 – 50, this is just 20ml/kg/min and a normal walking economy of just 3.1mph...Only once you reach a VO2Max of 50 then walking starts to be ineffective as its insufficient to reach full stroke volume and you’ll need to walk on solid inclines or perhaps with load and/or jog a little...Even if you’re too fit for walking to work cardiovascularly, it can still work metabolically

The best endurance athletes in the world will do 90% of their work at less than 1mmol/l lactate...Most amateur athletes will struggle to get down to 1 even when walking so just walk

WARM UP

It sets the scene for what fuel the body will burn for the rest of the workout and whether it will be a fat or sugar burning session...For a fat burning session, start with a walk into a light jog then into your normal pace over 15 – 20mins...If you’ve just eaten carbs then it’ll take longer to stabilise and allow for fat usage

If you've only got 60mins then warm up, walk, light jog then reverse the workout back down (walk, warm down)

75 HARD

For 75 days, commit to 2 x 45mins bouts of exercise/day with 1 of them being outside with no intensity floor and make the 90mins as easy as you like = 10hrs/week

HIGH v LOW INTENSITY

Overdo low intensity and you'll lose oxidative power...Overdo high intensity and you'll lose oxidative capacity/endurance...Almost all athletes are relatively high in sugar burning power and very low on fat burning capacity...Fix your diet, bring your overall intensity down and 1/week do a long ride ride/hike in which should be 3x your long-term daily average so if you train 7hrs/week = 1hr/day x 3 = 3hrs in duration...Start easy, just get time in the saddle and then increase intensity gradually

HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING

Increases the amount of lactate you can achieve at the end of a medium duration effort...If doing exclusive base training it might only allow you to reach 175bpm and accumulate 6mmol/l of lactate over a 10km course...After 6 weeks of interval training, it might increase to 180bpm at 8 – 9mmol/l of lactate and it can result in marginally better times (3%) but most of us have a lot more to gain on the base side of things, and only once that starts to plateau should intervals be brought in...If you've started ding hard intervals in October then you're severely capping your overall fitness potential for the season

Will improve heart rate/stroke vole temporarily but nothing long lasting that remodels the heart for increases in VO2Max where you need years of stretch/remodel/stretch/remodel...Uses fast muscle fibers over slow muscle fibers which also means glycogen depletion over fat oxidation so you miss out on slow fibre use and the sustained energy they provide...The highest VO2Max ever recorded is 96.7 and he only spent 5% of his training at high intensity with 80% of it being under 80% of his heart rate max

IDEAL HEART RATE

If you absolutely can’t test lactate then use this to get your heart rate range...((MaxHR – RHR) x .5) + RHR = Lower End...((Max HR – RHR) x .6) + RHR = High End...For me its 119 - 131bpm @ a max heart rate of 180 and a resting heart rate of 57

TRAINING RULES

4hrs of zone 0 movement/day with 10k steps moving every 90mins...30mins mobility/day...2hrs in zone 1 x 4/week...30mins combined in zones 2 – 5 x 2/week...30min full body gym x 2/week...4+hr hike/bike x 1/month

SCHEDULING

You only need 1 long/strong/fast session per week and the rest can be easy/recovery based...If you have extra energy then add in another 2nd fast session

My weekly schedule is day 1 x sprints/lower gym, day 2 all easy, day 3 x upper gym, day 4 x aerobic/lower gym, day 5 all easy but maybe some zone 1, day 6 x upper gym and repeat...All days have zone 0/1 training to fill up my aim of 170mins/day total detailed below

FASTED EXERCISE

Compared to fed exercise the overall difference in fat oxidation is marginal but the difference in time to fatigue and post session recovery is significant...You’re also setting the limiter to the energy in your liver v the energy in your muscles and we’re not training our liver...That being said I do my aerobic session fasted if it falls on a Monday or Wednesday and I train in the AM when my evening is taken out from footy training/work

It makes no sense to do hard workouts when fasted as you've set the perfect scene for lots of free fatty acids availability but if you train at an intensity that is too high then you'll bypass them for sugar and you'll miss both fat burning and true aerobic development opportunities

THE HEART

The ejection fraction is the % of blood pushed out per beat with 50% of stroke volume being good cardiac health...At rest, ejection fractions for untrained people is 50 – 60% of stroke volume and well-trained athletes closer to 70% and during exercise this increases to 70/75% – 80% respectively...The bigger separator is left ventricle capacity which is 100ml in untrained people v 180 – 200ml for trained athletes which comes from having bigger chambers which are developed by racking up lots of beats where the heart is completely full of blood and being fully stretched out on every beat...The heart is most full at low heart rates...The larger the heart gets the higher the absolute energy cost of accumulating those beats where an elite athlete racking up full heart beats at 50 – 60% VO2Max could be expending 15 – 20cals/minute v an untrained person doing less than half of that

HEART BEATS

The more full heart beats you can rack up, the more oxygen you can deliver per beat and the faster your aerobic speed becomes…The more low intensity contractions you rack up the more mitochondria you grow in the fat-fuelled muscle fibers and the less lactate you'll produce for any given speed

PERFORMANCE LIMITER

The biggest one is likely metabolic as the typically metabolically unfit amateur burns through 1000cals of carbs before they even get to footy training, leaving nothing for actual training, but the typical elite athlete won’t have burn through any...The solution isn't for the unfit amateur to eat more carbs, but to become more reliant on using fat as fuel during the day via aerobic and metabolic fitness, so carbs remain largely untouched and are still available for when you really need them 

TRAINING RESPONSE

Changes in fitness are much more closely linked to changes in lifestyle (sleep, diet, stress, nutrition etc) then training load

LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT

Train up and master metabolic capacity then aerobic capacity and then anaerobic capacity in that order...The first 2 can be trained at the same time if you're extremely disciplined enough to walk instead of running

INCREASED FITNESS

Means increased glycogen storage where an athlete with a 70 VO2Max will have double the storage as an athlete at 40 VO2Max

LOW VOLUME ATHLETE

They don’t need sustained anaerobic work...Their anaerobic systems are already usually strong on their own but it has to be supported by the aerobic system, which it rarely is...They’ll easily reach double figures in lactate after high intensity exercise v high volume athletes who top out at 5 – 7mmol/L, with their highly developed aerobic system dominating their anaerobic system...The high-volume athlete's absolute glycolytic power isn't significantly different to their aerobic power so train to raise the roof so that anaerobic glycolytic power is no longer the limiter...For low volume athletes their roof is already a long way from their ceiling with an attic of potential untapped, yet they keep banging their head against the 5ft ceiling - this was me from mid 20's onwards!

FAST MUSCLE FIBER ATHLETE

They burn through a crap load of glycogen...Will have a lot of long/slow/easy metabolic work to do to be competitive over the long stuff...Glycogen use at 79% of VO2Max is 65 for fast fiber athlete v 28 for slow fiber athlete meaning that the slow fiber athlete can maintain the same amount of work for twice as long at the same intensity

FATIGUE

Train to the first sign of fatigue, not the last

NORWEGIAN METHOD

Massive amounts of 1mmol/l lactate work coupled with hefty doses of solid aerobic work in and around 3mmol/l lactate

THE MAGIC WORKOUT

Put your bike on the lightest gear, find the flattest most boring road you can find and spend multiple hours ticking along and never letting your heart rate go above your aerobic threshold

RANDOMS

There is zero benefit of spending more than 30% of your training time (72mins) above zone 1 for runners training less than 4hrs/week as harder is not worth more

To even stand a chance of maintaining zone 2 for the full 9hrs of an Ironman race you need to be able to complete 9hrs at zone 1 and 6hrs in zone 2 as singular training sessions beforehand

You benefit from a lot of easy work, and a little fast work, but not from doing your easy work harder...For most athletes, zone 2/3 give no additional aerobic benefit per unit of time than zone 1 but it does delay recovery, negatively affect fat burning and increase injury risk...Zone 1 is about 70% of your heart rate max

Zone 2 costs more than zone 1 but isn’t worth anymore fitness...Zone 3 costs way more than zone 2 but for the same fitness as zone 1...Zone 4 costs even more than zone 3 but only for a little extra fitness than zone 1...Zone 5 is ridiculously priced but for a lot more fitness than zone 1...Zone 5 provides the greatest amount of fitness but you can’t do much of it and is where everyone goes wrong...The more zone 1 you do the more you can do overall but also the more cheaper it becomes and elites can get to the point where it costs absolutely nothing...Zone 5 is always expensive and only gets more expensive the more fit you become as your continually trying to raise the roof but you've barely lifted the floor 

You don’t need to push, you need to keep showing up where you are

Most of the time your split should be 60 – 70% zone 1 with the remaining 30 – 40% split between zone 0 (warm up/active recovery) and zone 2 (hills/circuit training/pick-ups)

Your long session should be 33% of your weekly volume so for me 6.5hrs (20hrs/.33)

You don’t get the same positive shifts in fat oxidation if you split sessions up v doing them all in a row

People want a 12-week fix but endurance is a 1000-day project

MY MOVEMENT DAY - 170mins

Everybody's situation is different and I'm no different, with a lot of time spent at home being a full-time carer.

Dog Walk and/or Pedal trainer upon waking x 30 - 60mins

On aerobic day I then head down to the footy oval and do 60mins there followed up by another 15- 20 in the gym once I get back x 60 - 75mins which equates to a good 90 - 105mins all up in zone 0/1 and some 2 depending on how I structure my aerobic training.

Mid arvo Ill jump on the pedals again and/or walk the dog x 45 - 60mins

After dinner I'll again jump on the pedals and/or walk the dog x 45 - 60mins

On gym days I will have done 90mins or so of zone 0/1 earlier in the day, do gym late arvo into another dog walk and then fill up my time to 170mins after dinner on the pedal trainer of need be.

1 day a week I've been hitting the new indoor basketball court over here in the west for 90mins or so that's zone 1/2 and the main training session for that day. 

All movement is included in my daily totals such as shopping, gardening and mowing the lawns.

You might not be able to reach 170 but 120mins/day should be doable for most with 30mins before breakfast, 60min main session and 30mins somewhere else during the day or the 2 x 45mins option suggested above - if you want to, you'll find the time to

OUTSIDER COACH #9 - ALAN COUZENS PART 3

So far in this this series on Aussie but now American performance coach Alan Couzens we have covered lactate, training zones and metabolic fitness and today we look at the aerobic system in a bit more detail.

AEROBIC THRESHOLD

During a Step Test, if your aerobic threshold is 60% or less of your VO2Mmax power, then you need more aerobic work...If it's over 60% then you should introduce a little more zone 4/5 work...The aerobic threshold is the 1st rise in lactate...Estimate VO2Max power by doing a 5 and then 20 minute all out run then get the average of those runs...You can also use the Karvonen formula to estimate 60% of your VO2Max from a known resting heart rate/maximal heart rate...My max heart rate is 180 and my resting heart rate is 57bpm...The formula is ((MHR - RHR) x % intensity) + RHR so ((180 - 57) x .6) + 57 = 131bpm is 60% of my VO2Max

AEROBIC BASE

Those with a strong ability to use fat as substrate spend more time training at a low intensity/less than 70% of their threshold/pace while also tending to train with more volume...Ramping up training from 400hrs to 800hrs/yr resulted in almost 2x the fat oxidation

AEROBIC CAPACITY

For a typically fit, middle aged dude with a threshold of 5min/km then most of your training should be at 50% or less of your threshold meaning 10min/kms meaning walking and that’s how you get your volume

NASAL BREATHING

If you can nasal breath for the entire session (I do), then that's an excellent sign you're training at your aerobic threshold/1st rise in the lactate curve/max fat oxidation...You can do the most work with the less fatigue here and is the 1st deepening of the breath

This the deepening of the breathe/opening of the lungs is generally felt as a need to move more air through the body so you intuitively open the mouth to help out

The point where you want to open your mouth to get enough air in the lungs is a good proxy for aerobic threshold and it’s quite/subtle/not forced and not a competition to see how much air you can move through your nostrils

As exercise intensity increases, we move from nasal breathing to quiet mouth breathing to loud mouth breathing which is right up at your VO2Max where metabolic acidosis is starting to increase and the body’s response to it is to blow off the increasingly carbonic acid in the form of additional carbon dioxide and is visible in the relationship between total CO2 production v O2 being consumed

Ventilation makes a sharp increase but respiratory rate barely moves and in some cases will actually decrease as now the body’s urge is to breathe out deeper to rid the increasingly acidity of the blood in the muscles and this is often wrongly identified as the 1st ventilation threshold...Athletes spend too much time in this acidic/carb costly state when there is significant benefit to be had being far below it at an intensity that allows nasal breathing

Earn the right to be a loud mouth breather 

OUTSIDER COACH #9 - ALAN COUZENS PART 2

Yesterday I introduced Alan Couzens, an Aussie but American-based performance coach who specialises in energy systems.

He has totally transformed how I look at aerobic development and although maybe not applicable for team footy training, it's totally what you should be following for whatever energy system straining you do in your own time.

Yesterday we covered various topics around lactate and training zones and today we look at metabolic fitness which will be new to most, if not all, of you. 

FAT v CARB OXIDATION

If you overdo dietary fat, then power can be compromised as energy per liter of oxygen is less than 6% lower for fat than carbs so a low carb runner will need a 6% higher VO2Max to maintain the same speed.

If you overdo carbs, then you become a sugar burner you can't burn as many calories per minute as the high fat runner and once you've spent all your carb tickets, your body finds it very hard to then move to fat as an energy source, and you teeter out very quickly.

FAT OXIDATION

Someone with a VO2Max 50 or less, fat oxidation peaks at less than a 4mph/brisk walk, is already down to less than 50% at a 5.5mph/jog and down to 0 at a 6.5mph - slow down to use fat for fuel!

FAT BURNING

2 people can have a very good levels of max fat oxidation but they can also achieve max fat oxidation at different heart rates and %’s of heart rate...Both athletes can also breath at different rates and move different amounts of air through the body...Different athletes can burn different amounts of fat at the same % of heart rate max

FAT UTILISATION

A typically unfit individual burns less then 100cals of fat/hr (1pd/35hrs of exercise) v a metabolically fit individual that can burn 6x that (1pd/5 – 6hrs of exercise)...If you’re looking to use fat fuel then you need to have a high ability to use fat as fuel

IMPROVING FAT BURNING

Even the leanest individual has enough fat stored to run 10 marathons back-to-back but the average individual can only access energy from fat at about 3 calories/min but for averaged sized individuals it takes about 6cals/min for your slowest stroll meaning we have great capacity but low fat burning power to even power a walk...For an average sized endurance athlete expending 2500cals/day, only 5% of them will be from fat stores...You want to be a hybrid athlete, being able to switch to whatever energy blend is needed in accordance with output, on demand

BE A FAT BURNER

A study looked at fat oxidation at rest v 25% v 50% v 70% of VO2Max and some were deriving 100% of their resting energy from fat and some just 30%...Those who burn more fat at rest tend to burn more fat all intensity levels...If you simply flood your blood with glucose then it will never learn to use fat as fuel...Cut sugar from your diet when you're not exercising and to a moderate intake overall...Train more in aerobic zones that keep lactate levels low and cut out the hard stuff until you’ve built a metabolic base...The ideal nutritional balance point for serious athletes is 48% carbs, 24% protein and 28% fat regardless of calorie surplus or deficit

FAT OXIDATION NUTRITION

50g carbs/day is the baseline minimum then add 100g/hr of training for a medium size/medium fitness athlete during low intensity base training...Add 150g for a large and/or high fitness athlete during high intensity phases...Protein x 2g/kg/bodyweight

HOW TO BE A FAT BURNER

Most athletes have a big engine for short duration efforts but have a hard time fuelling longer events and can’t burn fat for very long and chew up carbs…The engine is powerful but the fuel economy is no good so to preserve fuel you need to improve access to another unlimited fuel source by improving fat oxidation – specifically improving fat oxidation at all intensities and also reduce bodyweight…At higher levels of intensity the overall aerobic capacity of the athlete (the ability to hold power at low lactate) becomes more and more important…Aim for 20 – 25hrs of training/week but at very low intensities, capped at the aerobic threshold which is 50 beats below your heart rate max…The key session of the week should be a 4-6hr long flat bike ride followed by a long flat hike x 3 – 4hrs the next day…Combine those 2 workouts with fat oxidation nutrition and your body really no other choice but to adapt

METABOLIC FITNESS

The difference between us and elite runners is not VO2Max but metabolic fitness...Ther average weekend warrior has a  VO2Max of 50ml/kg/min v the elite athlete at 70ml/kg/min = 40% difference...The max fat oxidation for a weekend warrior is 3 – 4cals/min v an elite of 7 – 10cals/min = 150% diff...In practice this is a huge difference in the relative intensity of what easy training needs to be to be sustainable between both athletes and much larger than the difference in hard training

A flattish bike ride of 6hrs on a road bike will use up about 3500cals and close to double your glycogen stores so this is going to require a decent ability to supplement the carbs the athlete brings in by burning fat as a substrate

The best thing you can do is to have 1 day/week devoted to long and easy at your maximal fat burning intensity...90mins to 4hrs...Spend the day teaching your body how to generate energy from fat...To find your maximum fat burning intensity in order from best to worse options, 1 - Do a lactate test, 2 - Train at your minimum lactate level as it tends to correlate with your highest fat oxidation level or, 3 - Profile your fitness and train at a fixed % of your max where novices will be 40% of VO2Max or lower, intermediates at 50% VO2max or less and elite athletes at 60 VO2Max or less at. which point use this equation to estimate the corresponding heart rate...Target Heart Rate = ((Max Heart Rate 180 - Resting Heart Rate 57) x .4) + Resting Heart Rate 57 = ((180-57) x .4 + 57 = 106bpm

CARDIO v METABOLIC FITNESS

They are not the same...So much important stuff come from basic metabolic fitness like conditioning your slow fibers to use fat as their primary fuel...A profession triathlete with a VO2Max of 74ml/kg/min looked like he had super cardio fitness but had fat oxidation levels at low levels of intensity of a measly 2cals/min which is really very low metabolic fitness so he struggled over longer races...Zone 1 is superior to zone 2 for metabolic benefit

CARBS

Don’t burn your jet fuel at rest but that’s what you’ll do if you overeat carbs as the body wants to keep blood glucose in a certain range and will burn them whenever it wants in order to do so which also means you'll want to keep eating them

BURNING 1000 CALORIES

Before doing anything fancy, make sure you’re doing 1000cals of work/day which is about 2hrs of purposeful walking at 3.5mph for an 80kg athlete...1000cals/day for general health, 2000cals/day for an amateur athlete and 300o/day for an elite athlete

You'll typically burn 1 calorie per kg of bodyweight per km travelled…At 80kgs you'll burn 80cals/km so to reach 1000cals you need to cover 12.5kms/day (1000/80) in any way possible…For most people you could do a 5km jog coupled with 2 x 40min walks/easy bike

OUTSIDER COACH #9 - ALAN COUZENS

I have been following Alan Couzens for some time now and it has completely switched my process on aerobic development.

In my teens and early 20’s I used to be able to run but after 3 – 4 years off footy and just doing gym and jump/sprint work, getting heavier (I was 55kgs as an 18yr old!) and just flat out ignoring aerobic training, once I came back to footy I was in my early 30’s and never really gave it a great effort to developing it specifically.

Fast forward to my mid 40’s and still playing open age footy, to be able to have repeated impact on the ground I need to be able to cover it and repeat that throughout a game so I have been trying to improve it as much as I can for the last 3 years or so.

We’ve all had coaches set up running programs for us to do at footy training but they’re usually majorly sub-par and everyone is completely different in how their energy systems contribute to their overall output.

All that happens in these running sessions is that we express whatever “fitness” we have but we are never building it.

High intensity/fatigue-based running can provide sharp improvements in a relative quick amount of time but it’s not aerobic development, and by skipping that part, you’ve skewed even further to the fatigue running side of the continuum, making it even harder to become a true aerobic athlete and severely limiting your running ability.

There’s a lot to cover here as this is 30 pages of Twitter posts and articles from Alan so it might jump around a little bit but I’ll try make it as simple as possible but it will consist of 4 posts!

He has a community forum that I am a part of where he will personally answer questions and there are plenty of helpers in there as well.

LACTATE TESTING

It all starts with lactate testing which isn’t feasible for a lot of us as his recommended lactate testers (no affiliation though) are $300+ and apparently testing strips are pretty hard to come by.

A few years back I was part of a university study that tested my VO2Max and lactate so I have some very basic numbers – albeit pretty old one’s that will have changed for the better or for the bad in that time.

Even though it’s hard to get lactate tested, it’s still crucial to know the thought process behind it which will help going forward.

FIRST RISE IN LACTATE

If your 1st rise in lactate occurs at less than 60% of max pace/power then you’re aerobically deficient so most of your training should be focused on easy work. Max pace being the max level of pace/power achieved at the end of the lactate step test

LACTATE LEVELS

1mmol/l is the aim but initially you might only be able to get as low as 1.5 – 2 but that’s fine, just hang out at whatever your lowest point is and watch it drop over time as you develop more mitochondria in your slow twitch muscle fibers.

To get it down, walk further than normal and possibly up to 60mins or more.

Blood lactate follows blood glucose so decrease glucose spikes, only putting in what you’re taking out.

2mmol/l is a horrible place to hang out so keep most work under 1.5 with a little bit in the 3 – 4 range and avoid the grindy range

LACTATE DURING ACTIVITY

If you’re running a 10min mile pace (2.66m/s) and it feels easy or you have a goal to run a faster time but you’re already @ 2mmol/L then you’re base is weak and you need to slow down...My 2mmol/L that feels easy could be 3mmol/L for some and 5 – 6 for others but 10min miles @ 2mmol/L is a poor aerobic base irrespective of the max

LACTATE CLEARANCE

Training for lactate clearance and lactate production are 2 different things...To maximise clearance, get aerobically fit as the body loves to use lactate as fuel but in order to do so it needs mitochondria which uses lactate as a substrate

LACTATE AT IT’S LOWEST

Does not come sitting on the couch...Suring easy movement our slow fibers take up lactate to use as fuel, blood glucose decreases and fat oxidation increases and this is what bottoms out lactate...For this I start the day on my pedal trainer for 30 – 60mins on my sprint and aerobic running days

LACTATE AND FAT BURNING

As lactate goes up, fat oxidation comes down and vice versa...The % of fat oxidation will tend to fall as blood glucose goes up except for well-trained athletes with a very strong metabolic base (more on that later)…Your highest % of fat oxidation will occur at your lowest lactate number though it might not be the highest power at that number e.g. 1 athletes lactate didn’t start to rise until he went beyond 250w but fat oxidation peaked at 175w...Your maximal % of fat oxidation will almost certainly occur somewhere within zone 0 and zone 1

MY EXPERIENCE

In the university study I took part in, I did multiple bike tests that spat out heart rate and corresponding lactate data at increasing levels of wattage and from that I was to at least see where my 1^st rise in lactate was and what happened after that.

The study wasn’t set up for lactate testing, it was just a par of the data they took, not was the training program but I did see some progress from it in a lactate sense regardless.

TRAINING ZONES

Experienced runners will have heard, and trained by, zones so this is nothing new but once you have some personal lactate readings then you can go about determining your specific zones to really nail your programming. If you can't test lactate, and that's highly probable then there's other but les pinpoint ways to get your training zones.

ZONE 0

Is 15 beats or more below your 1st rise, but not spike, in lactate...Training in this zone is more beneficial for high fitness athletes v low/moderate fitness athletes but volume is volume and volume is the key that unlocks a lot of what I’ll post in this series.

Generally – active recovery, basic consistent movement throughout the day, can do as much of it as you like with zero implications

ZONE 1

Is the zone just before the 1^st rise in lactate...Width of 10 – 15bpm…Will push the entire curve to the right and is the only zone that affects the entire curve...Coincides with max diastolic volume which is where the heart fills up to its maximum and is fully stretched on each heart beat that increases heart size and cardiac output/VO2Max

FAVORS FAT OXIDATION

It’s normal to struggle to run in zone 1...A general fit athlete with a 50 VO2Ma and an aerobic threshold of 60% VO2Max will perform zone 1 flat terrain at a pace at 2.22ms or a 7:31min km at the upper end so you have to psychologically deal with how slow it might have to be for you...Mechanically, for running take very small steps and keep your cadence up – very tiny strides – and your stride length will open up as your fitness grows over time

The general population average VO2Max is 35 – 40ml/kg/min with aerobic threshold of 50% of heart rate max...Zone 1 will be 40 – 50% of VO2Max (15 – 20ml/kg/km)...The typical economy when walking is 240ml/kg/km or less...15 – 20ml/kg/min means the person is moving at (240/15) = 16min/km = 2.3mph which is just a simple walk (more on this later)

Generally – 1.5mmol/L lactate or less, 60 – 72% of heart rate max, 55 – 60% of VO2Max, 9 – 12 RPE scale, unlimited time to fatigue, builds us up, easy warm up, easy conversation, easy effort, comfortable

MY EXPERIENCE

I couldn’t even slow jog and stay in zone 1 initially so I had to walk (treadmill, slight incline, slow pace) and jog/rest (jog then rest until heart rate gets back to 107bpm then jog again). I started jogging 37m then resting and slowly worked that up to 200m over 3 months or so for memory but I wasn’t staying fully in zone 1 at the top end but my heart rate was drastically lower during it though. I’ll probably never be able to run continuously for time and stay in zone 1 but there’s other ways to do it.

ZONE 2

Often, the relationship between zone 2 loading 3 months pre-test has a negative effect on aerobic fitness, the opposite of zone 1...When you rack up zone 2 load it’s because you’ve gone too long and it’s gotten too hard, and you’ve drifted from your optimal zone (1) where blood volume drops and the heart no longer fully stretches per heartbeat, type 1 muscle fibers are fatigued and you recruit less type 2, the more economical ones

Generally – 1.5 – 2.5mmol/L lactate, 73 – 82% HRM, 70 – 79% of VO2Max, 14 – 16 RPE, 2hrs time to fatigue, steady tempo, heavy breathing while talking, comfortable

MY EXPERIENCE

I’ve fallen victim to going too long and/or hard at times and there is a marketed difference between how you pull up from a 60min running session in zone 1 v zone 2.

I mentioned volume is the key to all of this and to be able to deliver high volume then you need to train daily and to train daily then you can’t be destroying yourself day after day. We’re looking for to bank day after day, week after week, month after month and hopefully year after year of consistent training so getting head around easy effort activity is a must.

My off-season started back on August 11, 2025 after footy finished and I have trained 159 out of 161 days in that time with an average of 162mins/day and how I do that will be detailed later.

ZONE 3

Generally - 2.5 – 4mmpol/L lactate, 83 – 87% HRM, 80 – 84VO2Max, 14 – 16 RPE, 1hr time to fatigue, moderate to hard tempo, talking is too much effort, somewhat uncomfortable

ZONE 4

Generally - 4 – 8mmol/L lactate, 88 – 92% HRM 85 – 89VO2Max, 16 – 18 RPE, 30minS time to fatigue, hard/threshold, talk in single words only, uncomfortable

ZONE 5

Generally - 8 – 12mmol/L lactate, 93+% HRM, 90 – 99 VO2MAX, 18 – 20 RPE, 15mins time to fatigue, very hard/at VO2Max, unable to talk, very uncomfortable

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Looking at those zones, where does footy training running programs fit in here do you reckon?

OUTSIDER COACH #8 - OSKU PARTONEN

Osku Partonen is another soccer coach and educator based in Finland who I've only came across recently, but I like how he's constantly connecting his content to how he sees the game that allows the reader to do the same and then replicate with their own philosophy.

TEAM

Stay brave...Show personality...Take responsibility every time...Play with courage when it’s hard...Solve problems under pressure...Recover fast when things go wrong...Step up in big moments without fear...Lead with energy, confidence and clarity...Never stop until the final whistle blows

SIMPLE COACHING

Pick 3 clear principles and commit to them x 4 – 6 weeks...#1 x Forward Mentality x attack with intent with speed x small sided games scoring within 6secs = 2 goals...#2 x Active Defending x press/recover/react by all players x small sided games counting counter attack goals only...#3 x Transition Awareness x win possession/attack v loss possession/defend x small sided games getting ball in forward half or score within 3secs

COACHING PRINCIPLES

2 – 3 at a time…Principles need repetition, time and focus so work in phases…Phase 1 x 4 – 6 weeks x build the foundation x forward mentality, active defending, transition awareness shaping behaviour when we win/lose possession…Phase 2 x 4 – 6 weeks x add more ball responsibility x bravery on the ball, technique at speed, off the ball movement to challenge technique at game speed, demand movement after the pass, rewarding brave decisions, making mistakes…Phase 3 x 4 – 6 weeks x balance of individual/team, courage/competition edge, clear desire to score/win to teach taking responsibility, when to serve the team, how to compete properly and how to play to win

CREATING VISION via KPI's

Pick 1 principle then build 2 – 3 KPI’s to track it in games...Transition Awareness x opposition shots within 8secs of regaining possession, number of forward possession when we regain possession, total number of forward runs even if not used...Active Defending x numbers of pressures after lost ball, how many players react immediately, clean touches under pressure

COACHING

Be honest/demanding...Explain the why behind everything...Representing learning design...Decision making not just drills...Feedback that actually helps...Challenge players to solve problems...Stay calm when others lose control...Coach people, not just footballers

ACTIVE DEFENDING

Increases session intensity, tempo, intent...Ball carrier has less time  = improved control, quicker decision making + teammates must respond/react/support faster...Everyone is active all the time...You’ll spot technical weakness faster as cognitive load/dual tasking becomes a factor...Pressure moments, reactions under stress, competition repetitions, game tempo

OUTCOMES OVER EFFORT

Under 9 – 13...Development happens when players learn to create outcomes with the ball...Use principles over rigid instructions to guide behaviour x look to play forward 1^st, take risks in 1v1’s or press as soon as we lose the ball...The principle gives the direction, the outcome is the target and the player chooses the tool...You want players who can problem solve in different ways and confidence to try again after mistakes

5 W's of ACTIVITY DESIGN

Until you name it, you can't address it...What goes wrong x we lose the ball under pressure and players don’t offer support with no runs from behind...Where does it happen x pinpoint where on the ground and train it there as context shapes decision making...Who is involved x which line/s + design the player roles for that situation...When does it occur x which phase of play where timing shapes the constraints of the drill...Which elements are missing x which behaviours are we not seeing (forward mentality, transition awareness, off ball movement)

YOUTH COACHING

Short term wins can come from short cuts x relying on 1 fast player, outmuscling opposition etc and doesn't prepare them for the level up in most cases...Coach habits that will transfer to the next level x forward mentality, bravery on the ball, active defending, technique at speed, transition awareness of ball changes, balance of individual/team, courage/competition edge, off ball movement, desire to score/win

BUILD DEFENSE 1st

Where you win the ball decides where your next chance comes from

PLAYERS

If they don’t recognise patterns/triggers then scanning is head movement with no purpose

SESSION DESIGN

Don’t change the training activity, use progressions…1 activity set up/multiple challenges…Don’t change the training activity, raise the demand…Same exercise/higher standards…You’re not chasing new, you’re chasing faster decision making, cleaner execution and stronger reaction…Space x smaller/quicker decision making + bigger/more running…Numbers x add/remove a defender/support…Time x touch limits/defender starting position/s…Coaching language stays the same – new demands/same cues…Avoid random tweaks that confuse learning

MOVING DURING GAMES

Moving without intention doesn’t help anyone so simply shouting it from the sidelines needs to go…Good football isn’t about constant movement, it’s about timed/purposeful movement…When players move all the time then they often drift into bad spaces, move away from the ball at the wrong time, clog passing lanes, arrive too early or lose their positional advantage…They’re active but not effective…Movement only has value if it creates space for teammate, opens passing lanes, drags a defender, attacks space at the right time or supports the ball with correct distance…Sometimes the smartest movement is no movement as staying still can hold a defender, keep a passing lane open, invite pressure, create space somewhere else or prepare a better next action…Move to create space/stay to hold it, move when the ball arrives etc > keep moving…Football rewards timing, not mileage so teach players why to move, when to move and when not to move

PRINCIPLES

A principle represents how you want your players to consistently behave…Tactical/opposition/formations change every week but principles remain stable when everything else moves providing direction throughout chaos…They guide session design, shape coaching language, help players decision making and keeps teams aligned…Forward mentality, bravery on the ball, active defending, technique at speed, transition awareness, balance of individual/team, courage/competition edge, off ball movement and clear desire to score/win…They’re all behaviours…They turn chaos into clarity…Help answer what do we stand for, what do we repeat, want do we accept and what we don't

YOUTH

Don’t need any tactics prior to 14yrs old…Master the ball/technique via lots of touches, both feet, confidence to receive/drib/pass/finish…Learn the basics such as simple decisions, 1v1/2v1/2v2, when to pass/dribble/shoot…Movement coordination x running, stopping, turning, change of direction, using the body x balance, speed, confidence in movement, injury resistance…Character development via try again after mistakes, compete properly, respect teammates/opposition, take responsibility

DECISION MAKING

Comes from clear tactics/principles, not telling them what to do…Define the tactic (build from the back, press high, attack with width) to give a clear direction…Every situation is different and a tactic alone can’t tell players what to do in every moment so then you need principles so they can read the situation, make decisions and act without waiting for instructions…Tactic x where we want to go + principles x how players behave on the way…Tactic x build from the back using forward mentality where they need to stay brave, scan forward, try to break lines, avoid hiding or only playing safe passes…Ask questions such as can you go forward here, what do you see next and then the player decides