AFL / Aussie Rules Football Training

Hip Extension - Make It Your Dominant Action

2012-01-26T02:28:00.000-08:00

As appeared at the sportsvault.com.au:

If one was to interview 100 athletes and asked them what would they like more of and what would they like less of, I bet that 2 of the most popular answers would be to increase speed and to have less lower back pain.

What if I told you that there’s 1 specific movement that you’re not training that could make both of these goals a reality?

Enter Hip Extension.

What Is It?

Hip Extension is where the leg goes back behind the midline of the body as demonstrated in this video at 16secs.

It us performed primarily by the glute maximus and secondary by the adductor magnus with the hamstrings providing some supplementary assistance.

Optimally you should be able to achieve 10 degrees range of motion without compensating through the lumbar spine or hamstrings.

What Hip Extension Will Do For You?

All sprinters know the importance of training hip extension to improve their sprinting times and providing that hip extension is the basic push off movement at the completion of each step, rightly so.

Specifically it gives you great propulsion out of the blocks by providing you with a long first step at the start of a sprint.

Maximum speed, which generally kicks in at 30m of any sprint, is also enhanced as the posterior chain (which produces hip extension) acts as the prime mover, taking over the quadriceps.

In a postural sense, a well developed hip extension movement and thus, well developed glute muscles will also bring your hips out of excessive anterior tilt, decreasing lower back stress.

Why Don’t I Have Adequate Hip Extension?

Like all body movements, hip extension has its agonist (glutes) and antagonist (quadriceps, hip flexors).

When one side is stronger than the other side then the tug of war is being pulled one way more than the other, in this case the hips (pelvis) are being pulled up and backwards by the erector spinae and down and forwards by the hip flexors and quadriceps.

The glutes are now in a constant lengthened and stretched position which in turn makes it a weak muscle (think of the elastic band in your pj’s that all worn and loose).

To add even more dysfunction onto the pile, as technology continues to take over the world, so does sitting which reinforces tight quadriceps and hip flexors.

So the main problems associated with a lack of hip extension range of motion and strength is:

Inhibited glutes
Tight hip flexors, quadriceps, adductors, illiotibial band/tensor fasciae latae
All resulting in excessive pelvic tilt

What Do I Do Then?

Before each session you will need to inhibit and lengthen your tight muscles (itb/tfl, hip flexors, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors). Myofascial release techniques are a great choice here such as manual massage, self massage, foam rolling, tennis balls along with any form of stretching you’d like to do but as static stretching has the greatest effect on decreasing muscle force production, it’s a pretty good choice.

Immediately after you’ve inhibited the tight muscles you need to activate the dormant/weak muscles (glutes). This can be done with single leg prone hip extensions, glute bridges from an elevated surface (to decrease hamstring involvement), bird dogs, wall marches etc.

Now that you have those glutes ready to work, it’s time to strengthen them through deadlifts variations, squat variations, single leg lunge and step up variations as well as straight leg hip extensions, weighted hip thrust, pendulums, reverse hyperextensions and glute ham raises.

To really get hip extension to work for you in the sports arena it’s critical that you take it 1 step further using sled push drags then head off to the track and do some straight leg bounds, high knee skips and various sprint starts and traditional sprints.

Programming

To program hip extension simply choose 1 activation exercise, 1 strength exercise and 1 assistance exercise and do them 2 – 3 times a week. If you’re an athlete then you should hot the track 1 – 2 per week as well or incorporate them into your team training sessions.

Just make sure to finish each exercise with full extension of the ankle, knee and hip which is called triple extension. For additional hip extension work you can use a split stance on your upper body exercises, squeezing the trail leg, alternating legs each set. If you have a one side weaker than the other then it is critical that you do MORE for that side using an imbalanced training approach. The weak side won’t catch up doing the same amount of work as the other side.

Just make sure that whenever you are training hip extension that you don’t move yourself into lumbar spine hyperextension, which can actually cause facet damage to the spine.

I hope you enjoyed and get a lot out of this focus on hip extension and let me know any thoughts or questions you have to make you a better athlete.

January Blitz Phase 5 - Hypertrophy

2012-01-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

So in the end we had enough time to do 6 days of hypertrophy work to finish off the January Blitz. No this isn't one of those "gain 5kgs in 4 days" programs as you can't gain anything in that time but it was more a trial run of the different method we've focused on for January.

I eventually split it up into 2 x 3 day "bits." (technical i know...)

Bit #1 we kept with the drop off method we used in the other phases. On day 1 we worked up to an 8 rep max and then did as many sets of 6 reps with the 8 rep max weight as we could, stopping at 5 sets regardless (mainly for time reasons). We did this for 3 days in a row. If we reached 6 reps for all 5 sets then you increase the weight for the next day's workout and if you didn't reach the full 30 reps then you decreased the weight for the next day's workout.

We did 6 exercises: lat pulldowns, bench press to the neck, trap bar shrugs, face pulls, single arm lean away lateral raises + chain and hammer curls + chain.

The choice of exercise was actually strategic in the sense that we were purely aiming to build the illusion of growth so as you can see we focused on lats, upper chest, shrugs, rear delts/upper back, side delts and the brachialis. When each of these muscles are developed, you look wide as a barn door, even if you're not!

Bit #2 I simply set a rep target of 25, 37 and 50 reps for each respective day using some of the same exercises but still focusing on the same muscles.

Day 1 - pull up, floor bench press, db shrug, rear delt raise with chains, seated lateral raise and reverse curls + chains

Day 2 - lat pulldowns, bench press to neck, db shrug, ring face pull, standing lateral raise and reverse curls

Day 3 - lat pulldowns, feet elevated ring push up, db shrug, pronated grip db chest supported row, db upright row and hammer curls

No sets were to failure but rather each set was focusing on completing as many explosive, quality reps as possible then the set was over. There's no room for building up excess fatigue in a high frequency training plan.

I have seen some results from this (I was the only one to complete all 6 days in a row) and I think something like this long term could work wonders so I might try it later in the year.

Starting next Tuesday we'll back to our normal workouts and footy training starts Wednesday night so we might need to adjust some of the volume we use but we will still focus on developing max acceleration and speed.

January Blitz Phase 4 - Max Velocity / Acceleration

2012-01-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to phase 4, max velocity.

As it turned out we couldn't do exactly what I planned so it actually turned into max acceleration but that was no big deal.

The aim of this phase was to use our strength, force absorption and force output phases to transfer into actual speed, because what's strength if you can't express it? Pretty useless really.

So we did some sprinting for 3 days in a row with this set up:

Sled Sprints @ 22.5kgs
Sled Sprints @ 11.25kgs
Bodyweight Traditional Sprints

We timed the traditional sprints where Lachy clocked a 1.84sec 10m time and Troy got 1.81secs. I didn't get to time Nick unfortunately.

For bench presses we did basic throws from the bottom position so we were on our backs with our elbows resting on the floor and after a 2 - 3 second pause, just exploded up and threw the bar as high as we could. We also did this 3 days in a row.

To take us up to the Australia Day weekend we're now doing a "get big" week which the boys have been looking forward to for a while. We haven't focused a lot of hypertrophy in the off season program yet but we're only doing 7 days so it's not like we'll explode to 100kgs or anything but if we can get some result in a week then the principles we are following will be a success and we can use it again with a more long term approach.

I'll detail this phase in a couple of days.

January Blitz Phase 3 - Force Output

2012-01-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

On Sunday of last week we finished up with phase 3 which was force absorption. If you remember the main take away from this phase it's that the more force you can put in, the more force you can take out.

This phase lasted for 4 days which again we did all in a row with the aim of transferring the gains we got from phase 3, into actual performance (jumping) in phase 4.

We used these 2 exercises each day:

For the depth jumps we actually used a progression each day which was:

Portable Power Jumper with 2 Bands
Portable Poweer Jumper with 1 Band (above)
Bodyweight Only

Starting today (Tuesday) we move to phase 4 - max velocity - where we again aim to transfer the gains received from phases 2 and 3 into performance in the form of sled resisted sprints.

January Blitz Phase 2 - Force Absorption

2012-01-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

Moving into phase 2 of the January we find ourselves at force absorption.

What's force absorption you ask?

To make this simple as can be think of your muscles and tendons as rubber bands. If you pull the rubber band back 10cms you get little spring back when you let it go.

Let's take that same rubber band and pull it back as far as it can go and what happens? It flies across the room and hits your grade 1 teacher in the eye!! (somewhat true)

So if we liken force absorption to pulling back the rubber band, then it's clear that force absorption is going to do a lot for us athletically.

The most critical benefit it has is it will enable you to "put out" more force in the from of running faster and jumping higher, both a product of how much force you can exert into the ground.

We used the same set up phase 1 training multiple days in a row until we reached our drop off point.

Here's what we did:

The main focus of these "drop and catch" exercises is to have your muscles contract, relax and then contract again as hard as possible. If you're muscles are contracting all the time you won't get anywhere.

Don't believe me?

Tense your arm up and and do 10 upper cuts as fast as you can. Now do them with a relaxed arm.

The ability to turn on and turn off your muscles in a split second can be the difference being good and being great.

Hey what am I wearing in the altitude drop video? This:

Yes he claims big results but this has been recommended to me by a person who has used this actual product and had great gains from it and it only cost me $50 (+ $50 shipping!!).

The next phase is force output which starts tomorrow.

The January Blitz Is On!!

2012-01-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and the perfect time for a blitz while we have some time between public holidays.

I've had this planned for a while now but I wasn't sure if I was going to do it but the time seems to be perfect so here we are.

The blitz involves training a specific training quality multiple days in a row at high intensity, high load and high velocity.

As we are training everyday and the focus is on high quality work, we have a set drop off point that once we reach, we stop that phase, have 1 day off and start the next phase

We started phase 1 on Tuesday which was strength. For this we used only 2 exercises: bench press and trap bar deadlifts.

For each day we worked up to a 1 rep max for each exercise and then we decreased the weight to 94% of that 1 rep max and continued with single rep sets until we reached 10 or failure, whichever came first.

So here's what my phase 1 looked like:

Phase 1; Strength

Tuesday
Bench Press 1 Rep Max - 100kgs
94% Singles - 94kgs x 10

Trap Bar Deadlifts 1 Rep Max - 152.5kgs
94% Singles - 143 x 3 (hands were torn apart!! we did a lot of warm up sets not really knowing where we would finish which took it's toll on my tiny hands)

Wednesday

Bench Press 1 Rep Max - 95kgs (could have maybe gone higher but I had no spotter today so played it safe rather then get pinned to the bench all on my own!!)
94% Singles - 89kgs x 10

Trap Bar Deadlifts 1 Rep Max - 145kgs
94% Singles - 136 x 10 (put some thin wraps on the grip handles and battled through the pain barrier - hands still the limiting factor though...back, glutes and legs felt good though)

Thursday

Bench Press 1 Rep Max - 92.5kgs
94% Singles - 87kgs x 10

Trap Bar Deadlifts 1 Rep Max - 140kgs
94% Singles - 132 x 10 (we tried some clusters with this today so I did 3 x 1 with about 30 - 45secs between each set, then Lachy went, then I went etc to try and give the hands a bit more rest...worked alright but the damage was already done)

We finished up this phase after 3 days.

If we went the double wrap like we did Thursday then we might have been able to go another day with this but my hands were done.

Our drop off point was when our 1 rep max was 90 - 95% of Tuesday's 1 rep max which for me was 137kgs so my quality would have more then likely dropped further on the 4th day, possibly below 90%, which I didn't want.

We only used the drop off point on the 1 rep max, not the singles. They were just there for extra volume and nervous system purposes.

Phase 2 starts tomorrow where we are training force absorption and I'll give a rundown of that phase once it's completed.

You Must Train Like This In 2012

2011-12-30T00:44:00.000-08:00

The 80’s is where it all went wrong.

In the attempt to becoming more professional and with football slowly becoming a full time job, the training volume, and especially running training volume, got way out of hand.

I’m not sure how many 40 – 50 year olds read this blog but if they were past footballers then they surely would have been subjected to “hell on earth”, 100 x 100 meter sprints.

This was either used to develop speed, endurance or simply punishment. Either way, it was doing more harm than good.

Moving to the 2000’s, the game shifted with a huge emphasise on “gut” running thanks to the likes of Ben Cousins, Robert Harvey and Shane Crawford. This also made a shift in the training by players of all abilities that decided that running short marathons was the best way to get fit for footy.

Now long distance and long duration running can have its place in a footballers training program but as training has become more and more scientific, and where the need for training efficiency is of great importance, this again is probably doing more harm than good.

So what is the best way to train in 2012?

Well let me throw this idea at you.

Long distance running refers to slow pace running and the longer you go, the slower the pace will be. Now if football was played at a snail pace, and a consistent snail pace, then this player would be All Australian every year.

The big problem here is that you may be able to “run all day’ but if you’re not quick enough to get to the ball then it doesn’t matter a lick. You’ll be a kick behind play all day.

So you need an element of speed.

What’s speed though if you can only go fast for a single bout and then it takes you 10mins to recover to go again at the same pace? That will mean hellava a lot of bench time so there is also an element of endurance needed as well.

I would day that less than 5% of amateur and local footballers in all of Australia actually train for speed. I mean pure speed. Considering the players are basically getting drafted for their speed means there is a lot of players far behind the mark. You can teach skills and build endurance quickly; speed is a year to year proposition.

As the AFL teams continue with extremely high player rotations each year, so are local and amateur football teams. Why do they do this? If you can maintain a high quality if work rate from all 22 players, you’ll more often than not, win the game and avoid a high injury toll.

Dane Swan is the perfect example. He starts on the ground, does a hard 3 – 5mins and takes himself off for a 2min spell. This is done for basically the full game so he never really enters a period of being “blown up” to the point that he can’t quickly recover and go again.

It also of great coincidence that Collingwood do absolutely no time trials or long distance, long duration running drills at all during their pre season. You probably are.

So if the game now is all about a high quality work with short rest periods then it must mean that you need to be able to go fast for a short period of time, not slow for a long time.

So how do we train for that?

First and foremost you are after quality, not quantity. All “shit running” needs to be avoided. It will take a little bit of getting used to but auto regulation is a great tool to use for this. Shit running refers to the type of running you wouldn’t do in a game situation. Jogging slowly for 20mins does not happen in a game so why do it for training?

Auto Regulation refers to setting a baseline and / or a drop off training point for each session you perform and once you reach it, the training session is over.

Here’s a step by step guide of how to do it:

Step 1 – Set Your Baseline

Simply sprint as fast as you can for a long as you can. Don’t start off at 70% to “finish fast’, you need to start fast and maintain “fast” for as long as you can. Once your speed drops to about 80% of your maximum speed reached during this sprint, stop the test and record your distance and your time.

Step 2 – Set Your Drop Off Point

There are 2 ways to go about this. You can either:

Option A – Sprint for the same amount of time that you tested for and once you can’t reach 90% of that distance in that time, stop the session.

Or;

Option B – Sprint for the baseline distance you reached and when you can’t finish that in 110% of the baseline time, stop the session.

Say for example you tested at 150 meters and 20secs you would do either:

Option A – 20sec sprints aiming to reach 135m

Or;

Option B – 150m in 22secs

For option A do sprints x 20secs and once you can’t reach135m in any given set, the session is over.

For option B do 150m sprints and once you can’t finish 1 setin 22secs, the session is over.

Obviously your aim is to increase the amount of sets you cando before you reach the drop off point.

Generally you’ll beat your best effort6/10 times, equal it 2/10 and not beat your best effort 2/10. If you findyourself getting fewer sets more often than 2/10 times, just readjust yourfigures slightly and see how you go.

What this method of training will ensure is that you areworking as hard as you can each set with an actual goal in mind, not justrunning to get puffed.

Remember, run long but run it fast!!

Month 3, Week 3

2011-12-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't get to update last week, things have been going bananas around here. We're holding Christmas dinner at our house on Saturday for the very 1st timer and we had a list of 32 jobs that needed to be done around the house. I think there is 3 or 4 left as of now, Christmas Eve Eve. I also forgot to video and because of Christmas parties and funerals, training attendance was a little up and down.

Alas we battled onto week 3 which is the top week for the max effort lifts which this month was Close Grip Bench Presses and Deadlifts from a 4" elevation.

For the sprint performance day we played with some contrast sprints over 10m with the prowler and then we went outside and played with some contrast sprints utilising the slight downhill slope we have at the park we use (Rockley Gardens).

Highlights include:

- Lachy managing 55 total chin ups after managing a piss poor 10 in 7 sets on his very 1st night!!
- Troy reaching 2 x 6 @ 25kg in each hand for bulgarian split squats
- Nick making 52.5kgs x 2 for the close grip bench press, Lachy 57.5 x 2 and Troy 85kgs x 2
- Lachy reaching 265cms on the depth jump to standing long jump which is actually longer then his standing long jump!!

- Nick cracking the tonne for deadlifts off a 4" elevation for 3 reps, Lachy 105kgs for 3 reps and Troy 140kgs for 3 reps

As mentioned above, Friday is sprinting day with some other stuff thrown in and this is what we did for the sprinting portion of the workout:

Low Depth Jump into 5m Sprint x 5 reps

Heavy Arse Prowler Drag @ 180kgs x 10m

Light Prowler Push @ 22.5kgs x 10m

10m Sprint from a push up starting position x 10m

x 3 complexes each

We then went outside and did:

20m sprints 3 x 75, 90 and 100%

40m Sprint downhill

2 x 40m sprints uphill

Nick and I did this last week and found that the uphill sprint after the downhill sprint were the fastest we've both done since we started the program.

So today I popped the downhill sprint in 1st and all 3 of us achieved personal best 40m sprint times in the uphill version.

Nick 5.87secs, Lachy 5.69secs and Troy 5.52secs

We had not ran a time below 6secs since we've done this so whether the contrast sprints inside or the contrast sprints outside are working, I'm not sure but it is. I haven't even brought the sled out yet!!

Next week we have deload week but for Jan we have a huge concentrated training block where will train almost everyday. Personally I can't wait to do this but it is a test run and I've never done it before so it's a case of hope and see.

I'll go into more detail next week.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Month 3, Week 1

2011-12-09T03:40:00.002-08:00

We're almost 1/2 way through the 5 months and the training is starting to show some results.

This appeared on the Herald-Sun website today:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/weapon-of-mass-destruction-high-performance-guru-dean-robinson/story-e6frf9jf-1226217676548

It's good to see some good old fashioned weight work being done in the AFL. I think that getting your body strong and resilient enough to get through a 9 month season is JUST AS important then being able to run the tan in sub 10 minutes.

For me personally I can't run distance for shit and even in my late teens and early 20's when I did run for footy, within a 3km run I'd have a break of some sort at about the 2km mark and then I'd burst home. Now that I'm 33, I basically focus on being strong, explosive and most important, injury free. So while other 33 year olds are playing forward pocket and icing every joint in the body post game, I'm playing center half back at 168cms while playing an offensive half back flanker type game and doing gym training on a Sunday during the season.

Being strong and conditioning my muscles for high intensity exercise has definitely allowed me to do this at my age. Running for 6 months will not. It will get you fit but it will also play havoc with your joints and the limited range of motion that running has, overloads the small amount of muscles actually doing work and all of a sudden you're struck down in April with shin splints, plantar fasciitis and osteo pubis.

You can actually get a solid aerobic fitness base pretty quickly with a concentrated block of aerobic type training, so I don't think you need to start running marathons in October.

Get fit to run, don't run to get fit.

With pre season training starting I've made a few scheduling changes to the program to cater for the extra training volume:

1 - Tuesday is now assistance exercise night where we'll do most of our hypertrophy based training which is also being done a lower volume because this night is sandwiched between Monday and Wednesday night training so we don't need or want to go overboard and take away from either training mode.

2 - Thursday is now max effort night for upper and lower body.

3 - Friday is now performance night where we really focus on acceleration with the contrast sprints in and outside.

I only have vision of Tuesday night as I forgot the camera Thursday and then it was full on Friday!

If you've got any questions on anything that we're doing during the program (why are we doing a particular exercise, technique questions etc) then please feel free to fire them through.

Month 3, Week 1

2011-12-09T03:40:00.001-08:00

We're almost 1/2 way through the 5 months and the training is starting to show some results.

This appeared on the Herald-Sun website today:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/weapon-of-mass-destruction-high-performance-guru-dean-robinson/story-e6frf9jf-1226217676548

It's good to see some good old fashioned weight work being done in the AFL. I think that getting your body string and resilient enough to get through a 9 month season is JUST AS important then being able to run the tan in sub 10 minutes.

For me personally I do can't run distance for shit and even in my late teens and early 20's when I did run for footy, within a 3km run I'd have a break of some sort at about the 2km mark and then I'd burst home. Now that I'm 33 I basically focused on being strong, explosive and most important injury free. So while other 33 year olds are playing forward pocket and icing every joint in the body post game, I'm playing center half back at 168cms while playing an offensive half back game and doing gym training on a Sunday during the season.

Being strong and conditioning my muscles for high intensity exercise has definitely allowed me to do this at my age. Running for 6 months will not. It will get you fit but play havoc with your joints and the limited range of motion that running has overloads the small amount of muscles actually doing work and all of a sudden you're struck down in April with shin splints, plantar fasciitis and osteo pubis.

You actually get a solid aerobic fitness base pretty quickly with a concentrated block of aerobic type training so I don't think you need to start running marathons in October.

Get fit to run, don't run to get fit.

With pre season training starting I've made a few scheduling changes to the program to cater for the extra training volume:

1 - Tuesday is now assistance exercise night where we'll do most of our hypertrophy based training which is also being done a lower volume because this night is sandwiched between Monday and Wednesday night training so we don't need or want to go overboard and take away from either training mode.

2 - Thursday is now max effort night for upper and lower body.

3 - Friday is now performance night where we really focus on acceleration with the contrast sprints in and outside.

I only have vision of Tuesday night as I forgot the camera Thursday and then it was full on Friday!

Month 3, Week 1

2011-12-09T03:40:00.000-08:00

We're almost 1/2 way through the 5 months and the training is starting to show some results.

This appeared on the Herald-Sun website today:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/weapon-of-mass-destruction-high-performance-guru-dean-robinson/story-e6frf9jf-1226217676548

It's good to see some good old fashioned weight work being done in the AFL. I think that getting your body string and resilient enough to get through a 9 month season is JUST AS important then being able to run the tan in sub 10 minutes.

For me personally I do can't run distance for shit and even in my late teens and early 20's when I did run for footy, within a 3km run I'd have a break of some sort at about the 2km mark and then I'd burst home. Now that I'm 33 I basically focused on being strong, explosive and most important injury free. So while other 33 year olds are playing forward pocket and icing every joint in the body post game, I'm playing center half back at 168cms while playing an offensive half back game and doing gym training on a Sunday during the season.

Being strong and conditioning my muscles for high intensity exercise has definitely allowed me to do this at my age. Running for 6 months will not. It will get you fit but play havoc with your joints and the limited range of motion that running has overloads the small amount of muscles actually doing work and all of a sudden you're struck down in April with shin splints, plantar fasciitis and osteo pubis.

You actually get a solid aerobic fitness base pretty quickly with a concentrated block of aerobic type training so I don't think you need to start running marathons in October.

Get fit to run, don't run to get fit.

With pre season training starting I've made a few scheduling changes to the program to cater for the extra training volume:

1 - Tuesday is now assistance exercise night where we'll do most of our hypertrophy based training which is also being done a lower volume because this night is sandwiched between Monday and Wednesday night training so we don't need or want to go overboard and take away from either training mode.

2 - Thursday is now max effort night for upper and lower body.

3 - Friday is now performance night where we really focus on acceleration with the contrast sprints in and outside.

I only have vision of Tuesday night as I forgot the camera Thursday and then it was full on Friday!

Month 2 Recap Part 2

2011-12-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

Month 2 is officially in the bag.

This week we had Nick and Lachy make some week 3 stuff as we treated they're week's off respectively as their deload weeks.

The efforts of the week included:

Nick maxing out at 95kgs on the sumo deadlifts and Lachy cracking the tonne for 3 reps each
Nick recording a 60kgs 3 rep max for the 3 board bench press with Lachy reaching 65kgs
Nick blew apart his chin up 3 rep max making 3 reps with 22.5kgs strapped to him
Lachy repping out 32 reps for his 1st set of tricep death at 30kgs and then another 22 on the 2nd set and to put it in perspective the 2nd best total of any set for the month was 24!
Troy reverse lunging with 30kg dumbbells for 2 sets of 5 - i stand by my comment that these loaded up are almost, if not the, most demanding exercise you can do

I also played with some sumo deadlifts with chains for my dynamic effort lower body movement in my deload week this week:

Tuesday starts Month 3 before we break for Christmas where our focus exercises will be deadlifts off 4" mats and close grip bench presses along with our usual 10m sprint times and chin / pull ups.

Some of the boys have also started pre season with their respective teams so we'll also cut down some of the assistance exercise volume from now on.

Month 2 Recap Part 1

2011-11-25T02:31:00.000-08:00

We've just finished with the high volume / high intensity week 3 of month 2.

Due to some spasmodic attendance because of holidays, house moving and even a shopping basket accident, not everyone managed to do the full schedule this week but they'll make up for it next week.

Our main lifts for month 2 were sumo deadlifts for lower body, 3 board bench presses for upper body press and chin ups again for upper body pull.

For sumo deadlifts, Lachy managed a 10kg improvement on week 1 with 95kgs x 3 reps. I managed to get 130kgs x 3:

I think i could have gone another 5kgs too and I don't know why I didn't!! Tim and nick will do a 3 rep max early next week.

For 3 board bench presses Lachy improved 5kgs on his week 1 lift to get 60kgs x 3 reps. I managed a 5kg improvement for 90kgs x 3:

For chin ups I maxed out at a +40kgs x 2 reps.

For the first 2 months we have used some contrast sprints with the prowler where in month 1 we used a heavy arse sled drag paired with a 10m sprint. This month we used a heavy arse sled push paired with a 10m sprint:

We also threw in a few lighter sled drags paired with a 10m sprint:

Other highlights included:

Lachy's double standing long jump x 5.19m
Lachy's 31 reps for his first set on tricep death today, 6 more reps then week 1

Tim and Nick will be back in next week so I'll be sure to update you on their progress.

Month 2, Week 3

2011-11-17T20:24:00.001-08:00

Time is flying at the moment as we're already headed into the main week of Month 2!!

I detailed days 1 and 3 of the program last week but forgot to take any footage on day 2 so I took some this week so here's what we do on a Thursday evening which is the upper body repetition method session.

After our foam rolling, joint mobilisation and muscle activation exercises we go into some muscle stiffness and quickness exercises with one of them being speed skaters:

We followed that up with some max effort and repetition chin up work then it was onto some bench press supplementary work courtesy of Dave Tate at Elite Lifts with tricep death:

To finish with we did a tri set of DB Chest Supported Rows, 2 DB Shoulder Press and Side Step to Pallof Press Isometric:

As mentioned above week 3 of each month is where the magic happens so I'll be sure to update you on each person's 3 rep max numbers for our max effort exercises of month 2, being sumo deadlifts, 3 board bench presses and weighted chin ups.

Month 2, Week 1

2011-11-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

The week just finished saw us starting the 2nd month of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Program.

I did some small alterations to the original plan as each session seemed to be going for 2 hours which isn't a problem, but I need to get home a decent time of a night with my alarm going off at 5am every morning.

So now the weekly schedule looks like this:

Day 1 Full Body - Max Effort Lower and Max Effort Bench Press Day

Day 2 Upper Body - Max Effort Chin Up and Upper Body Repetition Day

Day 3 Lower Body - Lower Body Repetition Day

Tuesday still went for 2 hours but days 2 and 3 were a lot shorter so it still works out well.

So Monday we started off with some quickness / stiffness exercises with Low Barrier On/Off Jumps, Low Barrier Lateral On/Off Jumps:

Low Squat Sprints:

Then we went outside for some 20 and 40 meter sprints:

And some Jump Squat to Overhead Medicine Throws:

Moving inside we moved to some Sumo Deadlifts paired with some Double Standing Long Jumps:

We also did some 3 Board Bench Presses, Dumbbell Reverse Lunges, Supine Single Leg Bridges and Swissball Circles.

I forgot the video camera on Thursday so I'll go into that day next week but I remembred Friday which was lower body day so again we started with some quickness / stiffness exercises such as diagonal and square jumps:

For plyometrics we did a Double Bound:

We followed that up with a Heavy Arse Sled Push paired with 10m sprints and then finished up with some Glute Ham Raises which we did last month and Side to Prone Holds:

I'll definitely video everything else next week so look out for more action.

1 Month Down, 4 To Go - Week 4 Recap

2011-11-03T03:44:00.001-07:00

So we just finished week 4 tonight (I'm going away tomorrow so we wrapped it up tonight instead of Friday) and we had an up and down week.

Lachy couldn't handle the grog and got sick from a big Derby Day here in Melbourne and Nick couldn't gather the courage to swear loudly at his boss when he told he was staying back late Monday night so it was Bluey and I for Monday / Tuesday and then we all made it for the Thursday.

So for the last week we have a deload week where we drop the weight and volume for the max effort lifts and decrease the volume while maintaining intensity for the assistance exercises.

Bluey only start a couple of weeks ago and hadn't down a lower body session yet so he did a regular week with no deloading and I went silly and maxed out on the Trap Bar Deadlifts. The highlights this week were:

Bluey blew the Stand Long Jump record out of the water with his first jump, making a 260cm effort!!
Bluey also set a 3 rep max of 95kgs with a few reps left in the tank on his very first go at them
I blew up 150kgs on the Trap Bar Deadlifts which was a great effort from my hands/grip. My hands are not only tiny, tiny, tiny but there is also no ligaments, tendons and nerves in the right hand so my grip holding up (which doesn't for 150kg traditional deadlifts) is a big win for me.
I also tried some chains work for my dynamic effort bench press as suggested in this article:

We also managed to load the prowler up with even more weight then last, although my carpet doesn't like as you can see here:

I'll make some small changes to my original program for month 2 and we'll hit it hard starting next Tuesday.

Some Comparisons

2011-11-01T03:28:00.000-07:00

So for shits and giggles, here's some comparison's to some of the stuff I acheived in the first month of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Program and some other blokes from the world of youtube.

My 220kg Heavy Arse Sled Drag

This blokes 540kg Heavy Arse Sled Drag

My 150kg Trap Bar Deadlift (here's my 135kg x 1, didn't record the 150kg set)

And this bloke's 315kg Trap Bar Deadlift

My 255cm Standing Long Jump

And this bloke's 334cm Standing Long Jump

My 68cm Single Leg Box Jump

And this bloke's 132cm Single Leg Box Jump

Probably not even half way to some of these blokes and at age 33, a small business owner, a wife with Gillian Barre Syndrome and 10 month old at home, I probably won't get much closer to these guys but I'll still give it my all because I only need to be better then the bloke I'm playing on, not any of these blokes.

So what goals are you working towards?

A HHHUUUGGGEEE Week 3!!

2011-10-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

What a mammoth week, I'm knackered. Here's what went on at the athlete factory.

For the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Program each month waves like this:

Week 1 - a moderate intensity (weight used), moderate volume (sets x reps per exercise) week where we learn the exercises that we'll use for the month. We also work up to a 5 rep max for our max effort lifts.

Week 2 - the intensity increases for each exercise while volume stays the same while working up to a 3 rep max for our max effort lifts.

Week 3 - volume increases for each exercise while again working up to a 3 rep max with the aim to beat the total from week 2.

Week 4 - uses a delaod week with lower intensity and lower volume for almost everything while we recover from the fatigue built up in weeks 1 to 3.

Basically week 3 is the "peak" week of every month and we just finished the 3rd and final day of that week tonight.

Tuesday's Highlights:

I managed a personal best of 68cms on the single leg box jump

Nick beating last week's chin up 3 rep max of +17.5kgs with a +20kg effort
I managed a + 35kgs chin up 3 rep max recorded sideways

We also did some step ups and hip thrusts:

Thursday Highlights:

Nick and Lachy both reaching 52.5kgs for a 3 rep max on the bench press
Bluey reaching 60kgs on a 3 rep max on the bench press
I managed 92.5kgs for a bench press 3 rep max

Friday Highlights:

Lachy busting out a 95kg 3 rep max on the trap bar deadlift

Nick making out a 100kg 3 rep max on the trap bar deadlift

I managed 135kgs for my 3 rep max for the trap bar deadlift

Lachy posting a pb for the standing long jump with a 256cm effort
Nick and Lachy also posted pb's for the 10m sprints with times of 1.75secs and 1.85secs respectively
We also managed to pile 190kgs on the prowler for a monster heavy ass sled drag:

A great week 3 with plenty of quality baseline numbers set that we look to improve upon a great deal by the start of the 2012 season.

Remember we also have an online version of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Program so email me at lange_troy@hotmail.com to get your hands on that and join us!!

Week 2 Recap

2011-10-22T03:26:00.001-07:00

Just finished up week 2 of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Program.

This week used a weight increase progression for every exercise which made things a little tough but week 3 is where it all happens and is the hardest week where we'l max out on the max effort lifts and increase the volume of the assistance exercises before deloading a little for week 4.

Some of the highlights included;

Jack reaching a +22.5kgs on the chin up 3 rep max
Nick reaching a +17.5kgs on the chin up 3 rep max
Tim on his first night making a 55kg 5 rep max on the bench press
Lachy making a 47.5kgs 5 rep max on the bench press
Nick building on last week's trap bar deadlift by 10kgs finishing at 90kgs for a 3 rep max
Lachy completing a 70kg 5 rep max for the trap bar deadlift, his first ever deadlifting effort in his life

Here's some of the action from this week:

We also have Chris from NSW and Kevin from Ireland doing the in line version of the program. Kevin is actually a Gaelic footballer over there so I'll be keeping you updated on their progress through the off season as well and hopefully they can provide some video too.

I was a little tired for Friday / lower body day after a broken sleep courtesy of a 9 month old and not getting the chance to have a decent pre training meal so I'm really looking forward to tearing the trap bar a new one next Friday.

What are you doing for your off season training?

Week 1 Down!!

2011-10-14T16:25:00.001-07:00

Week 1 of the 5 month Aussie Rules Off Season Football Program has been completed.

Lauchy, Nick, Jack and myself have set some pretty good baseline numbers and once they're improved upon, how can't we be better players next year??

Geoff Zach, we're still waiting for you so hopefully you can make it Tuesday.

I go into detail for yesterdays lower body workout which I call the "magic workout."

If you were going to train only 1 day, then this would have to be it.

As normal we started with some myofascial release work with various mobilisation and activation drills.

Next up was some stiffness training with a little bit of this:

and this:

With the nervous system ramped up we move to some plyometrics with some of this action:

Next it was time to hit the iron with some Trap Bar Deadlifts:

After breaking world records on that exercise we moved to some prowler dragging paired with some 10m sprints...here's a 1.8sec hand held timed set from Jack without any technique tips at all...he's an explosive cat as you would have seen from the standing long jump video above:

To finish with we did some extremely humbling glute ham raises paired with some core work:

Nick and Jack had never done these before so I bet their hamstrings are feeling it today. I ate like a beast last night ad have pulled up pretty good.

If you have any questions on how, why and what we're doing in the program then shoot through a comment or question.

A Look at my Off Season Training Program

2011-10-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Now that I have officially completed the Off Season Program I will give you all a sneak peak into what we'll do.

It is 5 months of progressive programming where the current phase leads into the next one so we use more basic exercises than progress to more complex exercises come early next year.

For the big main lifts we will be using the conjugate method where you use similar lifts to main lifts to strengthen weak points to strengthen it so for bench presses we'll do regular bench presses to set a baseline for month 1, 3 Board Bench Presses for month 2, Close Grip Bench Presses for month 3, Lockouts for month 4 before going back to regular bench presses in month 5.

The conjugate method also refers to the improvement of multiple strength qualities at the same time rather then just getting big in month 1 then getting getting strong and month 2 and losing fat in month 3. All that happens here is that you lose whatever quality you trained for last phase in the next 2 phases, effectively getting no where after 3 months.

So here's how each day looks:

Tuesday / Day 1 - Full Body

Warm Up - Foam Rolling, Joint Mobilisation and Muscle Activation

Nervous System Activation / Stiffness Training- Speed and Quickness Drills

Plyometrics - Single Leg Focus

Max Effort / Repetition Upper Body - Chin Up Focus

Single Leg - Free Weight Exercise

Posterior Chain

Core - Anti Extension Focus

Thursday / Day 2 - Upper Body

Warm Up - Foam Rolling, Joint Mobilisation and Muscle Activation

Nervous System Activation / Stiffness Training- Speed and Quickness Drills

Plyometrics - Single Leg Focus

Max Effort / Repetition Upper Body - Bench Press Focus

Supplementary Bench Press Exercise

Horizontal Pull Exercise

Vertical Push Exercise

Upper / Mid Back Exercise

Core - Anti Rotation Focus

Friday / Day 3 - Lower Body

Warm Up - Foam Rolling, Joint Mobilisation and Muscle Activation

Nervous System Activation / Stiffness Training- Speed and Quickness Drills

Plyometrics - 2 Leg Focus

Max Effort Lower Body - Deadlift Focus

Single Leg - Prowler Exercise

Sprint

Posterior Chain

Core - Anti Extension Focus

Core - Anti Rotation Focus

So that will be the set up fr the next 5 months so let me know if you're interested in either attending the training or the on line program.

Off Season Training Program - Day 1 Recap

2011-10-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

2 posts in 1 day!! That is amazing considering my dismal effort at consistently updating this blog.

Tonight was day 1 of the Off Season Training Program, more specifically the Initial Combine Testing Night.

After running through the warm up exercises we'll be using for all 3 days it was time to get down to business.

First up was 10m Sprints

Second on the list was 2 Chin Up tests - 3 rep max then bodyweight x max reps

Next up was Stand Long Jumps

Lastly we did Single Leg Triple Jumps

I did have some longer sprints planned but it's pissing rain tonight so we left them out and might give them a go on the second Combine day.

For more videos go to my youtube page and subscribe to get updates on the program, I intend on taking a lot of videos.

I will also break down some of the videos during the week going into detail on assessing the performance during it and how we'll go about improving it.

Let me know your thoughts and you can join in the fun every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at anytime.

On Line Off Season Training Program is OPEN!!

2011-10-06T20:48:00.001-07:00

I've had some requests to do an online version of the Off Season Football Training Program that I'm running in my personal training studio.

So I've tinkered with the program a little so it can be done without any specific equipment such as a prowler that we will be using.

All you need is a barbell, dumbbells, a cable machine, chin up station and a park or football oval.

Remember that this is a 5 month program, not just something to do for a month and the results will show next year, not before Christmas.

The program is 4 gym days plus 1 park day but it could be changed to 3 gym days and 1 park day. Just remember that the more the program is tinkered with, the less of MY program you'll actually be doing so the results may be as great.

The cost of the program will be $75 per month which may be seem excessive but this is a 5 month progressive training program destined to make you better and if done as it is written, there is no way that this can't happen. And bare in mind that I have on line clients who get monthly programs for $140/mth plus my in-studio guys will be paying over double that!

So if you wanna be faster, stronger, bigger and better in 2012, contact me at lange_troy@hotmail.com.

Off Season Training Program

2011-09-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not be aware, I am running an Off Season Training Program for football.

Now that our season is over (as of last Saturday), I can now plan out when I'll be ready to go.

What I have done is developed a 5 month training program that is progressive and periodised in a such as a way as to have your ready to blow by your opposition come season 2012.

To ensure the quality of the program, it is actually the program that I set up for myself and twigged a little to fit a group setting.

The aim of the program is to be stronger, faster, bigger and better next year which won't be achieved by body building programs or laps of the tan.

If you do the same thing then you can't expect a different result.

Here is a quick rundown of the details I have so far:

Fri October 7th - Initial Combine Day

This is where we will test our indicator exercises that have carefully chosen as exercises that if improved, will actually improve your on field performance. So bench press maximums are out and 20m sprints are in.

Late Dec - Middle Off Season Combine Day

This will give us an update on how the last 3 months of training have served us. We will also break for Christmas but we can organise that when we get there.

Late Feb / Early March - End of Off Season Combine Day

After all the hard work is done, this is where we will see the great results you'll achieve.

All the sessions will take place in my personal training studio at Level 1 / 308 Toorak Road, South Yarra on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 6pm - 8pm.

Each session will cost $15 so at 3 sessions a week it's $45/week.

I will capping the number of people who can attend at 12 - 15 and I already have some who are committed so if you're keen to make a splash next season, let me know as soon as possible.

If you have any other queries or thoughts on this then please contact me at lange_troy
@hotmail.com.

I cannot wait!!

How Do You Know If You've Improved?

2011-09-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

We train to get better but simply training doesn't ensure that you're getting better.

Unless you have a baseline of performance, then you are basically training and hoping that you're getting better.

At the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Camp, the very 1st day is a combine day.

On that day we will test several "indicator" exercises, similar to the AFL Draft Combine.

The indicator exercises have been carefully chosen to ensure that they are exercises that have actual carry over to on field performance.

Increasing your bench press does not automatically make you a better footballer.

Getting bigger does not automatically make you a better footballer.

We will use performance based exercises that will be the focus of our training.

All the training that we'll do will be directly aimed at improving our indicator exercises, and thus our on filed performance.

We will also test those indicator exercises periodically throughout the off season to keep us pushing the bar higher and higher.

If you are interested in attending then please contact me at lange_troy@hotmail.com

The 'Can't Fail' Off Season Plan

2011-09-02T03:31:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a little about my up coming off season.

My season hasn't finished yet though, we play in an elimination final on Sunday and if we play to our abilities we should play at least the first 2 weeks, if not all 4.

Anything can happen in finals though.

I'm already looking towards my off season training to get stronger, bigger and faster then this year which shouldn't be hard as I only started playing in round 7 or something and had only done a couple of squat focused programs for my training. Not really footy specific at all.

So what I have made up the ultimate program consisting of 5 phases that last 4 weeks each, a progression of exercises through each phase and also a progression from strength to explosiveness in a strength quality sense.

I will be doing all of this training myself but here's where I'm a good bloke.

If you are a local Melbourneite then I am going to open up my personal training studio, and my training program, to you.

I have the program.

I have the equipment.

I have the know how.

All you need to do is turn up and do the work.

I will ask for 1 thing though and that is a commitment to the program for 5 months.

Yes a big commitment but the program is very progressive and I am looking at running this in a group setting so to keep the logistics as simple as possible, it would be preferable if we could all start at the same time and progress at the same time.

The time line of events will look like something like this:

October - Initial Combine Day where we will test our 'indicator exercises' to set a baseline for the entire program.

October to Christmas - the emphasis is on building a foundation of strength and packing on some lean muscle with some higher volume training.

January to March - the training will make a shift to explosiveness utilising contrast training to increase acceleration and starting speed.

End of February - Combine Day where will see just how far you've come in the last 5 months of training.

Each participant will receive a static and dynamic postural analysis and the program is very adaptable so if you have a past or present injury that causes restriction then as well as rehab whatever injury you do have, we can also make sure that old injury doesn't come back to haunt you.

My personal training studio is located in Toorak Road, South Yarra and there will be a cost but I will try and keep it as low as I possibly can. I'll be starting in early October so if you think you could benefit from this then email me at lange_troy@hotmail.com.

Train With Me This Off Season

2011-08-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

Again I've been a bit ordinary on the updates here but if you're a local Melbournite, then this is for you.

As you probably know I own and operate a personal training studio in South Yarra, Melbourne so I'm throwing open the doors.

My season ends on the 24th of September at the latest and I will be kicking off my off season training i9n the 1st or 2nd week of October.

The great thing for you is that I will make some spots available for you to come and join me.

I have the program.

I have the equipment.

All you've gotta do is turn up and do the work.

Details are sketchy at the moment but if you want to be stronger, if you wanna be bigger, if you wanna be faster, if you wanna be injury resistant and if you wanna be better then you've ever been, then email at lange_troy@hotmail.com

My challenge to you is to try and hang with this 33 year old if you think you can!

I do have a ball park amount of people that I will allow to do this so get in as soon as you can to book your spot.

Make Sure You Take This In Account

2011-07-31T03:01:00.000-07:00

I think it was Joe Defranco who said this but at this time of the year it could not hold anymore relevance. To put this in context an athlete asked him what he could do improve upon his preparation for the NFL Combine, about 2 weeks before it was to be held.

Joe's response:

"At this stage there's not a lot you can do to get better, but there's a lot you can do to be worse"

Or something like that.

If your team is finals bound then you need to just continue what you're doing now until the season is done.

Do not add in radical changes to your training or preparation, keep to what you got there.

A lot of players look to increase their training volume to get "ready" for the finals in the lead up to them and some also like to play around with their preparation for the more important games.

In the end, they will only provide minimal, if any improvement in your game. The work should have already been done.

So stick to what you always do and let the work you've already put in do the magic for you.

My Training Program for the Rest of the Season

2011-07-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

This year I am playing for South Yarra in the Southern Football League as I posted here. For a quick recap of the season we started out 0-4 and since have won 8 in a row including 3 the top 4 teams for the first half of the season.

Next week is the ultimate test as we take on the undefeated top side although we have pretty much consolidated our place in the top 4 as of now.

We have 6 games to go and also a bye so 7 weeks until finals time. Up until now my training has been a little sporadic following a basic plan but nothing concrete but I get the best benefits with a structure in place so here's what I have come up with.

My main goals is to get my strength back up to the levels of earlier this year or close to, I have cut back a lot on my back work for no reason really, which has affected my bench press a lot and with my huge squat focus in the last 3 months or so haven't, feels like I haven't deadlifted this year. I will also be continuing my 2 running sessions a week which consist of 3/4 pace goal to goal type runs at Toorak Park 2/week.

Strength wise I will follow a 3-2-1 format which looks like this:

Week 1 - work up to a 3 rep max but stay 3 reps away from actual max weight

Week 2 - work up to a 2 rep max but stay 2 reps away from actual max weight

Week 3 - work up to a 1 rep max but stay 1 rep away from actual max weight

Week 4 - deload of start again depending on how I feel

I will also be using some complex training where I pair my strength sets with an explosive exercise to cut back on time.

Monday

Back Squat x 3-2-1 paired with Depth Jumps x 3

Heavy Prowler Drag paired with 10m Sprint x 5-4-3 sets

Tuesday

Military Press x 3-2-1 paired with Medicine Ball Toss x 10

Pull Up x 5-4-3 sets paired with Chest Supported Row x 4 sets

Thursday

Deadlift x 3-2-1 paired with Standing Long Jumps x 3

Low Handle Prowler Push paired with 10m Sprint x 5-4-3 sets

Friday

Bench Press x 3-2-1 paired with Rebound Bench Press x 10

Chin Up x 5-4-3 sets paired with Seated Cable Row x 4 sets

If you have any questions on what you can do to get ready foe the finals then please leave a comment or email and remember, you can't do the nothing in the week leading up to a game to get better, but you can do a lot of things to get worse.

Cyril Rioli Learning to Run Again

2011-07-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

So I read on the internet a couple of days ago that the Hawthorn fitness staff are trying to teach Cyril Rioli to run with a different action to hopefully decrease his hamstring injuries in the future.

I believe they want to him to take shorter steps which leads me to think that his long stride, a staple of indigenous players and the number 1 reason why they have so much pace, is the reason for his hamstring pulls.

I really don't think this is a good idea.

As I detailed in the Aussie Rules Off Season Training Manual, the equation for sprinting is stride length x stride frequency with length being a product of dynamic flexibility and mobility and frequency being a product of relative and maximal strength levels.

When sprinting the hamstrings do go into an extreme and rapid stretch position which does put a lot of pressure on the hamstring, especially when running at full pace. One of the best ways to strengthen the hamstrings in the stretch position is through deep lunge variations with relative heavy weight. My best choice would be reverse lunges with relative heavy weight as well as incorporating glute ham raises and of course heavy squats and deadlifts into the mix.

From the look of most indigenous players it seems to me that they're not living in the weight room and maybe it is a fear of bulking them up and taking away their pace and running ability but I think this is a big mistake not just for them, but for all players.

Changing Cyril's stride to a shorter one will only shift the stress to another part of his body (quads) and as a result he could easily have hamstring and quadricep troubles.

A good dose of glute activation and strengthening to retrain the glutes to be the dominant hip extensor, will relieve the pressure going through the hamstrings so they only carry the share of the load from running that they are supposed to.

The Anatomy of Marking

2011-07-03T00:05:00.001-07:00

This is part 2 of our anatomy of football series and this time we'll focus on marking.

Instead of braking marking down into it's different phases, we'll break it down into the different marks that you often take during a game.

1 - mark taken on a lead

2 - pack mark

3 - stationary one-on-one mark

When I think of a mark taken on a lead I think of the Chief, Jason Dunstall and Barry Hall, 2 of the great lead up players I have seen, and who both kick a lot of goals from marks taken on the lead.

If you are this type of forward then you'll need explosive pace right off the mark. I actually did a Need for Speed series a couple of months ago detailing a program I was doing for this exact quality.

For this you'll need to work on your max strength through squats and deadlifts and couple them with sprints in the same session as the potentiation from the heavy lifts can increase your speed immediately.

If possible get your hands on a prowler like the one in my video so you can basically do loaded sprints without any impact to your joints.

For a pack mark like this:

You'll need some great single leg jumping ability which can be achieved through strength training and plyometrics if you don't have natural spring. For strength training you'll again focus on squats but I would also do some single leg exercises such as lunge and step up variations in a strength rep range (5 - 8 per set) to provide you with single leg stability via the ankle, knee and hips.

For plyometrics, bounding for low reps and sets (3 - 5 x 3 - 5 etc) is a good exercise to use but make sure that you adequate strength levels to be able to do them properly or they may do you more worse then good. And only do them on grass!!

For a 1-on-1 contested mark you need both core and lower body strength where you need to be able plant yourself and be able to push against your opponent to hold your position.

As discussed above you'll need a combination of deadlifts, squats and single leg exercises here where I think the deadlift has the best carryover from the bunch as you actually have sit back and hold yourself in the correct position under a great load.

For core strength anything taken from my Core Training for Aussie Rules Training videos (part1 and part 2) will serve you well. Once you have mastered some of the lying variations in part 1 then the standing variations in part 1 and 2 is really where you'll gain benefits for contested marking.

The Anatomy of Kicking

2011-07-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Kicking is the most basic skill of football so how can we improve it?

I am going to focus on training the movement and the muscles involved to improve your kicking power and distance.

Let's break the skill down into phases.

Phase 1 is the back swing phase.

Phase 2 is the transition phase.

Phase 3 is the contact and follow through phase.

Dustin Martin is one of the most penetrating kicks for goal that we have in the game right now whether it be on the run or from a set shot. He also possess what I think is the most powerful kick, along with Daniel Rich of the Brisbane Lions

During the back swing phase the muscles involved most are the hips and glutes which both require mobility and stability to give the powerful kick you need.

The glutes perform hip extension which is the action of the leg going back behind you. The biggest problem here is that when your glutes can't perform this movement (the one it's supposed to) then your lower back will go into hyperextension to get the range of motion for the hip that the glutes can't give it. As the lumbar spine is built for stability (to resist movement, not produce it) this is going to cause some lower back trauma over time.

So what we need to do is to activate and strengthen the glutes in hip extension on the back of the body, and strength the hip flexor and quadricep muscle groups to allow this same hip extension range of motion on the front of the body.

I suggest using deadlift variations for glute strength as I believe I have increased my kicking length 5 - 10m since I incorporated deadlifts into my training and I was already a 50m kick.

During the transition phase we will now be holding the our full body weight on the one leg which is going to require a ton of stability at the ankle and hip joints. I suggest using single leg exercises to build this stability such with high box step ups and single leg deadlifts being your best options here.

For the contact and follow through phase you'll need great core stability right upon contact of the footy as you basically want the body to "stiffen' up so that there are no power leaks from other parts of the body and all your power is being put through the foot and into the footy.

The further you can follow through, then the further your kick will go so that will require some psoas activation and strengthening as well as hip mobility.

By strengthening these muscles and the actual kicking movement in isolation and then integrating it all into kicking during training and game time, you'll be getting extra distance and a more powerful, Dustin Martin type kick in no time.

How Will You Finish the Season?

2011-06-19T04:13:00.002-07:00

Most of us will have just passed the half way mark of the season which I can now be included as I have joined the South Yarra Football Club who play in the Southern Football League here in Melbourne where I'm playing reserves which is about where I'm at these days.

I have played the last 3 games which have all been wins including a nail biter yesterday where we came from being 1 goal away from rolling over in the second quarter and putting the margin to 5 goals their way to crawling back in the second half with 7 goals to 2 to win by 1 point. It was maybe the best win I've played in and at almost 33 years of age, that's saying something!

We're currently in 6th place on the ladder but equal on points for 4th so I hope to some finals this year.

I'm coming from a fair way back training wise though. I don't run in my training, just hit the weights and condition myself that way so I have taken to running Tuesdays and Thursdays as I can't train because of work. My fitness is actually coming better then I thought it would in such a short time and it showing on the field (6th best yesterday!!)

So the big question is, what do you need to do to finish off the season better then you started it? We all focus on being in peak condition for round 1 (and before for reasons I don't know) but if you're a finals team do you need to peak in March or September?

Let me know what you're doing to make yourself better in the 2nd half of the season in the comments section and I'll chip in what I can.

Some Idea's When Designing a Training Program

2011-05-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

Been ridiculously busy hence why I haven't updated this in ages. Anyway I'm playing my 1st game since 2009 for South Yarra tomorrow so looking forward to that, even if it is going to be pissing with rain.

Also I whipped a little something up in regards to designing training programs too which is below.

If you have any idea's for content then let me know. At the very least it will get me off my arse and updating this blog!

Pick 1 or 2 Things to Focus On At a Time
• You can’t improve everything. You’ll get your best results by focusing on 1 thing. Focusing on too much will only result in a little benefit for each but nothing noticeable. So instead of trying to get bigger and leaner while increasing your bench press, choose 1 to 2 things with 1 objective working best for 95%

Maintain Everything Else
• Once you’ve chosen your main goal then you’ve got to go into maintenance mode for everything else. So if your goal is to increase your squat then those 3 bench press sessions will have to go because if you’re focusing on something then you need to train it heavy and you need to train it frequently. Plus you want all of your energy and recovery to go into what you’re actually trying to improve

You Can’t Keep Adding
• Piggy backing off the first point you can’t keep adding on to your program without taking something out but if you’re abiding by the first point then this shouldn’t be a problem. A program i read on here recently added in Fadi’s Fat Loss workout but he was also doing a bodybuilding split. Didn’t really have his diet in order and was riding 50+kms per week. In the end you exceed your recovery abilities and then you get no result at all, except a negative one.

Everything Can’t Be 3 x 12
• This pops up very often. There’s more to life and especially training then 3 x 12. Think about it. Why 3 sets? Why 12 reps? You’re muscles generally require varied stimulus (rep ranges) to fully optimise it’s strength and size potential so the more limited the training stimulus the more limited the response.

Scheduling
• I am not a fan of body part splits. I train for performance myself but body part splits don’t make any sense to me, especially training 1 muscle, 1 day a week on the same day of the week every week. I think someone mentioned it recently that an 8 day cycle will fit most people better than 7 days. We all know that you can’t isolate a muscle totally but you still want to train a muscle/s indirectly every day. Taking triceps for example if you did chest Monday, shoulders Tuesday and arms Wednesday then say chest again Friday, then you’re tri’s will never recover and you’ll also be wondering why your bench press hasn’t increased for a month. I like to use a concentrated loading approach in most cases and stack direct and indirect training in a row so i might do military press and bench press Monday with some tricep accessory work also on monday and then maybe some extra bench or military work later in the week if it my main focus.

Exercise Selection
• A training program is not a bunch of exercises. Many times i see a chest day that which includes flat bench press, incline bench press, decline press, flyes and crossovers and then push ups during the week somewhere. Yes they are all chest exercises and they all can benefit you if done properly but you don’t need to do them all at once, and shouldn’t. I never see a leg day with deadlifts, squats, walking lunges and glute ham raises in the 2 day. Why? Because it’s fuckin hard!!

Leave Yourself Room to Progress
• Leading off from the last point, if you use all of those chest exercises then when you’re looking to mix things up what do you do? There’s no other exercises you can do as you’ve just done them all!!

Steps to Follow (reps, sets, total volume, goal etc)
• When designing a program for yourself i suggest using this step by step method
1 – Choose a main goal
2 – Choose what volume best fits that goal
3 – Now you can break up your sets and reps to fit your goal
4 – Now you can choose your exercises
Most people choose the exercises first which I think is a big mistake.

A Program is Only as Good as it’s Progression
• Another big mistake is that people design a program and think that is the only program they’ll need to get to their goal. In some cases this is true but mostly it isn’t. You need to have built in progressions in your programs which need to be specific to your goal as increasing strength will have different progressions then fat loss. Pre planning these progressions ensure that you will get the maximum benefit from a training plan. A training isn’t a month and then you move on, it’s a long term project and needs to be looked at like one.

Goal Setting
• At my studio i would say that 90% of clients when they first come in say that their training goal is to “get fit and tone up”. Goals are what make us go but they need to be specific. Get fit for what? What is tone? For goal setting you should set a long term goal and then break that into smaller progressive goals as looking at the big picture can have you feeling like you’ll never get there. Breaking them down gives you a boost from achieving a lot of small goals that all will all add up to the big goal over the long haul.

Choose a Program that Fits Your Training / Nutrition Level
• The first thing beginners do is look at the latest Jay Cutler program and think that will work for them. High volume, high intensity training programs are great but if you’re eating Macca’s 4 times a week and sleeping 5hrs a night then you will simply not recover from any of your sessions optimally thus you’ll forever be training in the “negative.” As a beginner or if you’re coming back from a lay off, stick the basics. 5 – 6 exercises per session, 3 – 4 sessions a week and low to moderate volume. Stick with this until your nutrition and / or lifestyle catches up your training and can support it like it should.

Learn Exercise Anatomy
• This refers to what muscles exercises train directly and indirectly as well as the joint angles they train. If you take upright rows and lateral raises for example they both star with the elbow down at your sides then raise them out to the side so it makes sense that you don’t need to train both of them on the same day. Another one is preacher and bb curls which gets a lot of work in programs that I see.

The Need for Speed Part 5

2011-04-22T00:18:00.001-07:00

So I got my prowler the other day so it's time to alter my plan.

In part of 4 of The Need for Speed series, I posted a video of general transfer training made popular by Joe Defranco where I did back squats x 2 reps at 90% of my Monday squat weight then followed up after about 1 minute with a 10m sprint.

The basis of this is to activate the muscles used in sprinting through the squat then use that heightened activation in an actual sprint.

To bridge the gap between the gym and the football field we can take this 1 step further with specific general training, again popularised by Joe Defranco.

This is where you use a prowler to replicate the action of sprinting with some added load which acts as a loaded sprint so that when you go to a traditional sprint with body weight only, the increased neural activity makes the sprint feel almost effortless as the residual neural activity of the loaded sprint is still present.

And here's a HASD (heavy ass sled drag) at 145kgs external load

Background Song - Baba O'Reily originally by the Who but performed here by Pearl Jam.

And shit Good Friday is boring!!

Essendon's 2 Knee Injuries

2011-04-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we saw not only a match of the year candidate between Carlton and Essendon, but also 2 ACL tears in the space of 10mins, both to two of Essendon's best run and carry players, Jason Winderlich and then Courtenay Dempsey.

Here's my quick take on it all.

If you've been a follower of this blog since its inception then you would know that I abide by the stability-mobility continuum where some joints require stability, and others require mobility for optimal performance.

You would then also know that when 1 joint isn't as mobile as it should be that when you need that extra mobility during movement, the body will go to another joint to get it. This is where the trouble starts.

The knee is a joint that requires stability, or the ability to resist forces and unwanted movement coming up the leg from the ankle to the hip, both of which are joints that require mobility for optimal performance.

The ankle and hip joints are both joints that more often then not, present with less mobility then they require. Couple this with ankle taping and you're in trouble.

Yes taping is used to prevent ankle sprains and rolls, but it also puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on the knee to provide the range of motion that you've taken away from the ankle.

When you tear an ACL, the knee buckles inwards, which in geek terms is hip internal rotation. Another prevalent postural flaw, and even more so in sports that require plenty of running is quad dominance. This means that your quadricep and hip flexor muscle groups become overused and thus tight and the gluteal muscle group becomes weak and inhibited (switched off).

So where both muscle groups work opposite each other, you require optimal strength levels from front to back so that the pull is of equal resistance each way. When it isn't then the muscle that is stronger and dominant, in this case the quads and hip flexors, will pull your hips out of alignment (down to the front towards your toes).

This posture flaw results in what is known as excessive pelvic tilt and a by referral movement deficiency of this postural flaw is excessive hip internal rotation.

So now we have in adequate ankle and hip mobility, ankle taping resulting in even less ankle mobility and now excessive hip internal rotation. Now add running at high velocities and volumes, and the need to be able to decelerate yourself and change direction, and you have an ACL tear waiting to happen.

If you look at the Courtenay Dempsey incident you will see that he lands with his foot turned out, or external rotation. To "straighten" his landing up his knee buckles in. Winderlich's and similar.

So what should you do to avoid the fate of the ACL tear?

1 - Improve you ankle mobility with the first exercise from this video and the improve hip mobility with the second and third exercises from this:

2 - Activate your glute muscles

3 - Strengthen the glute muscles

4 - Improve your core stability

As far as ankle taping goes I have never taped my ankles, even after I rolled them. I don't do tape at all as I feel it restricts me. I would suggest if you don't want to play without tape then try and train without it so you can use your new found ankle joint range of motion during game simulated conditions.

Tell Me Your Progress

2011-04-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

I think everyone must have started footy by now so let me know how you've gone.

In particular, what was your aim in the off and pre season and what did you do to improve it?

And now that the season has started, how is it helping during a game?

I'm still up for a game if I can find a team that needs a player that can't train!!

As for my speed training phase I'm about to start week 3 tomorrow where I'll do a max set of 3 for back squats at a minimum.

I'll try to remember to record the plyometric and activation portion of my workouts as well as my upper body workouts this week and put them up.

Join the Aussie Rules Training Blogspot Facebook Page

2011-04-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105772399457004

And please forward to any of your friends.

Poor Suns and the Swans to win by 19pts against the Bombers tomorrow.

The Need for Speed Part 4

2011-03-31T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today's Workout:

Primary Goal - Increase Speed

Secondary Goal - Vertical Leap Enhancement

My method today for increasing speed was the General Transfer Training method, also used by Joe Defranco.

It involves performing strength exercise for the muscles used during sprinting followed by a 10m sprint. The strength exercise, in my case a Box Squat at 90% of my best weight reached Monday, serves as nervous system and muscle activator for the sprint which is performed about a 1min later.

There is also Specific Transfer Training which I will introduce in a few weeks time.

Depth Jump 4 x 5

GTT - Box Squat x 2 + 10m Sprint x 4 sets

The Need for Speed Part 3

2011-03-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

In part 2 of this series of developing speed I ran through my 1st training day of the week so now it's time for Tuesday.

Primary Goal - Heavy Ass Sled Drags (HASD)

Secondary Goal - Speed, Vertical Leap Enhancement

If you haven't read about the benefits of sled/prowler training then you're way behind.

In the past it has been more of a conditioning tool (and still is) but there has been a shift in using more for more quality of work, rather then quantity.

My prowler is on order but you can easily make do with other stuff. For the last month I have used milk crates loaded with weights and some trx straps as a sled and yesterday I used a bench turned upside down with weights placed on it which worked a lot better as the crates get "stuck' in the carpet.

The idea of sled/prowler dragging for speed development is the position that it puts you in. As stated in part 2, my goal is to increase my speed over 10m so improvements needs to come in how I start, strength and technique wise.

The picture above shows a sprinters start, now look at the position the HASD puts me in:

So the beauty of the HASD is that is strengthens that use for sprinting, in an actual sprinting position due to the forward lean and triple extension required to actually drag the load. If you try and stay upright you simply won't get anywhere.

Now that we've strengthened our sprinting position then I actually put it into practice and about 1min after each sled drag, I do a 10m sprint. This method is called contrast training and is used a lot over at Joe Defranco's gym in the US with gridiron players.

So yesterday looked like this:

Depth Jump from a High Box 4 x 5

HASD + 10m Sprint x 6 (I ramped the sled drag each to a max set with each set just being a length of the studio which is about 20m - I didn't count steps).

The Need for Speed Part 2

2011-03-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

In my last post I talked about my latest training goal is speed of which I am judging over 10m.

Why only 10m? Well for 2 reasons:

1 - You've gotta be fast over 10m before you can be fast over more then 10m and;

2 - Well that's all I can do in my studio without crashing through walls and I'd rather stay inside as you never know what the weather is gonna be at any given time of the day here in Melbourne.

For each training day this week I'll just touch on my focus for each day of which there are a few starting with yesterday (Monday).

Primary Goal - Strength

Secondary Goal - Technique, Vertical leap Enhancement

To keep this very simple, the stronger you are the more force you can put into the ground and thus, more force you can then "put out" in the form of momentum. Think of it like a car, the further you press on the accelerator, the faster you'll go.

To do this I'm working getting my back squat up to where it has to be, and where it needs to stay at the very least. To be honest pretty much hate squats and find them 10 x harder to do then deadlifts of which is is 30 - 40kgs heavier then my back squat.

I'm going for a minimalist approach as well so here's my squat routine from yesterday:

Back Squat Warm Up Sets 3 x 3

Top 1/4 Range of Motion Squat Off pins 3 x 3

Top 1/2 Range of Motion Squat Off Pins 3 x 3

Back Squat 1 x 3 (working set at my top weight) @ 115kgs (aim is to get it to 1.8 - 2 x bodyweight)

This is what I'll do each Monday with the partial squats sets be used with supramaximal weights to overload the movement. It is also being done to try to release the brakes on my nervous system which is what halts your training and is what real "overtraining" affects the most.

After the squat portion of the session I then do 5 - 10 sets of 10m at about 90% to work on technique with the most important points being:

achieve triple extension on the very first step
explode as hard as I can one the first step as well
keep steps close to the ground
stay low
do not over step which puts your foot too far in front of your hips which then means you actually "slow down" like when you run down a hill

My 2nd goal, and one I always have, is to increase my vertical leap. Basically I have a fascination with being able to jump high from Warwick Capper in the 80's to Lebron James (NBA) currently.

Increasing my squat numbers will assist with this and on 3 days of the week I'll also be doing depth jumps from various heights.

The Need for Speed

2011-03-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Do you train to increase your speed?

Of course, everyone can do with a little more speed in a game where it is king.

What do you do?

50m sprints and 100m sprints?

Great but are you doing them in a fatigued state?

I bet you are, and that is where the problem lies.

Actual speed training is the focus of quality over quantity meaning each set is designed to cause absolutely no fatigue and even then you'll give yourself plenty of rest so each set is performed in an optimal speed development state.

Initially it's best to start with very small distances and work up because if you're not fast over 10 meters, you won't be fast over 20 meters.

This is the basis of my current training, speed development, so as I go along I'll outline bits and pieces that I'm doing and Friday I recorded some sprints which are up on the aussierulestraining youtube page. They're not great quality but this is the best of the 4 sets I did:

Build Untearable Hamstrings

2011-03-11T04:21:00.000-08:00

Question I received today:

"...your blog is truly terrific, I play footy in the US and last season I pulled my hammy 2 - 3 times. After the season I took it real easy and allowed it months to heal and when it was time to start off season lifting/training I could feel a knot almost in my right hammy. I went to see a doctor and got x-rayed but there was no calcification then a physical therapist told me that basically I have overly tight hamstrings and also gave me some stretches and lifts for building flexibility and strength. I has got a lot better but I still feel like there's a knot there when I flex my hammy. Is there any recommendations for exercises for my training to assist in not having a repeat of last year?"

Trevor

The dreaded hamstring is an all to common injury, but one that is avoidable with a bit of postural knowledge.

The first thing to look at are your hips and whether your backside sits higher then your front side. If they do then your stuck in excessive anterior pelvic tilt (APT).

This is caused by tight hip flexors, quads and ITB's and leads to a quad dominant movement pattern so as well loading the hams a lot from lack of glute activation, it puts excessive stress your knees from anterior loading.

Now most people think that there hamstrings are tight but if your are in APT, than your hamstrings are actually stretched from the back of the hips sitting higher then they should be, putting your hamstrings in a constant state of "stretch", which presents as neural tightness.

When your glute activation is non-existent, then your hamstrings are forced to work overtime as they are now doing the jobs of the powerful glute muscles, a job they are not too equipped to do for very long, if at all.

Moving onto the training aspect most players train for hamstrings for knee flexion with leg curl variations which is the hamstrings second function. It's main function is actually hip extension where your leg goes back behind the mid line of the body such as sprinting, kicking and jumping for a mark. The extension of the leg in the action, with simultaneous ankle, knee and hip extension is called triple extension which is detailed in the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Manual.

Triple Extension

So now that we know the benefits of complete hip extension into triple extension, we can now determine which exercises will strengthen the muscles that are weak (glutes) and taking the stress off the hamstrings.

Here's 2 more video's from the Aussie Rules Training Of Season Manual.

Glute Activation

Hip Dominant Movement Pattern Exercises

So now you have the tools to avoid any hamstring troubles if you haven't had them before, and to rehab yourself if you have done them before.

Thanks Trev

Damian Chalis

2011-02-16T02:43:00.000-08:00

I accidently deleted your email for the report, can you resend mate? Thanks

Don't Forget The Archie Sale

2011-02-16T00:46:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the birth of my little boy, the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual has been slashed to $47 for the month of February, down from $77!!

Get in on this offer as its a short month and it'll be gone before you know it.

Monthly Running Program Part 2

2011-02-09T19:02:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week I posted a monthly running program geared for Aussie Rules Football.

I received an email from a reader in that I had left something out which was right.

On week 3 for short distance I left out 10 x 30m on week 3 which now has the weekly volume matching up with the program.

He also asked a scheduling question and I also realised that I didn't address it. Each day is to be done on it's own and also with a days rest between them at least.

Thanks for the email Matt.

Looking forward to the NAB Cup this weekend too?

What's everyone's thoughts on the new set up for this year?

Monthly Running Program

2011-02-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

I was bored on the tram the other and whipped this up, a monthly template for your running for football.

Now granted everyone is training and this is more of an off season running plan so this won't come in handy until October/November this year.

The template is broken up into long, medium and short distance sprints, there is no 10km runs here, and Collingwood's Fitness Director David Buttifant agrees.

It progresses up in volume over 3 weeks then drops it back on the 4th week and off you go again. I believe if more players took planed deloading periods during their training they would actually see greater results and less injuries as the year goes on. AFL players do it so why don't you?

Short Distance (SD) is anything 0 - 40m with a focus on starting speed and acceleration.

Medium Distance (MD) is anything 40 - 200m focusing on reaching then maintaining top speed.

Long Distance is anything 1km and above focusing on aerobic endurance.

To calculate the rest period we're going to use a work:rest ratio. For those unfamiliar with them it refers to timing your set then using a predetermined equation as your rest period. So if we opt for a 1:3 work:rest (w:r) ratio, then if your 1st set takes 3:30mins, then you'll rest 10.30mins between sets.

That might seem like a lot of rest but we're after quality here, not a lot of shit running volume.

For SD use a full rest which still won't be very long anyway as the sets will only take 5 - 7secs or so.

For MD use an almost full rest, about 80 - 90% rest but no shorter.

Week 1

SD 10 x 20m / MD 3 x 200m / LD 1 x 2km, 2 x 1km (between the 2km and 1km sets use a 1:2 w:r ratio and also sue a 1:2 w:r ratio between the 1km sets)

Week 2

SD 10 x 20m, 5 x 30m / MD 4 x 200m / LD 1 x 2km, 3 x 1km (1:2 w:r ratio between 2km and 1km sets then 1:3 w:r ratio for the 1km sets)

Week 3

SD 10 x 20m , 10 x 30 / MD x 5 x 200m / LD 2 x 2km, 3 x 1km (use a 1:3 w;r ratio for the 2km sets and a 1:2 w:r ratio for the 1km sets)

Week 4

SD 5 x 30m / MD 3 x 150m / LD 1 x 2km

The weekly volume looks like this:

Week 1

SD - 200M / MD - 600M / LD - 4km = 4.8kms

Week 2

SD - 350m / MD - 800M / LD - 5kms = 6.15kms

Week 3

SD - 500M / MD - 1000M / LD - 7kms = 8.5kms

Week 4

SD - 150m / MD - 450m / LD - 2kms = 2.6kms

Give it a go.

By the way the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Manual that was on offer for posting a comment last month was won by carltonblue. Congratulations!!

The Archie Sale!

2011-02-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

He brings me smiles each and every day, and now he can make you smile for at least 1 day because the Archie Sale is on for the month of Feb.

The Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual has now been slashed to $47.

So all orders completed by the end of Feb will get the deal.

With the nightmare pregnancy that is still going (wife hasn't made it out of hospital yet and he's 3 weeks old and she was in 3 weeks pre!), this is almost a once in a lifetime chance as we won't be diving back in for another anytime quick.

Order you copy NOW!!

David Buttifant Seminar Recap

2011-02-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I attended a Centrality based seminar by Collingwood's Director of Sports Science, David Buttifant and Anthony Rocca, titled "How to Win You Own Personal Premiership."

I wasn't sure what the seminar was going to entail but I was going to attend regardless although I was hoping for something more training based in hind-site.

The event overview was:

David

How to Plan Your Way to Success

How to Succeed Where Others Fail

Anthony

Overcoming and Thriving Through Adversity

David

How to Recover From Injuries Like an AFL Footballer

Panel Discussion

Instead of going into too much detail I'll just dot point my notes:

failing to plan is planing to fail
train slow, be slow
it's a lot harder to increase an endurance dominant player's explosiveness then to increase an endurance dominant player's explosiveness
The best players have an excellent explosive profile
Collingwood don't do any long distance running except for their 2km time trial instead opting for game simulated training like 4 v 5, 3 v 3, 2 v 3 games
players average 12 - 16kms/game
the point of training is to minimise the distance covered, thus training stress but reaping the optimal training effect
a daily set up at this time of the year consists of 15 - 30mins core work for the younger players and whoever needs it, 45 - 90mins of weights breaking players into groups depending on goals and abilities, refuel with supplements, miscellaneous conditioning such as sprinting technique, boxing etc and lastly range of motion wok and restoration
when planning your training progress intensity from easy to hard and progress skills simple to complex
power is tested every 2 - 6 weeks on a smith machine which is hooked up to some contraption - i missed what is was
range of motion is tested weekly
skin folds are tested every 2 weeks for those who come back a little heavier then they should
uses the Sandwich Approach to feedback which a positive comment followed by a negative followed by a positive comment
recovery methods they use include ice bath with mobilisation, whole body vibration, massage, sleep, proprioception, body flow, autogenics and supplementation
ice baths increase growth hormone and thus protein synthesis
vibration training decreases potentiation where glute activation increase potentiation so vibration may be best served for power endurance while it also increases somastatin and decreases myostatin which in turn decreases growth hormone
mostly uses trigger point massage which provides its greatest benefits when performed 48 - 72hrs game
advocates mediation which decreases hear rate, cortisol and ventilation and actually does 2 x 10min sessions/day himself
doses creatine for 10g max
pre weights have 5 - 15g protein to decrease muscle degradation during training
supplements zinc and magnesium
protein is set at 1.5 - 1.8g per kg of body weight/day
has the team do weights the day after a game
in a shocker to me, he has only included glute activation for the team recently which means he could have maybe saved Nathan Buckley if he had done it earlier as the team physio had been bugging him about it for a while
according to teams GPS readings, the top 4 teams do less work then the bottom 4 teams but get better results
uses a daily recovery index which tracks sleep, energy, mental state, range of motion, soreness and recovery with each being marked out of ten and if you average a 6 or under on any given day then you need to reassess
allows 50g of fat/day max
measures creatine kinase which increases with training load and finds that the younger players average a higher reading and questions the training loads of some of the under age teams which is why they deload the younger players more often

Overall I still enjoyed the seminar and David also mentioned that Centrality and himself were maybe going to some more specific seminars in the future too.

Your New Program Split

2011-01-25T18:18:00.001-08:00

Today we'll discuss the split that is to be followed for this program.

The program, as well as being based around accumulating more and more volume but without exceeding your recovery abilities, also has a few "sub' principles.

They are:

frequency
concentrated loading
neural charge workouts
eccentric less training

Frequency

As a general training rule, the higher the intensity you work at, the less frequent you can do such as back squat 1 rep max attempts. On the flip side though the less intensity you work at, the more frequently you can do it such as walking.

The High Performance Mass program relies on using a lot of volume at high intensity with high frequency. Normally one might use 1 of these principles and not do it right so it's a delicate set of scales to balance.

Initially the program prescribes you to train most 4 of your 5 lifts 3/week using a load that is about 80% of your max for 11 - 16 sets per exercise per workout. In week 3 you get all the way up to 38 sets per session and couple that with assistance work (which we haven't touched on yet) and you could be looking at 70 odd sets (which I did!!) per workout.

Here's the proposed schedule:

Mon - Upper Body Pressing x 3 exercises, Lower Body Pressing x 1 exercise

Tue - Upper Body Pressing x 3 exercises, Lower Body Pressing x 1 exercise

Wed - Neural Charge Workout / Eccentric Less Training

Thu - Lower Body Pressing x 3 exercises, Upper Body Pressing x 1 exercise

Fri - Lower Body Pressing x 2 exercises, Upper Body Pressing x 1 exercise

Sat - Lats and Biceps (again not touched on yet)

Sun - Neural Charge Workout / Eccentric Less Training

Concentrated Loading

You'll see that on Mon and Tue you do all 3 upper body pressing exercises 2 days in a row but settle down, we're not going over train here! The focus of the concentrated loading is to really up the volume for the upper body pressing exercises early in the week and then drop it back later in the week. For the lower body we use the concentrated loading in the second part of the week with lower volume early in the week.

The frequency and concentrated loading principles are the wheels that make this program go around so it is ESSENTIAL that you choose the right wt or you won't even make week 3. And through all of this, you've still got to remember that you HAVE to avoid any grinding reps!!

Now just quickly on exercise selection, for upper body pressing you want to use 1 shoulder press movement, 1 incline or flat bench press movement and 1 flat or decline bench press movement for a total of 3 upper body pressing movements. For lower body you basically want to choose 1 squat and 1 deadlift variation and you'll stick with those exercise for as many cycles as you can.

So now your week might look like this:

Mon - Military Press, Incline Press, Bench Press, Back Squat

Tue - Military Press, Incline Press, Bench Press, Deadlifts

Wed - Neural Charge / Eccentric Less Training

Thu - Back Squats, Deadlifts, Military Press

Fri - Back Squats, Deadlifts, Incline Press

Sat - Lats and Biceps

Now depending on you past training methods and experience you may need to work up to this exact split and I have even tinkered with it to fit my schedule and limitations better.

Neural Charge Workouts

The central nervous system is what puts the breaks on your training. When you do that last bench press rep and its taking 10secs to reach lockout, that's the nervous system failing you right there. This is one of the reasons why training to failure is not a good idea. If you do it on your 1st exercise then the rest of your workout will suffer, especially as you push to use heavier weights for the other exercises.

Neural Charge workouts are simply 3 - 5 exercises circuits that use fast, explosive movements or exercises performed explosively for 3 - 5 reps specifically aimed at ramping up your nervous system when it feel a little drained, so filling up your petrol tank so to speak. These can be used at anytime you like - before workouts as a warm up when you feel sluggish, on off days to prepare the nervous system for the next days workout and even in the am before a pm training session.

A sample workout may be:

Supine Medicine Ball Toss x 5 reps

Tuck Jump x 5 reps

Inverted Row for speed x 5 reps

Plyometric Push Up on a bench x 5 reps

10m Sprint

x 4 - 6 circuits

10mins and you're done!

Eccentric Less Training

For those with ectomorphic body types, this could be your holy grail. Each exercise has a concentric / muscle shortening contraction and an eccentric / muscle lengthening contraction. It's the eccentric contractions that make you sore and run down so to keep accumulating volume we need to use that exercises that eliminate it and thus eccentric less training is born!

What this also needs is that you need to get your innovative hat on and find something that you can use as a sled which will enable you drag weights. I use a milk crate or 2 connected by chain and filled with weights for the sled with a TRX attached for the handles and it works a treat. It can also act as a prowler but it's nowhere near as good as a proper one like the picture at the top of this post.

I will try and post a video of my make shift crate sled too.

Eccentric Less Training can also be used at any time as they are very easy on the nervous system and thus won't tap into your recovery abilities. A stated for those with skinner body types who have a hard time increasing and maintaining muscle mass, this should be a staple of your training as usually it's these same people whose recovery abilities aren't as great.

Remember to leave a comment to go into the running to win a copy of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual for the month of January.

Baby Boy

2011-01-15T03:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated the arrival of Archie Robin Lange, and the number 1 pick in the 2028 AFL Draft.

So now you know what's been taking up my time.

If you read my post a few posts ago, I mentioned that you can win a FREE copy of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual by simply leaving a comment.

I will run this for the entire month of January too so comment away!

Anyway its time for part 3 of my new training method I'm using at the moment that is providing me with nothing short of superb upper body muscle gains (I'm prioritising upper body).

Today we'll talk about your schedule from week to week.

Last post we discussed how to calculate your max training weight which is the highest weight you'll use for 1 cycle of the program for a given exercise and also the set progression.

I have also made a correction to the last post where for the upper body, your max training weight is 87.5% of your 3 rep max but for the lower body we use 80% of your 3 rep max. I missed this on my 1st cycle and it almost killed me.

One of the most, if not the most, important principles of this program is the accumulation of volume. As we're only increasing weight every 3 weeks then we need to do more volume with out current weight to maximise muscle gains.

So for week 1 we do what was outlines in my last post.

For week 2 you do the exact same progression from week 1 except that you'll add some more sets in your max training zone.

So after you've performed the 5 max training zone sets, then you simply stay with the progression for an extra 3 sets like this:

Set 1 - 32.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 2 - 37.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 3 - 45kgs x 3 reps

Set 4 - 52.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 5 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Set 6 - 65kgs x 3 reps

Set 7 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Set 8 - 62.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 9 - 65kgs x 3 reps

Set 10 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Now add on these:

Set 11 - 62.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 12 - 65kgs x 3 reps

Set 13 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Now week 3 is exactly the same as week 2 but again we add 3 more sets in the max training zone the same way as we did in week 2:

Set 14 - 62.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 15 - 65kgs x 3 reps

Set 16 - 60kgs x 3 reps

You can now see why we don't want to increase the weight during this program as you end up doing 6 more sets in your max training zone from week 1 to week 3.

Try this out for the next 2 weeks and let me know how you go with it.

Your New Training Method

2011-01-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

Last post we discussed my new method that I have adopted from Christian Thibaudeau and now I'll let you know how to use it.

If you remember I asked you to find your 3 rep max for military presses, incline presses and bench presses but only counting the sets where the speed and acceleration of the movement is maintained from the fist set to the last set.

Now that we have those 3 rep max numbers I now want you to calculate 87.5% of that 3 rep max. So if your 3 rep max is 75kgs:

75 x .875 = 65kgs

NOTE: for lower body exercises, use 80% of your 3 rep max.

65kgs is your max training weight which you will not exceed during your first 6 week cycle. For some this may take some discipline but we're looking at performing 2 - 3 times the volume you have in the past as far as sets per week is concerned. The trade off for high intensity (load) is low volume and vice versa.

From your 3 rep max now calculate 60% of that:

66 x .5 = 32.5kgs.

32.5kgs is the load you'll start with for your 1st set.

From here you want to work out 6 even jumps for each set that you ramp up, it doesn't need to be perfect but get it as close as you can.

Set 1 - 32.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 2 - 37.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 3 - 45.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 4 - 52.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 5 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Set 6 - 65kgs x 3 reps

Set 6 is your first max training zone set which is basically your working sets.

From here you want to perform all of your max training zone/work sets at 90 - 95% of your max training weight (65kgs) your next 6 sets will look like this:

Set 7 - 60kgs x 3 reps

Set 8 - 62.5kgs x 3 reps

Set 9 - 65 kgs x 3 reps

Set 10 - 60kgs x 3 reps

For set 10, we finish with the lighter max training zone weight where you really want to blow that rep out of the water.

So that is how most of the exercises are done when performed on their own but all upper body pressing movements, military, incline and bench press, are all trained on the same day.

Now we have already activated the nervous system through our neural ramping of the military press so for the next 2 exercises we simply want to do the last 5 sets in the max training zone, such as above for the military press.

So as we have already done, calculate 87.5% of your incline and bench press 3 rep max and do the following:

Set 1 - your max training weight x 3 reps

Set 2 - 5pds less then your max training weight x 3 reps

Set 3 - 2.5pds less then your max training weight x 3 reps

Set 4 - max training weight x 3 reps

Set 5 - 5pds less then your max training weight x 3 reps

And repeat for the bench press.

Try this out and notice how you feel at the end of your workout and make sure you're fully charged nutritionally prior.

My Training

2011-01-02T02:38:00.000-08:00

As I'm still unsure about footy this year, at least official footy (I played rec link last year which I'll probably do again regardless and use it for training) I haven't done much running, or any actually.

I was doing some sprints in October last year but we went on holiday and I never picked it back up when I got back.

Today I'll give a quick rundown at what I'm what doing training wise at the moment.

At the end of last year I came off a controlled overtraining strength focused program which really got my numbers up (increased back squat 20kgs or so) but was hard to keep motivated for loading myself up each and every session. It was still a good program though and it did work.

Before I went away on holiday I read an article on t-nation that described a non-traditional way of training and it was something I wanted to try. I actually posted on it here.

The author Christian Thibaudeau released another article on this method here, here and here.

The basis of the program is not the actual program but the principles of the method he uses.

The major principle is that you should aim to perform as much high quality work as you can without a decrease in performance and also without exceeding your recovery abilities.

As most people train the opposite way to this, I'll explain what this means exactly.

High Quality Work - each rep that you perform in the gym should be performed as quick and as close to perfect technique as you can. Go to the gym tomorrow and I bet in 10 seconds you'll see 10 people grinding out reps at snail pace, doing lat pulldowns with their backs parallel to the floor or god forbid, this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg6-Fq-dSJA&feature=player_embedded

Each and every rep should be explosive and each rep should be the same from the first rep of the workout to the last rep of the workout.

A Decrease in Performance - piggy backing off performing a high quality of work, a decrease in performance can then be specifically described as:

any rep that is less explosive one then the one before it
any rep that encounters a sticking point at any point of the range of motion
any rep that requires a change in technique to complete a rep

This requires diligent self assessment to ensure that you are not entering these zones what so ever and stopping before that point is a lot better then going just over it.

Without Exceeding Your Recovery Abilities

Again a lot of people train using high volume programs go to failure at all costs programs that are found in those dodgy, supplement company funded muscle magazines, the same programs that their 'assisted" sponsored bodybuilders use. Anabolic steroids allow you to recover faster and thus train more often with greater intensity. This is obviously not ideal for us "unassisted" gym goers.

What is a given is that high volume builds muscle but the higher volume you use, the less intensity, or load, you can use each session to stay off the overtraining path. You'll more often overtrain from excessive volume then excessive intensity too.

What this means is that you need to stay away from extremely heavy weight and especially avoid failure of any kind during your training. If you go to failure on Monday then the rest of your week is basically is gone as far as making progress is concerned.

In the 4 weeks I've been using training by these principles, I have seen unprecedented growth in my upper body which should be gold to your ears with summer right on top of us, not to mention footy just a few short months away.

Here's what I want you to do.

For your next upper body session (and make it after a day of complete rest) I want you to do just 3 main exercises, military press, incline press and bench press.

Starting at something that will be around 50% of your military press 3 rep max, do sets of 3 increasing 2.5kgs in total (1.25kgs each side) per set until you max out at 3 reps. Remember to not let the speed of the movement decrease or your technique to change.

Once you reach your 3 rep max on military presses, move to incline bench presses and start at the weight that you finished with on the military presses. Again do sets of 3 reps with maximum acceleration, increasing 2.5kgs each set until you hit your 3 rep max for them then do the same for bench presses starting at the weight you finished at on the incline presses.

This may take a lot of sets depending on how bad you guess your starting weight but that's fine, once we get your ending point, we can plan out the amount of sets we need each session.

In between each set of pressing I want you to stagger 1 set of a back rowing or upper back movement for muscle balance. Some suggestions are db chest supported rows, rear delt raises, face pulls, scarecrows and seated rows. Do these for 6 - 8 reps per set opting for a 8 - 9/10 effort level, not maximum. You'll use 3 exercises and stagger 1 with military presses, 1 with incline presses and 1 with bench presses.

In a couple of days I'll outline what we do with your 3 rep max for military, incline and bench presses to improve your upper body more in a month than you have in your life.

If you have any queries on this, please leave a comment.

What Are You Doing to Make "11" better Than "10"?

2010-12-31T05:40:00.000-08:00

We've made it 1 whole year here at Aussie Rules Training so I have to thank all of you for reading and following.

I hope we all had a successful year in 2010 but now it's time to focus on 2011 and I want to know what you're doing to get better so leave a comment and go into the running to win a FREE copy of the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Training Manual valued at $77!!

Hopefully you have been able to use the information from this blog to be able to put something together to improve your game this season and if not then please send me any requests you have for information and I'll post it here.

In my next post I'll touch on what I'm doing training wise at the moment.

Oh and before I go I must congratulate Rebecca on her marriage to Chris yesterday and don't take too long off training!

Introducing Kris Hinck

2010-12-18T02:13:00.000-08:00

Just under a year ago when I decided to start up this blog, I sent out some emails to AFL clubs to get some interviews with their strength and conditioning staff.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply with one who was more than happy to answer some questions.

I had this interview on a USB that snapped and I thought it was lost but I found it on an old one that I found during our house move a month ago.

Kris Hinck, creator of the DVD Game Based Conditioning - AFL Perspective and the Physical Preparation Coach in Elite Sport for the Geelong Cats (and ex-Adelaide Crows) in the AFL, gave me an insight into the training of AFL players and how us amateur and local football players can apply the same techniques to suit our level of competition.

So as a little thank you for reading my blog over the last 12 months, here it is.

What do you think are the major differences that need to be addressed between training professional or amateur/local footballers and how should we go about addressing these differences?

‘Bang for Buck’ would be the major difference. We have training access to our players 8-10 hours 6-7 days per week so we can achieve many things with that available to us. At club level 2-3 sessions of 2hours per week necessitates you spend time only on the aspects that have large return for effort. An example would be, do you have time at club level to do fitness training and skills training? Are these things better to be combined by good drill design so that some recovery and strength work can be completed also?

Aside from the time issue the players physical profile has to be at a much higher level and a broader range of qualities than at club level. If you are ‘fit’ and have good ‘skills’ you will do well at club level if you can get the ball. At AFL level it is a necessity that you have excellent skills and can get the ball. Your fitness attributes have to be developed in a number of areas. Repetitive effort, aerobic power, strength, power, acceleration/speed all have to be at developed to a high level depending on the individual player and positional demands.

What are the top 3 attributes that you want your players to develop and would this be the same for an amateur/local footballer?

Short term – Relative Strength, Aerobic Capacity, Whole body Strength (incl. Core)

Mod-Long term – Maximal Strength, Aerobic Power (incl Repetitive Effort), Whole body Power

I believe if a club level footballer can be consistent over time with the short-term goals I mentioned they will perform well physically

How do you manage the various fitness requirements for AFL football within such a condensed time frame given the importance of recovery, especially during the season?

Recovery is priority #1 during the season, however if that is the only focus then you will lose majority of the hard work that has been put in over the summer. It’s important to have a well planned but flexible annual training plan prior to games starting. This will allow opportunities for periods of hard training.

What periodisation model do you use or does it change depending what part of the season it is?

I can’t give a succinct answer to that one. In theory it’s easy, in practice not so easy. In general terms pre-season is ‘linear’ and in-season is ‘undulating’. It varies however depending on the training age of the player, the physical qualities of the player and also the physical qualities you are developing.

What's the easiest way to bulk up without adding fat and what's the best way for one to transform his body in 1 off season?

Really simple. Eat quality foods, avoid sugar, work hard and support training with simple supplements. Strength training volume is very important and it should be well planned and progressive. Ad-hoc training and poor diet will not deliver sustained results.

What do you think are some of the bigger training myths out there?

1. Supplements are necessary - FALSE. Excellent results can be achieved without them if diet is in check

2. ‘Core’ strength for footballers comes from Pilates - FALSE. A well designed and consistently performed whole body strength program will far outweigh any number of ‘deadbug’ repetitions

3. Footballers only need to do short repeat effort (RE) running – FALSE. RE running will deliver quick return but will always be limited by an underdeveloped aerobic system.

What nutritional practices do you have your players follow?

Our players have regular individual consultations with our dietician. They support training sessions with specific supplementation such as protein and carbohydrates.

Good nutritional practices are similar to good strength training practices. Often the basics work best and each individual will respond differently which usually is a result of trial and error. Also variety is important.

What are some of the newer training methods you've tried with success with your players?

I’m not sure about ‘newer’ but I have had excellent results in 1RM strength tests using periods of sub-maximal lifting (90-98% 1RM). It takes some control by the players not to ‘max-out’ each set but results in greater total session loads being lifted.

What performance tests do you keep a record of and update during the season?

1RM strength tests over 5 lifts (Bench Press, Bench Pull, Shoulder Press, Squat, Power Clean) including ratio targets.

A series of body-weight and loaded jump tests

3km Time Trial

Grid Running Test (Repeat Effort) 15s On/15s OFF

We have others but these are our base tests.

What do you do to increase the speed of your players?

Increasing leg strength & power and improve decision making.

Thanks a lot for this mate, I greatly appreciate it.

Please post any comments.

A Sneak Peak at the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Training Manual

2010-12-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

As I posted the other day, here's the contents of the Off Season Manual that is available now. I think you'll find that it covers a lot of area's that are usually not even thought in most players training.

Introduction

Fitness Components Specific to Aussie Rules

Self Assessment

Interpreting Your Results

Goal Setting

How Do You Move?

- Ankle Assessment

- Knee Assessment

- Hip Assessment

- Lumbar Spine Assessment

- Scapula Stability Assessment

- Head / Shoulder Assessment

Joint by Joint Approach to Training

Dynamic Assessment

- Lower Body Dynamic Assessment

- Upper Body Dynamic Assessment

Training Around Injuries

- Ankle

- Knee

- Hips

- Lumbar Spine

- Shoulders

Warm Up

- Myofascial Release

- Joint and Muscle Mobilisation

- Dynamic Flexibility

- Movement Preparation

- Warm Up Sets

Programming

Short Comings of Bodybuilding Programs

- No Structural Balance

- Bodypart Splits

- Inducing vs Managing Fatigue

- Sarcoplasmic vs Myofibrillar Hypertrophy

Benefits of Performance Training

- Performance Based Goals

- Strength Focused

- Progression of Exercises

- Progression of Workload

- Quality vs Quantity

- Movement Patterns vs Muscles

Training Movements

- 1/Week Recommendations

- 2/Week Recommendations

- 3/Week Recommendations

Strength Training Recommendations

Hypertrophy Training Recommendations

Fat Loss Training Recommendations

Nutrition

- Weight Gain Nutrition

- Weight Loss Nutrition

- Weight Maintenance Nutrition

- Peri Workout Nutrition

- Supplements

Sprinting Evaluation

Speed

Starts

- 2 Point Start

- 3 Point Start

- Triple Extension

Acceleration

Maximum Speed

Speed Training Programming

Plyometrics

- Force Absorption

- Force Output

- Plyometric Exercises

Plyometric Training Programming Recommendations

How many of these do you address in your training?

I'm Back!!

2010-12-07T02:27:00.001-08:00

Well after a stuff up from out Internet provider which resulted in an extended off-line situation, I'm back on.

It's December so everyone should be knee deep in off season training with the majority of clubs about to do some pre-Christmas training.

I have also been approached by the Hampton Hammers in the Southern Football League here in Melbourne to do some fitness work for them which I am really looking forward to.

Personally I think the best results are attained through some actual hard training before Christmas but I know a lot of teams use December training as a bonding type time for new players but I think both needs to be used.

The Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual is flying off the shelves too so get your copy today for $77 (+ $10 postage if you're an overseas customer).

In the coming week I'll put up a contents page from the manual so everyone can see exactly what is covered in it.

Also remember that if there's anything you'd like covered on the blog then please email and I'll do my best.

Busy Times!!

2010-11-25T22:31:00.000-08:00

These sure are busy times.

The wife and I moved house last weekend, our first baby due in early January, there is plenty of Christmas shopping to do as well as running the studio to getting things all in order for 2011 is not leaving me much time to do much else.

Add to that, we won't have any Internet access at the new house until late next week and you get a very sparingly updated blog.

Through it all though I have had a great response to the Off Season Training Manual and for those who have received their copies, I hope you've enjoyed it and are now putting it to use. If you have any questions or comments in regards to the information in the manual please send them through and I'll answer them on the blog for everyone to read.

For those who haven't ordered their copies yet, unfortunately you've missed out on the special cost of $57 which thenincreased to $67 dollars and which is now $77 where it will stay. $77 is still a bargin though in my book.

Once I get the Internet on at home I will endeavour to update this blog as often as I can, including an interview with a Strength and Conditioning coach from an AFL team.

Footy starts in 3 months, well the AFL pre season competition anyway, so don't wait until next year to become better, become better today!!

Off Season Training Manual Update

2010-11-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

First off a big thank you for all those readers who have already ordered the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual, they are in the mail and if you haven't already, then you should receive them soon.

The training manual has now had a price increase to $67 (+ $10 postage and handling for overseas customers) and remember that next Tuesday it will go up to it's regular price of $77, where it will stay.

Additionally, for a short time too you can also receive a free 4 week program by my good self developed off the results you get from the manual so get in while you can.

IT'S HERE!!

2010-11-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Let's not beat around the bush. You need this manual.

Why?

Because you have it all backwards.

How do I know?

Because I’ve been there and made your mistakes.

The Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Manual is just what you need.

This information in this manual can be the difference between you and everyone else out on the ground.

I guarantee that 99% of the players you see on the ground around you are NOT training like.

They are simply relying on their natural ability to get them through come finals time. But natural ability doesn't count for much if you can't get your hands on the football.

From following the training in this manual, you'll be as bigger, stronger and more resistant injuries.

How do you train now? By running endless kilometers to increase your aerobic fitness? But what do you do to increase your speed and explosiveness?

And what about strength? Do you use bodybuilding methods to get stronger? But how much stronger do you think you really are and can you actually see this translate to your game and performance on the field?

The information and training techniques in this manual will show you how to train for these factors. The factors, 99% of team mates and opponents are letting slide and just accepting as skills of natural ability or sheer good luck. With these techniques, you will be fitter and stronger, recover faster, and suffer less injuries. You'll be more agile, jump higher, be quicker off the mark and go harder at the ball.

In a nutshell, you'll earn your spot in that your side, and perform better than you ever have before. And that’s what we all want, right? That's why we play. That's why we turn up, rain, hail or shine. To play the best game we can, each and every week.

That, is why you need this manual.

With this manual you’ll learn how to prepare your body to perform at the highest level it ever has and how to take your on-field performance to heights you never thought possible.

In this manual you’ll learn:

· How to assess and program accordingly for YOUR SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES, ensuring you are targeting the areas you need to improve to improve your overall game

· How to assess and correct your static and dynamic posture which ensures that you are actually reinforcing the correct movement patterns each and every time you train, rather than simply reinforcing and cementing bad ones

· How to actually program your training so that it supplements and improves your on field performance, not decrease it with fatigue inducing, inefficient and outdated training methods

· Your personal nutritional requirements for muscle gain, weight loss and supplementation

· How to actually increase your sprinting efficiency and speed without doing endless 100m sprints

· How to actually program plyometric exercises to increase explosiveness

· A DVD package that accompanies the manual with 26 explanatory videos covering all the areas in the manual so you know exactly what to do and how to do it.

I have received a huge level of response from my readers since I announced that I was putting this manual together wanting know when it will be available and how can they get a copy. Well it's ready...and getting your copy is as easy as contacting me at the email address below.

The price for the manual will be $57 if I receive your payment by Monday 22^nd of November.

From then on the price will increase $10 per week until it gets to the regular price of $77.

Monday 8^th November – Monday November 15^th	$57
Tuesday November 16th – Monday November 22nd	$67
Tuesday November 23rd onwards	$77

For an extra $50 you can also receive a month long program that I’ll put together for you based on the results you get from your initial performance testing as outlined in the manual so all the guess work will be taken out of you improving yourself immensely in 2011.

I can assure you that you would need to search high and low to find this information anywhere else, let alone all of it put together into one that is so easy to read, understand and most importantly learn and implement.

Payment is to be made through www.paypal.com to lange_troy@hotmail.com so contact Troy at lange_troy@hotmail.com to get your copy sent out to you right away. You'll also need to email me your address as I'm sending them out manually and overseas orders require a $10 shipping fee just added onto the payment.

Filming Is Done and My Current Training

2010-10-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

Just finished this ordinary Saturday morning.

Now all I have to do is go over the manual and alter it to how I want it and we'll be ready to release.

I'm heading away tomorrow for 8 days in Thailand (hello sun!!) but I'll still train at a gym that is apparently around from corner form where we're staying called Don's Gym.

For the past 5 weeks I've been doing a program by US Performance Trainer Kelly Baggett which which focuses on training some lifts at a high frequency and intensity at the start of the week then backing off the other 4 days.

Here's what it looks like:

Prior - determine or estimate your 1 rep max for whatever lift you'll choose to do and base the first 2 days of that.

Monday - 4 x 3 @ 85%

Tuesday - 3 x 2 @ 90%

Wednesday - work up to a 1rm then do 4 x 1 @ 95% of that

Friday - 4 x 1 @ 80% of Wednesday weight

So as you can see it's a lot to do up the front of the week before basically resting for 4 days. What the program is based on is over training a movement to decrease your performance by 5% but then the extra rest brings you back on the next Monday at a 5% performance improvement so increase your baseline max you chose pre program by 5% or 5pds and go again.

I have modified mine a bit and I'm doing the following:

Week 1 - Bench Press and Back Squats

Week 2 - Push Press and Deadlifts

While I'm away I hope to be able to do my 3rd cycle of week 2, but I'm not sure how equipped the gym is that I will be going to.

On the Wednesday and Saturday I'm doing sprints and gradually increasing the volume so hopefully I can also do them too. Friday is some back, glute and core work with pretty low volume for maintenance.

So that's we're I'm at with everything so I'll try and put the finishing touches on the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Manual before I go.

New Season is Here Almost!

2010-10-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well October is almost done and dusted and that means November is upon us which means time to start training again (if you aren't already).

A lot of players will either try and get bigger and stronger or try and get really fit in this time but rarely both.

Now for one thing you don't need to be really fit in November, nor will get you noticeably bigger or stronger in a short time frame.

My suggestion is to make up a goal setting sheet of your main goals of which there may be 3 - 5 of them.

From that list you should then prioritise which one's are most important and which one's are your weakest.

Now obviously the one's that are the weakest require the most work so they'll need to be trained immediately. Those that you simply want to improve but are at a pretty good level obviously don't need as much focus and can be popped into your training plan later in the year.

In the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Training Manual, we go through this type of goal setting to actually improve you as a player.

It's only once you know what you need to train for that you can devise a training plan.

Should finish the video's off today/tomorrow and then I simply need to make sure the manual is all like I want it and we should be ready to release!!

p.s. Potential game of the year in China the other day with the Demons down 26pts at the final change and Liam Jurrah kicking a goal after the siren to win the game. We can show it Asia and London but not in Australia?? C'mon that's ordinary.

Off Season Manual / DVD

2010-10-14T04:02:00.001-07:00

Things simply got too busy for me at work (we hired a new trainer and have had a client influx), so the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Camp has been called off so I apologise to all those who showed interest in it.

I am still releasing the resource though and the filming for the DVD will hopefully all get done tomorrow.

I really hope I can get it all done and put on the market before our Thailand trip on the 25th of October.

Once I'm back from the trip then I'll finally have the time to devote to this site so stick with me!!

AFL Draft Combine

2010-09-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

This has appeared on the AFL website in the past week:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/102880/default.aspx

The AFL Draft Combine is an opportunity for junior players to gain an edge over their fellow draftees to be. It involves doing a set of physical and mental performance tests which are then used by clubs to 'predict" the potential of each player.

It can also serve as a means for lesser known players to stand out in the the recruiters mind if they can ace a test or 2 against the more well known juniors.

At the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Training Camp, we will actually use some of these tests as baseline figures for measuring performance as well as giving us an insight into what we need to prioritise through our training.

Once we determine your results you'll then be provided with all the information you need to actually train that specific component of football, thus improving you as a player.

Because we are actually measuring these components at specific intervals during your training, we can really see if we are improving or not. It allows you to be more precise and exact within your programming so you actually do improve your on field performance, not just "hope" that you do.

Remember that the early bird cost of $225 only lasts until the 7th of October of which the price will increase to $300 for the 2 day camp.

Contact me at lange_troy@hotmail.com to book now.

Chase Down Tackling

2010-09-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

The Saints have just finished off the Doggies to earn a spot in the Grand Final next Saturday against Collingwood but I was impressed with the "spindle shanks" Jarrod Grant's chasing from the Doggies forward line.

The ground that he can make up in a chase is probably second to none in the AFL and he probably runs quicker without the ball then with it, unlike most other players.

He's built like a whippet with long legs which makes him genetically gifted for speed which is what the good teams build around these days, as evident by Collingwood's transformation in the last 2 - 3 seasons with the injection of young runners into the side.

But what if you're not genetically and naturally fast? How can you become faster?

At the Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Camp, you'll be taught how to improve your dynamic flexibility, strength and sprinting mechanics to increase your speed for next season and beyond.

The weekend long camp is running on the 16th and 17th of October and you have until the 7th of October to book and pay to get the early bird cost of $225, a $75 off the $300 regular cost.

Contact me at lange_troy@hotmail.com to book your spot now!!

Book Now!!

2010-09-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

For most of us the season is over and hopefully we are all thinking of how we’ll better our performances next year.

The Aussie Rules Training Off Season Footy Camp is just what you need.

Over 2 days you’ll learn how to prepare your body to perform at the highest level you ever have and take your playing performance to the height you never thought possible.

At the camp you’ll learn:

How to assess and correct your static and dynamic posture which ensures that you are actually reinforcing the correct movement patterns each and every time you train, rather than simply reinforcing and cementing bad ones
How to actually program your training so that it supplements and improves your on field performance, not decrease it with fatigue inducing, inefficient and outdated training methods
Your personal nutritional requirements for weight gain, weight loss and supplementation
How to actually increase your sprinting efficiency and speed and no, it’s not doing 100m sprints
How to actually program plyometric exercises to increase explosiveness
You will also be taken through an actual training session covering all the components learnt over the weekend.

Since my last post I have had some excellent responses to the training camp of which will be held on the weekend of the 16th and 17th October, 2010 (90% sure of this date).

Each participant in the Aussie Rules Off Season Footy Camp will receive a full static and dynamic postural assessment as well as a 1 month program by me to correct and improve any weaknesses that they may have.

It will be held at the Full Circle Fitness Personal Training Studio which is located at Level 1 / 308 Toorak Road, South Yarra.

Those who are interested in attending the camp will need to notify me of their intentions before Thursday, 7^th of October.

Be sure that you will need to look high and low to learn about these up to date training methods, so book your spots today.

I will be limiting the camp to only 10 people and I expect these spots to go within days of posting this message.

The cost of the camp is $300 but for those who book and pay before the 7^th of October, it will only be $225.

Contact Troy at lange_troy@hotmail.com to book.

Off Season Aussie Rules Football Training Camp

2010-08-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have a very important update that could greatly benefit you for season 2011.

I have put together an Off Season Aussie Rules Football Training Camp for footballers aged 16 and above which I am looking to run in October 2010, and I would like you to inform your playing group about it.

The camp will be run over a Saturday and Sunday and will cover the following:

· AFL specific fitness components and how to train them

· How to assess your abilities

· How to prioritise what you should train

· A detailed but simple static and dynamic postural assessment

· How to train to become more movement efficient

· 21^st Century resistance training programming

· How to better break up your training

· Technique work on the basic lifts

· Nutrition advice for various scenarios

· Sprinting efficiency assessment

· How to improve your sprinting weak point’s

· Plyometrics

· An actual practical session covering everything covered over the weekend

· Each participant will also receive a dynamic postural assessment, sprinting assessment and 4 week training program.

The purpose of the training camp is to inform everyday footballers and coaches of the most efficient way to train once the season has finished to best equip you for season 2011.

I have basically aimed to cover all the things that are not, and cannot, be addressed during team training with an emphasis on improving movement efficiency through smarter strength training.

Who Is This For?

This is for individual local and amateur footballers who want to get an early jump on season 2011 with an actual, structured program to eliminate their weaknesses and transform them into a brand new player before the season even begins.

This can also be a resource used by coaches as an assessment tool for their teams as the information has been put together so that it can be done with limited equipment for the most part.

A one size fits all training approach will only work for a handful of your players, under-training some and over-training the rest, leading to injuries and sub par performances.

By being able to identify and address individual deficiencies, you’ll have better individual players, leading to a better team overall.

How Should It Be Used?

If you want a program that will ensure improvement, rather than use a “try it and see” approach, this is it. By learning and then applying the techniques from the training camp, there is no way that you can’t improve. By improving the efficiency of your movement through assessing, diagnosing and addressing your weak points, you’ll now have the potential to be twice the player you were just a few months ago.

The location for the training camp is tentative at this stage, however will likely be held at the Full Circle Fitness training studio which is located in Toorak Rd, South Yarra.

If you go to the www.aussierulestraining.blogspot.com website and have a read of some of the content, you can see the type of work we’ll be doing.

For those who cannot attend, don’t be worried as I will release it as an online product through either DVD, e-book or a combination of both.

If you are interested in the Off Season Aussie Rules Football Training Camp or the product when it becomes available, then please feel free to contact me at lange_troy@hotmail.com.

Update at Aussie Rules Training

2010-08-22T01:39:00.001-07:00

Well it's been a long time between the last few posts unfortunately but there is good news on the horizon.

For the last month I have been putting together a product/resource for off season training. I'm not 1005 how I'll do it at the moment but I am thinking of running a weekend footy camp type of thing (or multiple camps) over a Saturday and a Sunday.

What I intend to do is to video the weekend and release that as well as a manual to go with it. If the video doesn't work out than I can pop the parts I need onto DVD-CD and maybe go with that.

The camp will be based on resistance training and using it as means of improving your performance through postural and movement efficiency improvements.

I can guarantee that no one else is training like this (besides the pros) and it will be a resource well worth getting your hands on.

If you're in Melbourne then you can go one better and actually attend the weekend camp.

I will be releasing an email to my mailing list this week hopefully, with more details about it so if you aren't on it, then send an email to me at lange_troy@hotmail.com.

Lastly, congratulations to "Browndog" Jonathan Brown, a local boy Warrnambool like me, on his 200th game and demolition of the Bombers today.

Mark of the Year 2010

2010-08-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here's where I played this season, with the Grand Final to go in 2 weeks.

Check out the big grab at the end.

Click this link:

http://player.sbs.com.au/naca/#/naca/wna/Latest/playlist/Homeless-AFL-players/

It's Time to Peak

2010-07-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

With August and September just around the corner, it means that finals are just about upon us.

Where 95% of us think we need to be in peak fitness condition prior to the season, I believe this is the time you need to be at your best as premierships aren't won in March.

So for you to perform at your best when it counts, here's some ideas on how to reach or maintain your optimal performance through to the end of your finals campaign.

Keep on Training on the Track

Some teams decide to cut back training during the finals and go for a more relaxed feeling on the track and sometimes opting for pool sessions as a bonding exercise more then anything else. Unless you've played every game and have had no extended time off, whether it be through missed games or missed training sessions, then I suggest to keep on training just as hard as you would in February. AFL players have such a workload from year to year, let alone just during the actual season that they can handle an abbreviated training program and still maintain their elite fitness levels. Unfortunately our training loads are no where near what they do so we need to keep on keeping on.

Keep Training in the Gym

Those who are consistent in the gym with their strength work throughout the season will tell you that they feel an advantage over other players with their strength levels, and with the local/amateur game being more closed up with a lot more stoppages, the strength required to win the ball in close is essential to holding that cup on the last Saturday of September. Although total training volume will need to be decreased, some where in your training the intensity (training load) should remain above 90% of your 1 rep max but also use the auto regulation method which will ensure strength levels are maintained at the very least, as well as fatigued being managed to keep you fresh.

Clean Up Your Diet

This should go without saying but get off the grog during finals time. 4 weeks without a beer isn't the end of the world boys. Also get your food in order. Up the veggies, fruits and lean protein, make a deal with your missus to cook for you for the month (yeah it will cost you) and keep takeaway to a minimum.

Relax

As much as you can, try and keep stress out of your life. Now this is difficult but if you have a lot of control over your work then try and make it a low volume period if you can or if you're really keen, take some holidays if you've got some up your sleeve.

Get on Top of Any Niggles

This should be the top of the list already but it bears repeating. Resting injuries isn't a cure, the problem is still there. Joints and muscles don't just fix themselves and unfortunately most physio's give you donuts in the long run. If you have a banged up shoulder then drop straight bar pressing in the gym and lye over a foam roller at home. If you have sore knees then foam roll those ITB's, stretch those quads and hip flexors and do a boatload of glute activation and strengthening work. Remember, there is always something you can do.

If you have any specific problems then please drop me an email.

Reader Email

2010-07-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

Troy,

Hello, my name is Declan and I'm emailing you all the way from Ireland!

I'm representing Ireland in the European Championships of Australian Football (yes there is such a thing!) at the start of August. I was looking for some advice on Aussie Rules specific training for the final month before the tournament.

I've been doing gym work (bench 75kgs, squat 80kgs) but I've never done any real sport specific training, although I've done some core. I'm not sure what is too much and what is too little so would you have any idea's on what I should be aiming to do?

Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Declan

Congratulations on representing your country and it's good to see the site is becoming universal.

I've previously done a whole series on in season training starting from this post.

I don't have a great deal of information on your current training experience and weekly schedule, but it's too late for actual sport specific training which mostly requires a progression of training to work up to.

Whatever set up you are using though you'll want to use auto-regulation training as you don't want to to train yourself into the ground leading up to these championships. Auto -Reg training involves ramping up in weight until you hit a maximum load for a given rep number. For example you might use the bench press which would look like this:

30kg x 1

35kg x 1

40kg x 3

45kg x 3

50kg x 3

55kg x 3

60kg x 3

65kg x 3

70kg x 3

75kg x 3

* the rest between each set is just enough to change weights and get back down, but you don't have to rush

Now the point of auto regulation is that you also have a set point as when you will stop that exercise so that we don't go "too far" as we want to avoid slow, grinding reps (like you've probably done in the past). Those slow reps are what drains your recovery so we want to avoid them and keep as fresh as possible so that we can train more effectively, more often and still be 100% for games, especially during the season.

We will use the perfect rep method where each rep of each set is to be performed as fast, but controlled, as possible.

There are 3 points of force that we'll use to gauge our training.

1 - The Max Power Point (MPP)

This the the lightest weight you can use but still produce a high level of force with if you try to accelerate the load,

2 - The Max Force Point (MFP)

This is the heaviest load that you can lift where you can still "dominate" the weight that intent and actual bar speed does not change from the first set to the last set.

3 - The Max Load Point (MLP)

This is the heaviest weight that you can use without encountering a sticking point through a given set. The more advanced a lifter is, the lesser gap they'll have between their MFP and their MLP.

We want to train to the MLP as often as we can but as we recover at different rates, we won't always be able to so keep fatigue at bay, we'll also use a neural state test.

Using our bench press example from above, an exercise from set to set might look like this:

30kg x 1 - the 1st feeler set, bar speed is extremely fast

35kg x 1 - the 2nd feeler set, bar speed is again extremely fast

40kg x 3 - the 1st working set, you feel a change in the load but bar speed is still the same

45kg x 3 - the 2nd working set, bar speed still remains the same

50kg x 3 - the 3rd working set, bar speed still remains the same

55kg x 3 - the 4th working set, you notice a little more weight on the bar but you're still able to maintain your bar speed from the first set

60kg x 3 - the 5th working set, your intent and acceleration of the weight remains but actual bar speed slows just a little bit

65kg x 3 - the 6th working set, your intent remains high but your acceleration wasn't right there and although bar speed remained. This your MFP so if we;re training to the MFP today, stop the exercise and move to the next one. If we're training to the MLP, then continue on

70kg x 3 - the 7th working set, intent and acceleration are still there but bar speed again slows a little but all reps were fluent so add weight and continue on.

75kg x 3 - the 8th working set, intent is still there but your acceleration decreased again and you grinded through the sticking point. In hindsight, this set shouldn't have been attempted or you should have stopped at rep 1 or 2 (the rep before the grinding) but as you gain more experience with this method, you'll know where that point is.

To find out if we want to work up to the MFP or the MLP, we'll need to use a neural state test.

The neural state test is used to give us an idea of what recovery state we are in. If we haven't fully recovered from workout to workout, then by continuing to train as hard as you can just builds up fatigue to the point that you can start to get weaker and smaller.

We will use a standing long jump which needs to be tested in a fully recovered state. Basically choose a day to test it over 5 - 7 attempts and the longest jump you test is the baseline for your training for the month. So if you test for 5 jumps and you get 234cms, 245cms, 246cms, 241cms and 250cms, then 250cms is your baseline number.

Now before each session, test this standing long jump to see what you get. If you get 92% or more of your baseline number, then you're in a near fully recovered neural state so train to the MLP with that day's exercises. If you test from 85 - 92% of the baseline number, then train to the MFP with that day's exercises. If you test below 85% then you'll need use a low intensity, restoration type workout for that day.

As far as exercise selection goes, from the sounds of it they seem to be good but over 1 week you should do at least 1 exercise each for hip dominant (deadlifts), quad dominant (squats), horizontal push (bench press), horizontal pull (rows), vertical push (shoulder presses) and vertical pull (chin/pull ups). Core can be added to each day with traditional sets and reps.

Don't be surprised to lift a heavier weight then you have before using this method, or to lift a weight you've done before, but more easily. The ramping progressively pumps up the nervous system which allows for the high threshold motor units to fore, the one's that provide the best size and strength gains.

I hope this helps you leading up to the championships, good luck and let us know how you go.

Plyometrics Training Part 3

2010-06-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

Previously we've discussed force absorption (putting force in) and force development (putting force out). Now let's get to an actual program which is taken from Mike Boyle's Functional Training for Sports.

Each session uses a bilateral (2 leg) variation, a unilateral (single leg) variation and a lateral (sideways) variation to train each plane of motion.

Phase 1 - Single Response, Stabilisation

Emphasis - Eccentric / Landing Strength

Length of Phase - 4 Weeks Minimum

Exercises - Box Jump, Single Leg Low Box Jump, Single Leg Lateral Low Box Jump

Sets and Reps - 5 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 3

Notes: You should land as soft as a feather before moving to phase 2. When you watch the great jumpers, it looks effortless. For box jumps use a moderate sized box, not a max height box. For the single leg jumps use a 4 inch step.

Phase 2 - Multiple Response, Stabilisation

Emphasis - Increased Eccentric / Landing Strength through the use of gravity

Exercises - Hurdle Jump and Stick, Single Leg Low Hurdle Hop and Stick, Heiden with Stick, Zig Zag Bound and Stick

Sets and Reps - 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5

Notes: Again you're after a soft landing, not a "slap."Also "stick" each rep for 1 - 2 seconds.

Phase 3 - Multiple Jumps, Introduction of Elastic Component

Emphasis - Switching from an Eccentric Contraction to a Concentric Contraction

Exercises - Hurdle Jump with Bounce, Single Leg Low Hurdle Hop with Bounce, Zig Zag Bound with Bounce

Sets and Reps - 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5

Notes: if you struggle during this phase then go back to phase 2 and improve your landings. The bounce refers to landing each rep then doing a small, mini bounce in between each rep.

Phase 4 - Multiple Jumps, Elastic Response

Emphasis - Minimising Ground Contact Time

Exercises - Hurdle Jumps, Power Skip, Lateral Bound, Crossover Bound, Cross Behind Bound

Sets and Reps - 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5

Notes: Again, soft landings are the focus as well as having as little contact time in between each rep.

To progress through the program you need to increase the intensity of the exercises, not the volume of jumps which should not exceed 150 per week. This means you'd increase box heights and exercise difficulty.

So there you have it, you can be jumping like this guy in no time:

Plyometrics Training Part 2

2010-06-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

In Part 1, we discussed one aspect of plyometrics training being force absorption, and that to put a lot of force out you must be able to put a lot of force in.

Remember when you were a kid and you'd jump off from the fence but as you land you'd go into an army roll? This is because you were too weak to absorb the force so to ease the stress on the body, you simply "gave way" to the force and absorb some it through the roll.

How do you develop the ability to put force "in"?

Getting stronger, that's how.

The stronger your joints and muscles, then the more force they can absorb upon landing. Taking the rubber band analogy again, it means we can pull that band back a lot further then the thin one because it's bigger, thicker and stronger.

To gain strength you must train in the 1 - 5 rep zone and progressively be able to lift more weight in that rep range. I have found that 3 reps is about the perfect zone for most of us as it allows us to lift a near maximal weight (90% or more) but without totally blowing out the nervous system like a 1 rep max attempt will.

Another important point for gaining strength is to NEVER miss a lift as a failed rep attempt at over 90% will burn your nervous system out a lot more then a successful rep attempt at the same load.

Now for strength gains, you need a long term program in place for the big lifts including deadlifts, squats, bench presses, military press, chin ups and rows. This isn't bodybuilding where you might use a different technique each session. You need to repeat the same movement frequently so the nervous system learns the movement and it becomes ingrained in your nervous system.

2 of the best strength systems to use is the 531 method by Jim Wendler and Performing Singles Over 90% by Eric Cressey, both former competitive powerlifters.

These systems and others are explained in more detail here.

With all things being equal (skill set etc), those that are the strongest will be the better players as they will move more efficiently and fluently.

Tune in for part 3.

Plyometrics Training

2010-06-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

In the search for explosiveness, plyometrics exercises are usually the first port of call. Plyometrics involve jumping exercises but do you know how they actually make you a better athlete?

Plyometrics exercises work on a mechanism called the stretch shortening cycle which is an active stretch (eccentric contraction), followed by an immediate shortening (concentric action) of that same muscle. In layman's terms, a muscle is stretched and then released.

When people first think of plyometrics exercises, they think of jumping, which is ideal for developing power and explosiveness of lower body. What most of these people don't realise though, is the order of which you should work up to full blown plyometrics exercises.

Before you can put the force "out" of your lower body extremities (legs), you must be able to put force "in". Think of the distance a rubber band being pulled back only a centimeter and letting it go will reach, versus the distance a rubber band being pulled back 10 centimeters will reach.

This leads me to force absorption. Your level of explosiveness and power is directly correlated to the amount of force that your muscles, tendons and joints can absorb. If you attempt to absorb too much force then you can handle, then a little bugger called the Golgi Tendon Organ, will put the breaks on you real quick for a fear of getting injured, and it will not let you put out the force you're after.

To develop the ability to absorb force you first must train landing. All this entails is dropping from various heights and simply landing as soft as you can, absorbing the force through the ankles, knees and hips. Think of a cat landing on the floor from the bookcase and how soft they land. This is what you're after.

Now a thin rubber band can only be pulled so far back before it snaps, of which then you'll need to go for a thicker and stronger rubber band.

This leads to me my next post so check in then.

Almost There

2010-06-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hopefully everyone has noticed the little yellow graphic on the right hand side of the page.

This is my first manual and I got to tell you, it has taken me longer then I thought it was. I had the preliminary program about 3 months ago but as I have gone along I've tweaked it and tweaked it to make a lot more user friendly so that everyone who purchases it, can use it straight away.

I've just got to do some video's so does anyone know of any good video hosting sites I can use? I could just pop them on youtube but I'd rather keep them private for those who pay the big dollars.

As usual if you have any idea's for content then please send them through and thank you to everyone who responded from my "I need your help please" email. I still have some of those topics to cover but some are also covered in the Aussie Rules In Season Training manual.

Hopefully it won't be long. Thanks for your patience.

Ball Handling

2010-06-05T05:43:00.001-07:00

Now I intended for this blog to be about physically training for Aussie Rules Football but as we ave plenty of overseas reader's, I've ad numerous requests for tips on simpler aspects of the game such as ball handing.

In Oz, we grow up with a football from a very young age so our coordination the ability to handle the ball is second nature for most of us. Over seas, and in the US in particular, there is a huge following and close to 100 teams that play every Saturday just like us here that haven't had the years of handling the ball like we have so here's my tips:

Picking Up the Ball

The beauty of our game, or the problem, is that our ball is oval which means unlike a round ball, it can bounce anywhere at anytime and you never know which way it will go. The best way to go here is to simply attack the ball as hard and as fast as you can. The less chance you give the ball to bounce, the better chance you have at getting it. If you are new to the game tough, initially you will want to run as fast as you can at the ball but the 1 - 2 steps before you're about to pick it up, slow down a little to give yourself a little more time to predict which way it will go.

With a partner you can simply have them kick or roll the ball towards you while you run to it, starting about 5m away and increasing the distance and the pace of the kick/roll as you go along.

By yourself, you can kick the ball in front then run onto it to pick it up on the run.

Above all just handle the ball as much as you can whether it be at home, with your mates or at training.

Improving Body Composition During the Season

2010-05-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

Once again we're caught out and we're not 100% ready for the season as it comes around. This time we're carrying a few extra kgs from the off season which carried on well into March.

Your body composition or lack there of, can have a detrimental effect on your playing performance. The more weight you carry, the more stress that goes through your joints, especially the ankles, knees and hips.

More importantly your center of gravity shifts too which can wreck havoc on your coordination and what was once a straight forward skill can turn into something very hard to master in a "new body."

We have already discussed training in some previous posts including resistance and energy systems training so whats left?

Yep the one everyone hates to address, diet.

At least 80% of your fat loss will come from what's going into your mouth and you can't out train a bad diet although that's what most of us try to do, with little to no results.

Here are the 5 most important one's to get handle on:

1 - Cut Out the Grog

I can hear you yelling at me already but this is a must. Alcohol is poison, simple as that and that is what your body perceives it as and it will not burn fat when poison is present. So if you're having a crack on a Saturday night then it's going to take at least 3 days to rid your system of it, regardless of how much exercise you do. So now you've simply cut your fat burning days per week in half, and that's with the perfect diet and exercise regime.

2 - Up the Veg/Fruit

Do you eat veggies? Yeah I have them with dinner. What type? You know, peas, corn and potato. Oh.....

You need to eat fruit and/or veg at every sitting. I like fruit to be had with the first 1 - 2 meals and then veg with all other meals. Veggies, especially the green leafy variety such as spinach and broccoli, contain fiber, which slows digestion of your food and makes you feel fuller for longer. They also contain next to no calories so you can basically eat as many of them as you want. Oh, and peas, corn and potato are starch carbs, the worst of all veggies and should be avoided except for before or after training/playing times.

3 - Up the Water

Ever wondered why those cramps come along on the last quarter? Wonder why your performance takes a dive late in games? Look at hydration. You should be loading up on the water, not Gatorade and soft drinks, during the week and even more so in the days leading up to the game. You should also get a fair bit in on a Saturday, pre, during and post game time. 4 litres a day is the minimum here.

4 - Up the Protein

Muscles are made up of protein and during intense activity, they are broken down so they need to be built back up as soon as possible. The best part of eating solid protein is that they utilise 80% of their own calories just to chew, break down and swallow so for fat loss, this is crucial.

5 - Daily Breakfast

For body composition, metabolism is where it's at. 90% of your calories are burnt through your metabolism so the more often you can rev this up the better. How do we do this? Through frequent feedings and intense exercise, of which we've already taken care of. The longer you take to eat breakfast, the more chance you'll get something on the run and the less time you have a ramped metabolism. Unfortunately, once you miss the boat on breakfast, having it later in the day won't catch you up as your metabolism will already have slowed down and become a little sluggish. The sooner you can have breakfast in the morning, the better so aim for within 30mins.

No break through information here but they bare repeating again and again. The one thing you don't want to do in season is drop your calories which will negatively effect your performance at training and thus during games. In most cases, training and playing hard mixed with some better food choices, timing and portion control, will whip you back into shape.

Improving Your Fitness During the Season

2010-05-21T18:03:00.001-07:00

For whatever the reason was that you missed pre season training, it's common for players to need to catch up fitness after the season started.

Now obviously you have training Tuesday and Thursday and a game Saturday so they need to be the times that you try to do this.

A lot of players think that they need to do more but if you train hard enough and be smart enough about it, the 2 training sessions should be enough to get your fitness up.

The game speaks for itself as the intensity and running patterns are unique to an actual game itself and last year when all I did was play on a Saturday running wise, my fitness did improve from that one session a week.

I think the " the need to do more" attitude comes from players usually doing 10km and longer runs over the pre season and that training with stop, start, sprints and such isn't the same.

Now at training you won't run continuously, but you don't during a game either. There are periods where you are stationary and sitting on the bench.

The truth is that the more intense, shorter distance sprints you'll do at training covering maybe 3 - 5kms, will do the same, if not more, then the 10kms ran at a lower intensity continuously.

Here are my tips for catching up on your fitness during the season:

at training sprint from cone to cone for each drill. When I was at my fittest (back in the day) it was compulsory to sprint right through to the cone you've kicked or handballed to. Couple that wit fixing your own skill errors by running over to the receiver and assisting, and this can almost replicate a game in some respects.

for some extra mileage try running some laps after training if you have the time. I prefer after training as you don't want to tire yourself out for the skills and sprint work during training.

on a Saturday, keep running. Even if the game is out of reach, keep running like your a point behind with a minute to go. Ask the coach to pop you in a midfield role if the game is lost to work on your fitness.

depending on how you pull up, maybe try a 3km run on a Sunday morning which can be used again for extra mileage and as a recovery tool.

The most important thing is not to ADD more sessions into your week or something will have to suffer. 3 sessions plus an optional recovery Sunday run is more then enough to catch up on your fitness and you wouldn't do more then 4 runs over the pre season anyway.

Just be sure whatever you do that it isn't affecting your ability to back up game day.

Perfect Rep Training Part 2

2010-05-16T03:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we discussed the perfect rep method. Today we'll go into how to actually achieve it.

It's important to remember that we are not testing how much we can lift for a pre determined amount of reps like a 3 rep max set. The will usually mean that for the last 2 - 3 sets, that you are grinding out reps, thus the quality of your workout is more then likely decreasing.

To show you how, let's take 2 lifters for example that can both lift 100kgs for 3 reps.

Athlete A trains like everyone else working up to a 3 rep max where the last 2 - 3 sets are his heaviest and thus slower reps of his workout. Let's say he lifted that weight in 5 seconds.

Athlete B uses the perfect rep method where he only trains in the MPP, MFP and MLP zones where his rep quality is 100% effort and application every time. Let's say he lifted his 3 rep max in 3 seconds.

Who's better?

They both lifted the same weight so aren't they even?

No.

Athlete B lifted the same weight quicker which takes us back to my little send off from last post. Everyone can run 100 meters but Usain Bolt runs it in 9.6secs, so he is better then anyone has ever been.

This is why fast, quality reps are better then slow, quality reps.

Now you're all wondering how we achieve perfect rep status. Well here it is.

First up you want to do 2 sets of 1 with a very light weight to activate the nervous system and to tell it to lift quick. So:

40% x 1

45% x 1

Next up, we start our working sets which CT suggests using 3 reps per set which is a good number where you can get enough reps in to feel like you've done a set, yet not feel like you've done too much. You could easily use anywhere from 2 - 5 reps but the same quality reps rule applies. You also want small jumps going from set to set as you want the nervous system to barely notice the increase in weight so that it continues to provide you with explosive energy for each set.

So you might go:

50% x 3

55% x 3

60% x 3

65% x 3

70% x 3

75% x 3

80% x 3

85% x 3

I've stopped here because this is where most people will start to grind out reps. You must not do this. You may not even reach 85% either, you may start to feel a decline in performance at 70 - 75% which is fine, just don't go beyond it.

Now I've done this and it really ramps up your nervous system and a weight that you have grinded out in the past, will be blasted through if you keep your mind on the job. It is essential that you stay focused on each and every set as one slightest mind shift can wreck the exercise.

Now going back to auto reg training, this is a prime example of why you should not set a specific set number as you may need to use smaller jumps in weight to really get the activation going, depending on your current neurological state.

Some days may feel better then others and you will maybe beat your personal best 6 out of 10 sessions but that's still better then being stuck at the same weight you have been for a month now.

So if you set up your program like normal going for 4 sets of 6 then you do your 4th set and move to the next exercise.

Why?

Because your program said so. But what if that 4th set felt easier then the 2nd and 3rd set? What if you could do another at the same weight or maybe more? Shouldn't we take advantage of this? I think so.

As fro rest, you'll only need enough to change the weight for your next set or long enough for your partner to do their set.

Try this out, I guarantee you'll feel different after it and in a good way.

Perfect Rep Training Part 1

2010-05-16T02:50:00.000-07:00

The perfect rep method is a newish type of training made popular by Christian Thibaudeau over at t-nation which goes hand in hand with auto regulation training.

What you do is set a rep goal and then ramp up to a max weight that you can handle it but with one major difference.

For every set you do, each rep must be perfectly executed as you want each rep of every set to be performed as quick as you possibly can of which there are a 3 main points in each set that you can aim for.

Max Power Point

The MPP is the lightest weight that you can use but still produce a high level of force with if you try to accelerate the load. For beginners this point may be at 70 - 80% of your maximum and for advanced it might be 40 - 50%. The focus for these sets is actual bar speed and when it slows down, then the set and/or the exercise is finished. Beginners can use a higher percentage of their max because they cannot use a high level of their strength potential yet.

Max Force Point

The MFP is the heaviest weight that you can use where you can "dominate" each and every rep of each set meaning that actual bar speed may slow but your intent and application of actually accelerating the bar is maintained.

Max Load Point

The MLP is the heaviest weight that you can use without encountering a sticking point within a given set. The more advanced a lifter is then the lesser gap they will have between their MFP and their MLP. Elite lifters, sprinters and throwers simply won;t grind out a set. They will either get it with seemingly ease of they'll miss the lift badly.

As with auto reg training, what we want to achieve is to work the hardest that we can but without exceeding our recovery stores. When we work up to a weight that we need to grind out with pauses in the strongest position (such as a bench press lockout), a change in technique (such as moving from a glute dominant squat into a lower back dominant squat) and / or tempo (again grinding and / or slowing down at a sticking point), then you are now working less effectively as the quality of your work is now decreasing.

Think of it like a marathon. You might be running the same distance but the slower time you do, the worse off you are.

Tomorrow we'll go into how we can achieve the perfect rep.