Strength Weight/Athletic Training: AFL

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CranktheAnchors

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Dec 4, 2006
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Hey lads,

Just wondering what the best way is to build your fitness base during the season.

Taking into consideration that you play saturday pull up sore. Do a recovery sunday or monday have training tuesday and training thursday.

I generally pull up very sore so need to work in something that is going to give me some more go on a saturday. Cheers
 
Re: Building up fitness during the season...

That's what training on the Tuesday and Thursday is for mate, the idea is to put in at training to benefit on match day!

You may be pulling up sore due to all/any of the following:

-Poor diet
-lack of stretching (especially post game)
-poor recovery
-lack of pre-season
-poor attitude on the training track leaving you with a poor fitness base

In all seriousness though what did you expect people to advise you to do?

There is no easy fix. A lot of the time you have to push through the soreness. You may feel like you can't move on the Sunday, however the best thing you can do is go for a jog or even a walk and just loosen up the muscles. Even bike riding is good for loosening up.

What's involved in your recovery session also?
 

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Re: Building up fitness during the season...

blues4flag said:
Have you tried compression pants/tops? Help increase blood flow, aiding recovery. They tend to be pretty expensive but the Bioslyx's from Big W are relatively cheap.
Click to expand...
Or Skins
 
Re: Building up fitness during the season...

ThePezDispenser said:
That's what training on the Tuesday and Thursday is for mate, the idea is to put in at training to benefit on match day!

You may be pulling up sore due to all/any of the following:

-Poor diet
-lack of stretching (especially post game)
-poor recovery
-lack of pre-season
-poor attitude on the training track leaving you with a poor fitness base

In all seriousness though what did you expect people to advise you to do?

There is no easy fix. A lot of the time you have to push through the soreness. You may feel like you can't move on the Sunday, however the best thing you can do is go for a jog or even a walk and just loosen up the muscles. Even bike riding is good for loosening up.

What's involved in your recovery session also?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.

I am having a crack at training mate just wanna keep getting fitter.

I pull up sore probably due to most of your above factors. I am learning how to become more and more professional....

As for what people were going to advise I don't think it is as simple as having more of a crack tues/thurs. You might be right though I was just wondering if there were some helpful tips...

Recovery usually is stretching after the game... stand in a wheelie bin full of cold water/ice for 5 - 10mins....drink 20 pots... then walk few laps at the pool sunday or monday... Not ideal but not playing AFL all the same...
 
Re: Building up fitness during the season...

Nothing wrong with having a few pots after the game! There are ways to maximise recovery before getting into the grog though, and that is to fully replenish your bodily fluids. Straight after the game have a protein shake (most afl footballers are onto this now, even after training) drink around 2 liters of powerade/water have a good carbohydrate/protein meal and then begin your drinking!
 
Weight Training: AFL

Already early I'm finding my recovery is very poor whilst trying to fit in 4 days of Gym (What I've been doing all pre-season) with the requirements of playing football. So I've decided to cut it down to 2-3 days of gym a week working around the football schedule to find a balance for the best recovery. Most likely - Mon, Wed, Fri.

So here within I'm looking for a few suggestions of training routines that will mostly maximise strength and give me a full body workout over the 2-3 sessions without wasting too much time and energy. I'm sure I'm not the only one that would find this to be helpful, cheers.
 
Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

Yeah, i read quite a few entries. There was one about in season training and fitting in gym sessions, but i wasn't able to find one where you have set out a training regime.
 
Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

Force yourself to go monday, have a good warm up and stretch up, get loose and do your thing, you will feel better the next day for it, I find getting started the hardest part.
Oh yeah and manage your recovery after the game, icing, protein shakes warm downs, rehydration etc.

Once the season starts I think 4 days per week is a bit much.
 

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Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

Yeah that's the problem I'm having i can't stand that stiffness I'm getting from training so I'm finding ways to cut down the amount of training I'm doing and also going to change up the intensity (less weight) like i have read in Cptkirk's blog. And more maintain the base i have built thus far and then get stuck right back into it a few weeks after the season ends.

As for the above poster i have no trouble getting to the gym, it was only until my first game when i got that hunger back after a long pre-season that i started to realise my football must come before gym. I use to always put gym first which would severely hamper my training in the pre-season.
 
Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

blues4flag said:
I find my back and legs don't have time to recover when in the gym Monday and Wednesday with training Tuesday and Thursday, with a game on Saturday.
Click to expand...

This, especially the legs. Have cut it down to working on legs once a week, mainly to build a base for next off season so i can go all out.
 
Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

half_back_flank said:
This, especially the legs. Have cut it down to working on legs once a week, mainly to build a base for next off season so i can go all out.
Click to expand...
Don't know if it was from the squats, poor diet or a combination of both, but I found I really struggled to accelerate and hit full pace at training/gameday, as well as having really sore calves.

Did you feel the same?
 
Re: In season Weight Training (Australian Rules)

blues4flag said:
Don't know if it was from the squats, poor diet or a combination of both, but I found I really struggled to accelerate and hit full pace at training/gameday, as well as having really sore calves.

Did you feel the same?
Click to expand...

Yep, i'm fine when just running, as i can find a rhythm but i start to struggle when sprinting. Its annoying as i am a defender and need to be able to generate pace quickly off the mark. I don't really notice the calves too much, but i have other sore spots to worry about.

But yeah, a change of diet could help but i would just cut down on the squats and deadlifts. During a season of footy is not an ideal time to be trying to gain strength in the legs with three hard sessions of running every week. It could certainly be done, but it would be tough.
 
Re: Muscle Building !

His back, legs, and narcissistic borderline OCD are not anywhere as impressive as anything in this video..

[YOUTUBE]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-BAaCBC1V1Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-BAaCBC1V1Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Back to practical methods/advice of building muscle to help with footy please..
 
Afl fitness/workout programs

Does anyone have a great wourout program, like a preseason routine that gets used in the AFL.

There are no bad physiques in the AFL... after say 3 preseasons IMO...so if anyone has any routines and reps/sets and just EVERYTHING that AFL teams use for Preseason Muscle Building, it would be great to get something posted up.


If there is already a link to a thread for these details, please let me know....would be tops.


Cheers.
 
Re: Afl fitness/workout programs

I don't believe the clubs would release that sort of information and it would at least be somewhat personalised for the athlete (particularly if they are of a higher level).

I have heard of a few AFL clubs following a similar approach to that outlined in Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength with their young players that need to gain mass.

Keep in mind, pro-athletes have much higher training hours and better genetic material than the average population, which helps contribute to their physique.

Also, the illusion low bodyfat creates of making you look more muscular than you are, which IMO is a larger contributor to why people find AFL player's physiques impressive rather than the muscular development IMO.

I think the majority of people could be able to achieve the average muscular development of a mature AFL player within 2 years of good programming and nutrition - obviously without the volume of running AFL players do.
 
Re: Weight Training: Bodybuilding

Whomb said:
Get off the rubbish full body x3 workout if you're trying to build size.

How is having an additional day of the same body parts lifting moderately, after a heavy day only days before, going to help stimulate as many muscle fibres (preferrably fast-twich) as possible, whilst allowing them to repair and grow back bigger?

The logic escapes me.

Get on a split program unless you're focusing on strength.
Click to expand...

So Whomb, for mass building/size/bulking up/weight gain, what would you consider to be an ideal split?

Currently I go to the gym 4 times per week, and am doing:
2-3 sessions of chest, back and legs
1-2 sessions of abs, bicep, tricep, shoulders

Something like:

Mon - Chest, Back, Bicep
Tue - Legs, abs, tris, shoulders
Thurs - Legs, Chest, Back, Bicep
Sat - Legs, Chest, abs, shoulders

Typically I will do 4-5 exercises for back/legs/chest, and 2-3 exercises for abs/shoulders/triceps/bicep.

Should I cut back and have one less session of abs/bicep/shoulders?

Something like:

Mon - Chest, Back, Bicep
Tue - Legs, abs, shoulders
Thurs - Chest, Back
Sat - Legs, Tricep

You see, I normally do ~13-16 exercises when I go to the gym. I dont like going for only the short time, and Im more under the impression that the more I train, the stronger I will get (obviously to an extent though) - so I dont see why having those extra days of bicep, etc isnt viable. Also - if Im ever too sore or dont feel capable, then I will just skip something.

What would be your recommendations?
 
Re: Weight Training: Building Muscle

if going 4 days a week then i'd go for lower/upper split or 2 fb + 1 upper/lower each

10 exercises per muscle week is bit overkill i feel though in a muscle building program...would you get the same results with 8 exercises, 6 exercises?? there's no point, and you'll actually regress, doing anymore then you actually need

you also need to look at direct in direct training

in your last split suggestion you train tri's directly and indirectly on each day which will a) not give them any recovery for localised growth and b) affect your bench/military press numbers long term

see what i'm saying?
 
Re: Weight Training: Building Muscle

maybe you need to prioritise what you need before devising your split

so if you want to focus on delts and hams/glutes then you'd probably want to train them more frequently then put other muscles on maintenance

so you might go:

day 1 - delts, hams/glutes heavy
2 - delts, hams/glutes recovery/endurance focus, back maintenance
3 -
4 - delts, hams/glutes hypertrophy focus, chest maintenance
5 -
6 - back, arms mainteneance
7 -

i like to put a lot of stress on 1 or 2 days giving you more days off during the week

you'd also work your cal's around your 'focus sessions' so you'd have high cal days on delts and hams/glute days, moderate on the other training days and maintenance or slight deficit on the others
 
Re: Weight Training: Building Muscle

Thanks for your responses, though a little bit more clarity would be appreciated as I am not up with the "lingo".

I guess I feel stupid going to the Gym and only doing 7-8 exercises. Despite training the chest 2-3 times a week, I still do a variety of exercises - none of them more than twice. For the chest, consider bench, incline, decline, free weeks (flat and incline), crossovers, peck deck, pushups, fly's and so forth. Likewise for legs there are squats, leg press, leg extension, hamstring curls, calves, etc. Thus Im training the same body part in different ways through different exercises. I just feel that once a week for key exercises like squats, bench, etc is not enough - I basically go backwards in that time (ie I cant lift the same).

I am trying to simply gain weight, and bulk up, as I have a very very slight frame (6'2" and 71kgs). For this reason, I see focussing on Back/Legs/Chest - this is what I see as my need. I have been squatting, deadlifting too, though I am still learning. I gymed it up a bit last off season, but with very little structure to my program. With the previous structure I mentioned, I have put on 2.5kgs in 6 weeks.

What other complex/compound exercises (such as squats, deadlifts, etc) would you recommend?

What about this sort of split.

Day 1 – Chest, Tricep (upper)
Day 2 – Back, Legs, Abs (lower)
Day 3 – Chest, Shoulders, Bicep (upper)
Day 4 – Back, Legs (lower)

Thanks again.
 
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