Personal trainer, Tavia Ambler

Core strength is vital in AFL. Between 60% and 70% of power can be generated through the trunk; the energy for moving arms and legs comes from the core.

Benefits of a strong core:
• Improves performance, as it translates to improved speed, balance, agility and overall strength.
• Athletes can hold their ground while going for a mark, tackling, kicking a goal or just completing an accurate kick as well as during general running, sprinting and short, sharp movements.
• Can reduce injury risk, decrease the strain on limbs, and provide correct technique and stronger overall stability (eg. reduce twisting, rolled ankles, hyperextension of knees, jarring and back injuries).

Core exercises

• Prone bridge
Forearms and toes on the ground, ensuring entire body is flat and resembles a plank. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Lateral bridge
Similar to prone bridge but on your side. Ensure entire body is in line. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute each side.
• Pelvic thrust
Lying on your back with your legs up in the air. Lift through hips so that your bottom raises slightly off the ground, causing the legs to lift up higher. Repeat 20 times.
• Teacups
Angle your back at 45 degrees and lift your feet off the ground. Pointing forward, move both hands from side to side while keeping your core strong. Repeat 30 times.
• Crunch and twist
Start in basic sit-up position, crunch up and twist to the left, back to the centre and then back down. Alternate between both sides. Repeat 20 times.
• Toe crunches
Lie on back with legs straight up in the air. Reach up so that your hands are touching your toes and back down. Repeat 20 times.
• Ab cycle
Lift shoulders and feet off the ground. In a cycle movement bring one knee in, while the opposite shoulder twists towards it, so that the rhythm becomes opposite knee to elbow. Repeat 30 times.
• Ankle touches
Lie flat on your back with feet together. Lift shoulders off the ground and twist so that your hands are coming around the side of the body trying to touch your ankles.

Do these exercises at the end of your AFL training session, because doing it at the start can fatigue your core and increase injury risk. Always remember to keep your stomach strong by pulling your bellybutton in towards your spine and keeping your hips in neutral position. This helps to keep you muscles contracted, thus supporting your body and working the abdominal muscles at all times. This is a fantastic way of strengthening your entire core.

Exercise physiologist & adventure tour guide, Marc Stafford

Most local football clubs started some form of pre-season training prior to Christmas. For those teams that want an edge on the competition, training prior to Christmas is based on building what fitness professionals call ‘the cardiovascular base’.

Working on your cardiovascular base helps to give you a minimum base fitness which allows you to focus on more advanced training – mainly anaerobic – including speed and agility. If players leave their training too late – for example, starting when practice matches start – they can miss out on building their cardiovascular base and are more susceptible to injury.

So you have completed training with your team prior to Christmas, where to now? If you are really keen to get the ‘edge’ and improve your fitness for this season, try the following running sessions. You will dramatically improve your running speed, recovery time and anaerobic threshold.

Requirement: 2-3 running sessions a week

Session 1

Duration:
45 minutes: Run (30 mins) / Warm-up and cool-down (15 mins)

Warm-up:
5 mins light jog and stretching
Run:
1km moderate run / 1km 80% fast run for 30-40 mins
Cool-down:
10 mins walking and stretches

Session 2

Duration:
45 minutes (mid-fielders): Run (30 mins) / Warm-up and cool-down (15 mins) 
35 minutes (backs/forwards): Run (20 mins) / Warm-up and cool-down (15 mins)  

Warm-up:
5 mins light jog and stretching
Run:
Mid-fielders: 30-second 80% fast run / Recovery jog for 30-40 mins
Backs/forwards: 20-second sprint / Slow recovery jog for 20-30 mins
Cool-down:
10 mins walking and stretches

AFL pre-season training can start anywhere from 4-6 months prior to the start of the season and generally consists of high volume and low intensity. The main focus of these training sessions is on extensive aerobic and anaerobic interval training to build cardiovascular fitness while focusing on game-specific cardio requirements. Skill work is woven into the cardio activity drills. Along with these activities there will generally also be a focus on creating a strong core, strengthening certain areas (depending on player history and whether there are any injuries). This is a sample pre-season training program:

• Warm up: 1 km jog followed by a 10 minute stretch
• Shuttle runs: Include some variations such as jogging, high knees, bottom kicks, side steps and sprinting.
• Boxing circuit: In groups of three people. One person is doing a lap around the oval as fast as they can (roughly 400m), one person is boxing while the third person is holding the focus pads. When the runner gets back everyone drops down for 25 push-ups then rotate so that everyone has had a go at each activity.
• Squats and lunges: Using the shuttle cones. Walking lunges to the first cone, sprint back, walking lunges to the second and sprint back, walking lunges to the third and sprint back. Follow this with traveling jump squats to the first cone, jog from first to second and then jump squats again from second to third. Repeat combination three times.
• Back to the boxing circuit, repeat the same but this time the runner must complete 2 laps of the oval.
• One hour of high intensity skills including fitness, sprints and running in all the drill combinations.
• Finish with some core exercises and a good stretch.

As you can see from the above program, the main focus is improving player fitness, however components of strength, core and skill work is also woven into these sessions. This is usually done with fitness work and completed at a high intensity.

Personal trainer, Tavia Ambler
(www.taviastraining.com.au)