The 2020 football season being canceled hurt everyone.

We’ve been stuck in lockdown with a big hole to fill in our weekly routines, with no real clarity for months on when we’ll be able to play our beloved Aussie Rules again.

Until now…

After much anticipation, we now know that it’s only a matter of weeks before we can safely start training again.

So throw on your boots (or runners if you’re on Gramlick), pull up your socks and let’s get to work. You certainly don’t want to be underdone coming into this pre season.

Here are 4 effective ways you can prepare for your upcoming Aussie Rules Pre Season, to ensure you’re ready to hit the ground running:

• Write down and track your goals
• Get strong
• Invest in your education
• Nail your cool down and recovery

Write Down and Track Your Goals

Taking the time to explore your goals, write them down and decide how you are going to track them is one of the best things you can do as a person and an athlete.

So many times we have a goal, an idea, a thought in the back of our mind, but very few people actually take that idea and put it into action.

We potter around, training, playing and trying to edge towards our target but with no real clue what or how to do it.

Deciding on your goals and writing them down is the first step towards your destination. This gives you a clear, tangible and measurable starting and finishing point, with reliable ways to measure your progress.

How do I pick my goals?

Step 1. Identify your strengths and weaknesses in your body and game.

Take a deep dive into your best and worst attributes as a player. Ask a family member, coach or trustworthy friend.

Here, honesty is key. Sugarcoating is not going to help you improve.

This step is essential because these strengths and weaknesses give us the platform to build and target our training. Maintaining our strengths and improving our weaknesses.

Here are some ideas:

• Endurance
• Strength
• Speed
• Agility
• Take off Speed
• Flexibility
• Decision making under pressure
• Recurring injuries
• Chronic pain

Step 2. Find ways to test and measure your strengths and weaknesses.

Finding reliable ways test and measure your strengths and weaknesses is like checking the map every hour on a road trip. It is a great way to make sure you are heading in the right direction and do not go off course.

Testing before your goal at the start of your journey gives you a clear baseline, and repeating the same test along the way is a great way to see if the actions your are taking to reach your goals are working.

And if it is not, that is fine, you can just change it on the spot and start heading the right direction.

Test Ideas:

• 2km Time Trial
• Push Ups til Failure in 60 seconds
• 20m Sprint
• Illinois Cone Drill
• Sit and Reach
• FMS/Pain Screening

Step 3.  Work on it daily.

Find different exercises or actions you can perform to get you a little bit closer.

Remember what we always say, ‘A little goes a long way.’

This is a marathon, not a sprint. You are not going to get strong by running 100km a week for a month then burning out.

It is roughly seven months until the VAFA season begins.

That is 210 days.

If you want to improve your endurance. Run 5km extra per week until the season starts. That is 150km extra you will have under your belt ready to hit the season.

Get Strong

If there is one thing that I can teach you as a strength and conditioning coach, it is the value of being strong.

Being stronger or getting stronger is something that can and will benefit almost everyone on earth.

Whether you are an elite athlete or an 80-year-old man or woman – getting strong and staying strong is essential for performance and a healthy lifestyle.

Why is being strong so important?

As a person, being strong and regularly performing strength sessions can:

• Manage weight
• Manage and reduce the risk of chronic illness
• Reduce age-related muscle deterioration (sarcopenia)
• Decrease the chance of falls in the elderly.
• Increase life expectancy.

As an athlete let’s say you are in a game going head to head with your opponent.

You are the same height, weight and skill level. On paper this is an even match up.

However, you consistently hit the gym 4 times a week, working your full body.

While your opposition only goes to the gym once a week, and when he is there he just does a few curls, focusing mainly on the upper body.

Because you train more often and more effectively, your VO2max and energy efficiency is significantly higher than his.

So for every kilometre he runs in a game he burns 10% of his energy.

But for every kilometer you run you only burn 7% of your total energy.

When it gets to the third quarter and you have both run 10km, you have only used 70% of your energy stores while he has used up 100% of his, leading to cramping, poor technique on the field and increased risk injury.

Being strong is everything to an athlete. It improves:

• VO2max/Time to fatigue
• Energy Efficiency
• Sprint Speed
• Agility
• Vertical Leap
• Broad Jump

Just to name a few.

How do I get strong?

Preseason for most athletes looks something like this:

Phase 1: Build a Muscular Base / High Volume Strength Training

Phase 2: Get Strong / Low Volume Strength Training

Phase 3: Get Powerful / Low Volume – High-Speed Training

Phase 4: Stay Strong, Stay Powerful / Maintain Strength and Power during the season.

It does not matter if you are 18 and never been in a gym, or 25 and live there.

Gyms are set to open on November 9th – so make sure you do some research, compare gyms in your local area, and find a facility that has everything you need to get strong!

Invest in Your Education

One of the most underrated things you can do as an athlete is learn.

This might sound cliche, or farfetched.

But just like in a game of football, if you run more than your opponents during training, then you are going to be able to outrun them on game day.

The more you learn about nutrition, general health and the requirements of football, the more you can implement making your training and preparation more effective and efficient.

For example…

Carey has invested in their strength and conditioning program – hiring Dan, myself and the rest of the team to implement the knowledge we have learnt over the years.

Teaching the basics of warming up, cooling down, running, jumping and landing.

The club invests in our knowledge and understanding to give this club advantage and edge over other clubs that do not hold strength and conditioning at such high regard.

Learning -> Understanding -> Implementing -> Growth

What should we learn about?

Here is a list of a few things you can learn about to get you started.

• The Needs Analysis of a Football Player (What skills, and attributes do you need to have and train).
• What to do at the gym and how to structure your gym sessions.
• The importance of cool down, recovery and sleep
• Nutrition, how and what foods affect your performance.
• Different energy systems and how they relate to football.

Learn. Understand. Implement. Improve.

Cooldown and Recovery

This brings us to the most underrated tools that every athlete should have by their side.

Cooldown and recovery.

Much like warming up cooling down is the neglected middle child of exercising.

Everyone says they want to improve and dedicating more time to it.

But it always gets forgotten.

What is cool down and recovery?

It is the process of bringing your body back to 100% capacity, and ready to train.

Having played football for 15 years, like many of you, I have seen my fair share of terrible cooldowns. So many clubs still neglect cool down and recovery despite it being essential part of the training cycle.

Why is cool down and recovery so important?

After a training session, you only have a set number of days until your next training session.

This might be the next day as you go to the gym or the difference between footy training Thursday after a big session Tuesday.

For example…

Player 1 and Player 2 both train on Tuesday night. Both function at 70% capacity after training.

Player 1: Takes an extra 10-15 minutes after training to eat, stretch and cool down properly. Goes home has a solid dinner and gets a good nights sleep. Eats well the next day and is back to 100% by Thursday morning.

Player 2: takes a few shots at goal, chats and then jumps in his car. Does not eat until much later, and stays up until 2 am even though he has to get up at 8am. By Thursday morning person 2 has only recovered to 85%, and is feeling stiff and a little bit warn out.

Player 1 is able to train at 100% on Thursday and get all of the adaptations and benefits from that session, whereas person 2 is only able to train at 75%.

Then after training on Thursday each player loses about 30% function and energy. Each going through their normal routine.

When game day comes around. Person 1 is back at 100% ready to go.

Person 2 is now only at 70% capacity for the game.

This is is a very simple example of how poor recovery can affect your training, growth and performance.

Poor recovery and cool down can lead to:

• Increased pain and DOMS after training.
• Increased stress and anxiety
• Reduced performance
• Increased chance of illness
• Burnout or overtraining

Much like education, this is something that so many other people and clubs are not doing and is an easy way to get a leg up.

Think of it this way. You train just like every one else. You recovery poorly like everyone else. You play like everyone else. You recovery poorly. Your training quality goes down.

If you add in a quality recovery and cool down then suddenly your ability to bounce back from training is better, meaning that instead of coming into your next session weak and sore, you are ready to go meaning you get more out of your sessions.

And then not only are you fitter and stronger for games, but you also are less likely to be sore or fatigued like the other members of your team and suddenly you have a distinct advantage over the other team who doesn’t recover and feels lethargic and gross.

Summary

There are so many small things you can do every day, that may seem insignificant, but just like a ball getting touched on the line can be the difference between winning and losing.

Every single tiny weapon you add to your arsenal, giving you a better chance of winning the war.