3 Ways To Keep Your Mind And Body Football Fit
Football is brutal on both body and mind. To tackle the punishing conditions of the game and particularly AFL as Australia's most popular sport it's critical you prepare and maintain yourself to be physiologically and psychologically football fit.
Including these 3 methods as part of a balanced training program may increase your athleticism, help protect your body from injury and improve your mental wellbeing to manage the pressures of the game.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training): Speed and Endurance
Although AFL players aren’t marathon runners it’s no secret that they cover a massive amount of ground, about 15km to 16km per game at a professional level, with high speed running making up a sizeable portion of that (2km to 3km).
Regularly running 10km may have been a training mechanism in the past to build endurance, but as the game evolves this method has made way to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) - that is anaerobic, explosive sprints that focus on speed (to the point you’re out of breath and the exercise is unsustainable) and are broken up by short recovery periods.
Research has indicated this training method is more effective than endurance running in improving your VO2 max (the maximum quantity of oxygen available to fuel your muscles) and is believed to mimic the demands of the game more accurately in its stop-start nature than steady long distance running.
Kettlebells: Strength Training
Hitting the gym is an essential component of football training to build strength and many AFL players are turning to kettlebells as a part of a strength training program to get an edge on the field.
Kettlebell exercises such as kettlebell swings, high pull and squats can activate muscles critical to your sport including back, glutes and hamstrings, allowing your body to better accomplish explosive movement and increasing your overall athleticism, cardiovascular health and power.
Conditioning your muscles and improving strength ensures the recurring running, jumping and tackling on the field is relatively less traumatic on your body compared to not being strength-trained, increasing your body's tolerance to reduce injury risk.
Yoga: Mobility and Mental Wellbeing
Yoga including Bikram or Yin Yoga, improves your mobility to master essential movements such as running, picking up the ball, tackling, kicking, as well as ensuring your body can tackle the rigorous demands of the sport safely – so it’s no wonder the Geelong Cats and Hawthorn Football Club jumped on the yoga bandwagon.
Alongside physically stretching high risk areas such as the hips to improve hip extension, yoga increases your proprioception (awareness of your body movement and position) as a tool for injury prevention, increasing balance and coordination.
Yoga can assist athletes to manage the psychological pressures of football, providing an outlet to relax and unwind, stress relief and improving sleep quality as a valuable part of your training and recovery program.