The Ultimate AFL Off-Season Training Guide: Part 3 - Resistance Training
Updated: Oct 17
In part 3 of this series, I'm going to provide a simple and structured way to help you with your off-season gym training so you can be in peak condition when the season starts.
As a former GWS Giant now High Performance Coach my goal is to make elite-level coaching accessible to all - not just the pro's.
In this article we'll explore the following:
Building the Foundation
Getting Stronger
Developing Explosive Power
Injury Prevention
Bonus tip (read until the end)
This is the same approach that I use to help my clients within my AFL Training Program to get epic results.
Building the Foundation (September - November)
To start, you need to lay the groundwork.
Focus on technique and building muscle, because you have probably lost a lot of muscle mass during the season with gym dropping off and burning extra calories.
Lifting with good form will set you up for when the exercises get more complex. And it allows you to gain some size to create a platform to increase strength and power later on.
Here is an example of an Upper Body Session from my Off-Season Program:
Some keys in the gym during this stage:
Technique - lift with good form, no need to be going ridiculously heavy now.
Full range of motion - take your joints through greater ranges of motion for greater strength gains at different angles, to promote muscle growth and increase mobility.
Time under tension - 2-5 second eccentrics (when the muscle is lengthening) is a great way to promote muscle growth and ensure you are lifting with good form.
High volume, low intensity - Utilise this time to get large amount of lifting in (greater number of sets and/or exercises).
Do some testing - get a baseline measure of where you are at. You can use your results to prescribe percentages for your workouts, and it's a great way to track your progress. In my program we test: squat, bench, deadlift, broad jump/box jump, pushups, pull ups & 2km TT.
When your strength decreases your injury risk increases.
Getting Stronger (December - January)
This time of the year can be difficult with Christmas and New Year celebrations, but aim to maintain what you have built and steadily increase the load you are lifting.
Reduce the reps slightly so you can lift heavier and incorporate jumps to increase power. Complete your main exercises with a bit more speed during this stage as we lead into more power-based work.
Here is an example of a Total Body Workout from my Off-Season Program:
Some keys in the gym during this stage:
Less time under tension - You can spend less time lifting slowly, as you will have developed a good technique by now and you want to start increasing your strength.
Shorter ranges of motion - As you will be focusing lifting heavier weights we can shorten the ranges of motion. For example, instead of a full depth squat, we can just drop down to parrallel with the floor or even squat to a box.
Lower the volume, but increase the intensity - You can reduce the amount of sets or reps so you can lift heavier.
Enjoy your holidays, but maintain some discipline - Give yourself some time to mentally refresh - which will energise you and make you more motivated to train.
Developing Explosive Power (February - Season start)
This period is mainly about your explosive power and doing footy-specific movements.
Although they should be in your program in the previous months, a greater focus should be on jumps & bounds (plyometrics), lateral movements, single-leg movements, throws and stability.
⚠️ Avoid this:
Some people make the mistake of focussing heavily on these explosive types of exercises at the start of the off-season - but they aren't going to be getting the most out of them because they haven't built a solid foundation of size, strength & technique yet. Plus, the season is so far away that they burn out by the time the season comes around.
Here is an example of a Lower Body Workout from my Off-Season Program:
Some keys in the gym during this stage:
Plyometrics - like the Triple Hop for Distance
Short ranges of motion - like the BB Rack Pull
Explosive movements - such as the RFE Single Leg Jumps
Footy-specific movements - Med Ball Chest Throw for fend offs.
Injury Prevention - such as the Dangerous Space Med Ball Throw
The next part of this article is very important to keep you on the feild during the season.
You'll be able jump higher, kick further, sprint faster and outperform your competitors during the season!
Injury Prevention Edge
One of the biggest benefits of a structured off-season training program is injury prevention.
By building a strong foundation, increasing your muscle and tendon resiliency, you'll significantly reduce the risk of injuries during the season. You can be the fittest person on the team, but if you spend more time on the sidelines... it doesn't really matter.
Throughout your program you should incorporate specific injury prevention (IP) exercises (you would have seen the last section of each workout in my program is for Core & IP)
Such as:
Hamstring Bridge Switches - to avoid hamstring strains
Copenhagen Lifts - help prevent groin pain (formerly known as osteitis pubis)
Banded Dorsi Flexion - to avoid shin splints from all the running your coaches make you do.
Your best ability is your availability
Bonus Tip: Aligning your gym work with a running Program
Make sure you align your gym training with a suitable running program.
This is crucial to prevent overtraining, reduce your risk of injury (you don't want to be doing heavy hamstring work one day then trying to do repeat effort sprints the next) and allows you to train efficiently.
By aligning your gym and running training you'll be able to perform each with great intent and energy to get the most out of yourself to become an all-round beast.
What next?
Need some help with your Off-season Gym training?
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The Kicking Consultant aka Josh Growden is a High Performance Manager & expert kicking coach, making elite-level coaching accessible and affordable to all - not just the professionals. He holds a Masters degree in High Performance Sport from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelors degree in Sports Science from Louisiana State University. He played for the GWS Giants when they first entered the AFL and then became a punter for American Football where he played in front of 100,000 people weekly!
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