Home

It’s interesting to see the rules changing of the AFL (Australian Footy League) that is seeing the game being more endurance based.

Over the last few years we have seen elite athletes in any form of sport perform at incredible heights as technology, coaching and management improves each and every year. For years now we have seen AFL transform from raw ability to a combination of raw ability with unbelievable player management – optimising the influence that player has on the game.

It seems the management of players has a more vital role in the success of the team rather than just simple individual brilliance. This has been observed through the frantic pace that AFL these days is now played at. In the last decade the game has transformed from aerobic training and adaption to almost sole anaerobic adaption, meaning short, hard intervals, rest, and repeat the process. Now it seems as though the emphasis has reverted back to the ‘old school – aerobic’ method in combination with the ‘new school – anaerobic’

However at the commencement of the 2011 season we have already seen the physical strain that the new rule change has placed on our elite athletes. The effects of prolonged and sustained physical efforts has come as quite a surprise to some, as the adaption to remodeling the physiological construct of the human body has taken more time than perceived.

For years elite AFL players have fined tuned they aerobic and anaerobic fitness based on the style of the game, now that the style of game has been altered through rule changes, that extra couple of minutes of game time has affected what they have been so accustomed too.

To understand the physiological changes and demands on the body through the change would require significant research and testing, but through generalized analysis we can come to the conclusion or at least hypothesis that there is a threshold in physical performance or at least a significant adaption process where changing a finely tuned individual takes time.

Often when we are exercising, fitness trainers use the perceived level of exertion scale to determine at what intensity a client is working at.

While not a scientific means of evaluating a person’s heart rate all VO2 max, a it allows the use of the meaningful scale to determine how hard person is working.

The scale is rated from 1 to 10, with one being minimal effort being exerted and 10 being maximal exertion, to the point of falling over and collapsing as there is nothing left in the tank.

The perceived level of exertion is based on the physical indicators of how hard you’re working such as your heart rate, level of breathing, muscle fatigue and increased sweating.

We have created our own perceived level of exertion which gives it we are at in terms of your exercise intensity.

1.The equivalent of the energy required to lay on the couch and eating a block of chocolate
2.The amount of discomfort I feel to get up and change the TV channel without a remote
3.Feeling great but notice a difference in my breathing
4.Starting to sweat but I can still chat non stop
5.Getting out of my comfort zone, more sweat starting to appear
6.I can still talk but it’s a bit more effort
7. Body starting to feel heavier, totally focused on the exercise, rapid breathing
8.Talking isn’t an option, I’m sweating like a pig
9.I cannot think of anything else but when will this end
10.It’s all over, I cannot think clearly, total exhaustion, I need to collapse in a heap and have a sleep

Ideally when performing any exercise for weight loss or improving our fitness level, we should be aiming to be between level 6 & 8, where is your comfort zone?

One of my Fitmates who shall remain anonymous regular indicates her level of exhaustion by the used of a flowery bouquet of the F word and other words from the same family:))
It’s a great indicator of how hard the Boot Camp session is, as today the F word was only used 3 times which means there was still a little bit left in the tank.

By the way, we train people at there preferred level of intensity which is indicated by a rating from 1-5, so with this particular Fitmate it sits around 4.95.

As this Fitmate is trained by Michael as well, I will need to get some stats on the F word count, I’m confident that by the next session I can get it above 10. Similarly I will have to get a F word count off Michael.

So if you’re looking at an intense workout, you can’t beat the Boot camp style of exercise training, as it’s about keeping the body constantly moving.

Today at Boot camp we had some great results when I gave my Garmin cycling computer to Chris this morning. Although I didn’t record the total session, I managed to document 45 minutes in total, 5 minutes of the warm up and 40 minutes of the actual workout.

Given that we predominately trained in an area roughly 30m x 30m, Chris managed to clock up a maximum speed of 18.2km/h, average speed of 11.3km/h and the total distance covered 6.4kms and an energy burn of over 600 calories over the 45 minutes of recording.

Not a bad effort considering that the from point to point, Chris only had 10-13 meters to get to terminal speed before stopping and accelerating to terminal speed again before stopping. So for an average of 11.3km/h, a good part of this would have been at over 15km/h.

Ultimately this style of training is interval based with short burst of high intensity which is great for fat burning and improving your fitness level.

We have had numerous requests from our Fitmates regarding a take home DIY (do it yourself) Boot Camp program.

You can use water bottles to mark the exercise stations or bananas if you have a fruit shop handy:))

Just remember when undertaking any form of rigorous exercise to get medical clearance first, high blood pressure, age, cholesterol levels and other key indicators must be taken into consideration.

This program is designed around the principles of interval training whereby you undertake high intensity cardiovascular based exercise for short periods of time followed by a resistance based exercise.

This keeps the heart elevated for short periods of time which really challenges the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.