Physical Development Geelong Football Club 1999 to 2006
A lot has been written in past week about the inability of Essendon Football Club to tolerate the loads imposed by a high intensity weights program similar to what Geelong was exposed to from preseason 2006/2007. But the problem is that little is understood on what underpins the base required to underpin an aggressive approach as has been reported. I am not privy to what was done at Essendon. Who knows except the inner sanctum. It may simply have been too much too soon of everything, not just weights. So Essendon is not my focus . But the concept that players have to be taken past limits ( as reported) is incorrect.
AFL players have to run repetitively at high intensity and that was the number one focus I had in the development of the Geelong list, built on a base of core stability, core strength, proper biomechanics and individual needs.
I was gone in April 2006. Terminated but not for fitness reasons. After Round 2 we flag favourite. I was gone after round 3! Prior to that we won the NAB Cup in Adelaide. Lost a close semi final in Sydney in 2005 with a young team. Lost a close Preliminary Final in 2004 again with a developing team. Physically the job was almost done by 2006. The team was ready to compete. Not the finished product because some of the players were still developing and also some needed time to mature IE Ablett. But a process had been in place with very few resources from preseaon 1999. My funds were obliterated in 1999 so till 2004 I operated on very little. I even had equipment donated by my brother in law Gus Puopolo! We made our own Pilates Reformer!
1999/2000 PreSeason
Many of the crop of players came to Geelong in this draft. We started a careful core strength/core stability program with these kids and a resolve to make sure they coped with pre season demands. The plan was approximately 30% of weights intensity & volume/ 50 to 75% running & 90% Skills and Games. But continuity was the focus IE of Skills Sessions, Games and then training. Also with Jarrod Egan I made sure every player was fully skilled in running drills and an array of gym techniques. We used Mark Sayers as a biomechanics consultant and screened every player running. My focus was education, creating a base and continuity of training. Very little power training was done given the mix of kids and oldies and we simple made sure every kid got a good base of specific core and skills work
2000/2001 Pre Season
Other players were drafted this preseason. We started progressing 99 drafts individually. IE Enright moved quicker than Corey for example. But the process was still about making sure that all players had developed a proper base of core strength and worked on individual needs. In the gym we moved with players like Scarlett given he was in his 3rd year but in general we stayed more with circuits, hypertrophy and specific needs. But the main focus became the ability to run at high intensity and also repeat it. Added to this I did a lot of Hill Intervals. We worked a lot on run technique, speed work at Landy Field and Repeat Hills at Eastern Park. This was a bigger focus for 2000/2001 & 2001/2002 preseasons. IE Developing efficient runners.
2001/2002
I started to move towards a performance enhancement model in this block but totally individualized. Players like Cameron Mooney were still in phases of rehabilitation after coming from Kangas with severe OP. The “kids” were still “kids” so it was in reality more of the same. The emphasis turned again to technical excellence in the gym, individual programs and also introducing agility and plyometrics. I got a 50m indoor track upstairs and did lots and lots of speed work there every week. This emphasis on max speed work, in close accelaration and agility was a focus. I employed Tahi Reihana to enhance contact skills and evasive work. Lots of core circuits, general training such as rowing and gymnastics work and ongoing development in the gym
2002/2003
With funds starting to loosen I had every player screened for core stability by Michael Dermansky, a physio. We had every player tested by ERA for Max VO 2. We employed John Minns ( shot putter) and more so Mark Spivey ( ex Decathlon) to our program. He went on to underpin the English Ashes wins! Also we employed Chris Dennis as a junior assistant. This is when I really sparked up the strength program. Every Saturday was Squat day and plyo day. We added explosive SLED training and contrast speed work. Lots of bounding. This was all done on a base of individualized programming given some players were still at STAGE 1 IE Core Stability etc. Also I started to do a lot more high intensity interval training sessions wit sessions such as 400/500/600/500/400 etc. But still the focus was continuity and injury prevention whilst pushing the DOMS envelope every week to create enough stress for adpatation. Very few young players were injured. We had a remarkably low soft tissue rate.
2003/2004
Simply a carbon copy of 2002/2004. Pre Xmas saw Spriggs, Ling, Steve Johnson pumping out some great interval work. Players like Scarlett were squatting big and running fast. I had started using GPS units in 2003 and with RPE loadings tried to make sure we were doing the right loads inseason. Once we got this right inseason we made the Prelims. Many of the players were starting to mature physically , but still young and needing games and experience. But we were able to compete physically with the Lions. Just not good enough.
2004/2005
Here we entered a more classical model where we had made the prelim, had some mature players, some young players and varied rehabilitation needs. Thus the focus was simply ongoing development and a commitment to producing players that could repeat effort, love contact and be explosive all day. Inseason was difficult. We started well. Had a high injury list midyear plus a young bunch who needed direction. I started PROJECT POWER midyear and focussed on lowering body fat, increasing leg power, upper body strength and rehabiliation. I had used Donna Rae Sazlinzki since 2002 with ergos and bought her in to get players fit by finals. We pulled out of a nosedive mid 2005 and nearly beat the eventual premiers in Sydney. This was a huge job for me and Chris Dennis but very satisfying.
2005/2006
The coaches decided to train less this preseason. Not the fitness staff ( Myself, Cameron Falloon and Luke Meehan) . This was a poor plan but I had to manage the program in a once a day format and 4 days a week plus Saturday AM. We had to mix Skills/Running and Weights in one session! We did our very best. Given we had better facilities and more staff for rehab and fitness we did do a lot of specific rehab work with players like Ottens and many others which was a huge plus this preseason. This very specific work underpinned the next few years in a few players that had been in rehab in 2005. Simply put the pre season was frustrating because we had less time to train players but we simply did the best we could in the sessions we had and many individual players still made gains in power, strength, fitness and speed. From a team perspective there was not enough time allocated. My gut feeling is that we could still have made finals in 2006 if the political situation had been more stable. But that is an opinion only.
Summary
By 2006 ( from 2001) we had half the AFL hamstring rate. Well below quads, on average for OP and slightly higher for calves. IE Our developing players had generally achieved continuity of games, skills sessions, running sessions and weights sessions in that order and priority. This is RAW HARD DATA. The emphasis had been on developing a team that could run repetitively and efficiently at high intensity. Then the next priority was contact specific Strength and Power Development. But all the time we made sure that all core stability issues and individual rehabilitation needs and recovery needs were always the NO 1 priority. The biggest predictor of getting an injury is having had an injury before, so avoiding injury is critical. DOMS is different. We always chased high eccentric loads in preseason to make sure players were immune to high intensity demands. Anyway blah blah. The Geelong team of 2006 that presented for preseason 2006/2007 had a massive base. And 5 finals with 3 finals wins and 2 NAB cup finals. Pretty good base! And the staff from then onwards did an awesome job!
The Real Josh Ross Story
Unfortunate that so much negative press has occurred over some “words” a few days ago. Josh did say that he just wanted an explanation for omission from team. Probably the press release simply did emphasise the boycott issue but the pity is that Josh’s comeback has been remarkable. That has been lost. And with zero, zilch, nada backing from AA till the National titles and at 31.
After 2 years off ( almost 3! ) he ran 49 secs for a 400m in October 2011! Then a 21.5 in interclub club against some kids. Then won Zatopek 100 yards on a wet night. He then hit form in a PRO gift in Queanbeyan with a 12 3 off I think .5m. He continued this form into Bay Sheffield and Burnie but by Xmas had an injury from running too fast, too often over 3 gifts without a base. But it was obvious he could still run fast.
So January was a wipeout and rehab was the issue most of the month. He ran one gift sore and that was it. His body was just adapting to high speed
He then was told he had to race in Adelaide and Melbourne ( Olympic Trials) to be up for selection in London. He ran the B Race in Adelaide and won. Money had to be found for this trip. He then went to Sydney and hit rock bottom off a poor January and came back to Melbourne where he scraped into the final of the Trials with a slow 10 8. Improved to 10 5 in final but was way off hitting form.
We then chatted to Adam Basil, and Piero Sacchetta ( his coach now) then Piero supervised every session and massaged him and managed him day in and day out. He flew to the NSW titles and won in 10 4 ( 2*10 4’s) but more so was getting good food and training in. Time trials over 60m were starting to improve and I watched a session in March where I could see him hitting form again.
Piero was at every session and it was decided to not run after NSW and put emphasis on the Nationals in April. The wind was swirling that night and after a few false starts he easily won in 10 23 vs 8 headwind. IE .05 off A qualifying.
He then went to Canberra on a cold night and had a very minor adductor strain in the warmup a week after Nationals. Just started chase for A Qualifier. Piero went to every race and one has to remember that Athlete and Coach funded these trips. Caroline Wilson totally forgets that athletes like Josh struggle to afford spikes. And what happened in the mid 2000’s with Josh and AA/coaches etc should be in the past. One wonders?
2 weeks rehab and Piero and Josh paying for physios and rehab, Josh was ready again and ran a 10 16 windy in Japan.
After that they simply chased races on The Gold Coast and in Taiwan. Josh ran 10 3 and 10 4 many times and just could not get good conditions. My opinion from the A Qualifier perspecive is that he should have gone to Europe to chase a time and left the relay team to hopefully qualify. But his main emphasis became the relay team in the end and this was almost ruined by a planning disaster in Taiwan. All the relay runners were allowed to run the Individual heats of the 100m. But from what I have been informed, there was a ruling that you could not pull out of the heats/semis etc , otherwise you were out of the relay. So many of the OZ team ran the final ( should only have been Josh given he was close to A qual) and then straight after finals they ran relay and ran poorly. So there was a risk the relay team would miss let alone Josh not getting an A qualifier. Bit of drama!
Josh then chased more races in OZ and ran even in Canberra on a cold night in winter and repeated 10 3 3 times! Team then went back to Japan to make sure they qualified in Relay and Josh did his part for OZ by smashing the field in the last leg and the team was thankfully in the top 15 teams and in the games.
Josh then goes to England and dying to prove he is capable of running low 10’s IF he gets a gig in individual. Piero and Josh were still hopeful about this. From my perspective when the AOC provisionally selected Steffenson as a reserve against AA’s wishes Nick Green didn’t have a leg to stand on. Goalposts had been dug out and chopped up. Why wouldn’t you be desperate to run in Games IF you knew you could beat up people?
I am not going to comment on the fiasco that has occurred with selections and AA and AOC but simply the goalposts changed a million times. BUT Josh could have been provisionally selected in the team as a B qualifier and they could have sat on the decision till now. Piero was always in 100% contact with AA and did everything humanely possible ( and financially) to make sure Josh was 1. Running at his peak for the games & relay 2. Did the right thing by AA from January 2012 onwards. There was little avenue or time frames for appeals.
So it is quite obvious that Josh has stabilized form after 10 23 against a wind in Italy. He has run hard for 2 months so is in form and has repeated 10 3’s against kids in OZ in winter! He is a proven big time performer when in shape. He has done the right thing by the selectors from February.
So the bloke is just desperate to run the Individual 100m and if he was given a chance, bar a false start etc, would have progressed in rounds. At 31 he is out. Did he really say something stupid on Twitter or flash his pee wee on the Web? No he simply is desperate to run hard for himself and his country.
Does he get rich from running. No. Lets keep the media in perspective and the whingeing comments down.
He won’t beat Usain Bolt but he is the best 100m runner we have and would be the best in many nations.
THE JOSH ROSS STORY plus Advanced Athletes Performance!
This is a story on Josh Ross and his comeback to win his 6th national title this year and make the London Olympic Team. More so it is a reflection on the effort required to achieve this in a sport such as Track and Field in Australia. My business partner Piero Sacchetta has put in a massive effort to underpin this result and hopefully it ends in the future in sub 10 seconds performances.
Saverio Rocca lunging at Advanced Athletes Performance Preston
Saverio Rocca is seen at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston, Australia, doing some tough lunges with son Marcus. Sav trained with us again this year after a block of training in 2011 also prior to year one with Redskins. My dad, George Bertolacci coached Saverio in athletics before Sav went on to kick 700 plus goals in the AFL. Saverio was a champion discus and shot put thrower and also could high jump over 190 when over 100kgs.
Great to have him at the centre now, doing his preseason work and also a fantastic role model for our young athletes.
Victorian Roller Derby League wins National Championship
VRDL Roller Derby wins National Title
Great to see the VRDL Roller Derby girls win the National title at the Great Southern Slam national tournament.
A few of the team do their Strength and Conditioning at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston and that has been a great experience for me to learn about a new and exciting sport.
Hopefully at AAP we can help some of the girls develop some power and speed characteristics that can be transferred to Roller Derby and help the team climb the World Rankings.
Australian Men’s Volleyball Team make London Olympics
There is a strong connection at Advanced Athletes Performance with Volleyball. We are the official providers of Strength and Conditioning for Volleyball Victoria and family wise my daughter Lauren has played for Australia and overseas as a professional. So I have been lucky to learn heaps about the sport. We are proud to be connected with the sport of Volleyball, which is NO 3 participant sport in the world but in OZ gets shoved down the ladder. The men’s team is an elite group which won the Asian Cup 4 years ago and narrowly missed the games then. Fantastic to see them make London in a last gasp thriller vs China and I am sure this will give the sport a boost. So many young kids play the sport at school but opt out and now with this plus other options opening up it should become am attractive sport.Many of these boys should be household names in OZ and I am sure when the London Olympics starts they will be front and centre for the OZ public. Awesome stuff!o
News link below
Aussie volleyballers book Olympic berth
VRDL’s Kitty Decapitate doing Power Cleans at Advanced Athletes Performance
Link Below on YOU TUBE of Kitty Decaptitate Power Cleaning
Lots of VRDL Roller Derby players now training at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston. The first stage with many of the girls was simply to do some basic screening, fitness testing and then generic squatting and deadlifting plus some core and rotational work. Warmups have involved mobility, proprioception training and low level plyos.
Some of the girls have started doing some Power work, sleds, med ball throws, hurdle jumps etc. IE Just getting the concept across of converting to power.
The next stage will be to become very specific to what players need and this could involve power training, stair jumping or even high level ergometer work to develop speed repeatability. But the base is always general conditioning.
In the pic above we see Kitty Decapitate doing a Power Clean for the second time only. She did some light front squats, some cleans, snatches then some medball granny throw complexed with hurdle jumps. Thats it!
Kettlebells, bands, sledgehammers etc…Why not weighted wheelbarrows!
Confused? Well I use to throw Kettlebells in the 70’s because I was a Hammer Thrower. Before their commercial use. So I cringe when I see over 40’s doing clean and jerks with kettlebells with bent wrists etc. Bands, chains etc all a great idea but there is a limit. Once in a while a sprinter will use bands for a start. But why I am saying all this. Well my main job is to train athletes. Generally jumping, running athletes. So programs have to have max effect.
Of course the key when coaching is to have an open mind to new methods. But it really is getting out of hand now due to the commercial push ( and brainwashing) for methods which tie in with the need to buy something. The variety is FUN for sure and great for kids and to stall boredom, but after that it is simply overkill.
A muscle doesn’t know what it is using. It is contracting. Do all the motor units switch on in a whole body exercise? Is one working retraction for Scapular needs or switching on the Lower Traps? Are glutes firing? Are calves getting stronger?
You Tube is awesome because so easy to search for techniques but also as with the “Dr Google” phenomenon can be dangerous.
An athlete needs qualities with force production and elastic strength. Why can a coach produce World Class Throwers or jumpers in environments where no chains or GHG machines exist? Well because they have lifted, done heaps of jumping & bounding, sprints and general conditioning with balls and “things”. Look at what the fastest, most explosive and most enduring athletes do. Not what a 110kg You Tube chunk does or what some Team Sport Athlete does.
The beauty of this plethora of equipment and methods is variety, and also when athletes are injured there is lots to move to now & that is the big positive. But I simply do not see the evidence out there to support some programs and equipment. Because athletes have to keep it simple and have time restraints the GYM has to be as basic and more so efficient as possible.
Once in a blue moon smash a tyre with a hammer. I do that with clients ( more so PT) for fun but how many Motor Units have been switched on? What are you doing? Why? Does Rafa smash a tyre? Dont think so.
And guess what, I am not saying olympic lifts will cure the worlds ills. Crossfit bemuses me totally. Mixing a POWER CLEAN with a Watt bike is like Singing Opera at a Karoake bar. ( Never was good at analogies!). Power Clean means Power. So doing massive reps with cleans destroys the concept of explosive triple explosion. Stick with something that is endurance I say. Better if they just pushed a weighted wheelbarrow for 400 metres then did WATT BIKES. But of course Crossfit is great for fitness so OK. HA
So IF you are an athlete be very specific in the GYM and get maximum BANG for BUCK for effort. If that is a One Legged Press followed by Explosive Step Jumps followed by specific Core Stability then do that, recover and go and train for your sport.
Strength and Conditioning has become very specific now. The challenge is to be specific, individualized and simple and time efficient.
Volleyball Strength and Conditioning at Advanced Athletes Performance
Hannah Martin doing a Depth Jump at AAP and Lena Skipper in background doing some hurdles.
The Victorian women’s Volleyball team has access to AAP’s facilities and the girls were in for a weights and plyometric session on Friday morning.
We tested the team for speed, block and spike jumps a few weeks ago in preparation for the AVL season.
Tennis Fitness Morning at Advanced Athletes Performance Preston
7 30 start at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston with a group of fit tennis players. From left, Marija Mirkovic, Jo-Anne Karaitiana, Nives Baric and Alison Bai. On the menu this morning was boxing, medicine ball circuits, weights and speed. All the girls are heading overseas in the next few months so they are getting ready to hit the European summer.
Advanced Athletes Performance has only been going for 9 months but already we have lots of tennis players training here. From ATP/WTA ranked players to young players starting off.
I am running a 13 week group circuit for 11 to 14yo players on Sunday nights at 5 30 so feel free to contact me for more details on this circuit or anything else to do with tennis specific fitness or rehabilitation. My email is loris@advancedathletesperformance.com.
loris bertolacci 