Physiological Analysis of Roller Derby at Game 1 VRDL
On Saturday night I went to the Showgrounds and watched Round 1 of the VRDL Roller Derby season. I have done some preliminary fitness testing with the girls at our centre in Preston, Melbourne. Advanced Athletes Performance. I found that most of the girls had reasonable Vertical Jumps using a Vertec. Some close to or above 50cm. So nothing amazing but ok. The Average so far of about 12 girls is 43cm. I did some other tests such as long jump one and two legs and some side to side jumps t look at single leg differences. I also did the YO YO Intermittent Recovery test Level 1 to assess their general intermittent sport metabolic fitness levels. A few girls were above 15 which is ok. Others were below 14 which is poorish. But how specific is off Roller Derby training? Is there a need for repeat effort testing done speciically? One girl I tested was quite down in Jumps & Power test but performed really well on Saturday. i didnt expect it so that reflects the high skill level required here. But all things being equal in all sports, everyone can play at the highest level so fitness becomes a priority.
A lot of the girls are right into different fitness pursuits so I have been interested in what it takes to perform at the Highest level in this sport. Some I think do too much “fluffy” stuff. Is it power or a mixture of endurance and power and strength. What do the “best” players get in these fitness tests and is there any correlation at all between the tests and ability given adequate skill levels. I watched the US girls last year from Texas and some looked really conditioned and strong, some were massive and most looked pretty fit. Where will this sport head fitness wise? Guess is power and repeat speed and grunt!
So I put a Heart Rate monitor on Miss Chivas from the Rock Mobsters and simply wrote down when she did some efforts and then looked at the download. Now as we know Heart Rate is a pretty poor reflection of the physiological demands of Roller Derby. Lots of sports science gadgets now exist that give insight into impact forces, acceleration patterns etc but hey this is a start. That will come.
Do some fitness tests. Add some skinfolds Sum 7. Watch a match. Do some RPE ( Perceived Exertion Data) analysis and then make some initial assumptions. In the end what I am trying to do is work out what the best approach to Strength and Conditioning and Fitness for Roller Derby is. It is a growing sport. Is there a need for lots of strength and conditioning? I will report on the RPE data next article and explain how to use this in training and competition.
Miss CHivas in the first half did heaps of Jamming ( at back and trying to get through blocks!) and one can see the same look on the heart rate curves that one see with interval training or even a football match. Look at the last part of Graph 1. I dont know Miss Chivas’s maximum heart rate but assuming it is 200 then she was working pretty hard. The emotional side of heart rate analysis in games can add 20 bpm and interesting that it rarely went below 140 even at half time. Maybe rolling around instead of walking keeps the heart rate up? All assumptions at this stage.
The question is what is the cost of all the jostling and bumping? That can be measured and needs to be. That is why all thsi data needs to be correleted also with RPE data and then some acceleration & impact data.
In the second half the maximum heart rate was 187 and average was 156. A fair load IF her heart rate is 200. Watching the players when they come off after sustained efforts, subjectively they are stuffed.
The other question is IF a girl never ever will be a jammer how fit does she need to be? Does she need to squat 200kgs and be agile.Is an elite blocker a bit like a front rower in Union? Very big, very strong and capable of sustained hard ( if not fast) work.
BUT at the international level in future when superfit lean, hard Roller Derby OZ girls try and smash the US ladies I think the Jammers will have to be superfit and super powerful. Have a look at the last part of the graph for the first half below and simply look at the sustained work Miss Chivas did with multiple Jams. Phew. Heart rate max 193 (might be her max-who knows until we do a max test) and just up there for workrate wahtever the sport given she is a fit girl. Add bumps and twists and turns and quite a body load.
Look at sustained efforts in last part of graph below! I think 8 repeated jamming efforts ( is that the right word?). This Heart Rate analysis below is the first half plus warmups and meetings etc. Long day at office!
Heart Rate Download of the Second Half. 3 fast jams at end.
A picture tells it all and here we see pics of Miss Chivas accelerating low an fast and below Ber Zerker getting low and strong and seeing how balanced the other girl is. Tough sport!
Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston adds Facilities
We have nearly got the second stage of our facility completed. Boxing areas, mats for various pursuits and platforms and racks galore for lifting. We are continually improving the place and a great venue to train now.This is the second warehouse now up and running and just the place to train at 64 Oakover Rd Preston!
Below are some pics
Young Athletes and Weight Training
Tommy Podaridis, a 15 YO Soccer player doing 2 arm / 1 leg Dumbell Rows. A good exercise to teach neutral spine, leg alignment and scapular strength & stability. This is the sort of weight training that young athletes should be doing. Simply learning movements and getting strong and stable in the process. The practice of 5RM’s and advanced weights with young athletes this age does not make sense. We see now with the Pathways and Developmental programs in place ( and pressures to make squads etc) that young athletes are loading up. So just on or just after puberty is a great time to start teaching movements and skills and on the way general strength levels will increase. Loading with growth spurts is dumb and even until growth is stabilized unnecessary.
Below is a pic of Josh Ross, trap bar deadlifting 200kgs. He deadlifted 245kgs in winter with a normal bar. But as a young athlete he played Rugby League and ran fast without huge loads in the gym. Once established then it is critical to load up so one can maximize forces on the ground. So it is a big decision when to load a young athlete. Especially when 20 plus is when most sportspeople shine.
Yarra Valley Grammer Ariels Netball Fitness Test
Advanced Athletes Performance travelled all the way to Ringwood Athletics Track to finalize the fitness testing for PXMAS 2011 for the Ariels Netball Team coached by Christina Puopolo.
Testing was held the week before at Yarra Valley Grammar and 3 girls went above 18 in the Level 1 Intermittent Recovery Test.
With Peter Venturich from AAP I conducted a speed/sgility and FUN session to wind up the 2011 preparation block.
Below is the ARIELS squad after the session with me, Peter and coaches. Gus Puopolo then had a great barbie ready and I delivered the Xmas break training program. Up to you now girls!
Also met Julian Wruck who is an up and coming Discus Thrower. Julian is staying with Gus Puopolo for a few weeks training. He is 20 but is a regular 60m plus thrower. He is studying at UCLA after transferring from Texas. Good luck
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Joshua Ross at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston
Joshua Ross, 2 times Olympian, 5 National titles 100m and Semis at Worlds plus 2 Stawell Gifts has been pumping iron and doing plyos at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston/Melbourne. Here we was doing some 20m starts in preparation for a race on Saturday. He has just started a comeback after 3 years off and has run 49.5 and 21.5 hand which gets him started. He has to do a lot of speed work and racing but has a good base so he hopes to be a peak by Trials in April. Below are a few pics of Josh running on our MONDO track. We have a track indoor and outdoors and AAP is a great place to train at. Sav Rocca did all his preseason here prior to his NFL season and we have heaps of athletes from all sports training to improve performance.
The TAN RUN as a test for AFL aerobic levels
The TAN is popular with thousands of people and particularly AFL players and sub elite groups and players. But how good a test is it? The myths and legends surrounding it just keep coming. And of course a run around the block will usually give a good indication of who has good aerobic levels. In reality the body doesnt know where it is. It just moves!
But the TAN is a messy run. The Anderson Street Hill, then the downhill slope and in fact the length. Add the fumes. Nice look about it but massive pollution levels.
For scientific purposes a 3km or even better a 2km run is better to do at local level. 2km willl tell you all you need to know if run on an athletics track and allows players to have a crack.
And if you want to be fancy the velocity one runs a 2km in can be useful information for a fitness person to base training on. IE The average speed. Then one can plan aerobic interval training efffectively.
One year I ran the TAN with the Essendon players as a 40 YO ex hammer thrower. Fit of course! Anyway I went hard up the Anderson St hill with some good fit players and hit the wall at the top and crawled home. Terrible time. 4 weeks later we retested and all I did was sit behind Choco Williams. I knew his time from before and waited till 10m from home ( not 20m!) and outsprinted him. 2 minutes faster by just not oercommitting up the hill.
So as a run great for AFL players, but as a test with some useful data no.
Certificate 4 fitness course at Advanced Athletes Performance
The lads have almost finished their Cert 4 PT course. Below are a few images from today. They had to run a few circuits then listened to a Motivational Psychology Lecture from Rudy Pilotto ( Serious Consulting). Rudy was a very good distance runner who now runs a consulting business in OZ and OS. The boys then observed Eric doing some squats outside and the crew from Soul Fresh doing a core strength workout. Thus they had the full range of experiences in the course from taking kids circuits to power lifting to corporate fitness. And they watched Joshua Ross doing starts!
Boys having a break from lectures at Advanced Athletes Performance CERT 4 course
Soul Fresh boys doing a CORE circuit
Georgiana Ruhrig after a session
Squats!
Sunday evening at Advanced Athletes Performance
Things are starting to roll at Advanced Athletes Performance in Preston. This morning we went to Yarra Valley Grammar and tested the ARIELS Netball teams with Speed/Jumps and YO YO tests. we will add some photos soon from that session. 2 Girls topped 18 plus in the YO YO Recovery 1 test which is a good effort.
Tonight we were back at the centre where client Ali Murad has organized a big group of friends to train at 7pm.
Below are some pics of the session. Victorian Premier League Soccer Player Dario Lasic running alongside young athletes working out on scooters ( both legs!).
Dario Lasic versus 12 YO Zena on a scooter!
And below the lads gearing up for some heavy power cleans in main weight training area in building 2.
Paul Cugnetto working on some shots in building one.
Certificate 3 in Fitness Course at Advanced Athletes Performance
NEW COURSE in CERT 3 starting soon at AAP. Rebates available.
We are currently conducting a Certificate 3 and 4 course in fitness at Advanced Athletes Perormance at 62/64 Oakover Rd Preston. The course is conducted at our elite High Performance Training Centre. We have all the facilities available to enhance your practical skills for exercise prescription but added to this is learning in the same environment as elite athletes and teams from all sports. The skills you will learn in this environment are not available in online courses and lecture based courses. It is a unique experience which will ensure you have all the skills required to work in the leisure industry and the sports specific and rehabiliation industry.
Certificate III in Fitness Starts soon
You may also be eligible for a REBATE for your course
The Certificate III in Fitness prepares the aspiring fitness instructor for working in gyms and fitness centres, conducting fitness assessments, designing programs, instructing clients and maintaining a safe gym environment. It is a standard requirement for any person wishing to become a fitness instructor in Australia and a prerequisite course to a Certificate IV in Personal Training…
Fit2B Australia is a nationally Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
E-mail: info@fit2b.com.au
http://www.fit2b.com.au/portal/
AFL Coaches. Are they paid too much?
I think there is a very dangerous trend occurring in AFL clubs where other clubs simply copy teams that have done well and then panic and either copy teams training/tactics etc or even more an issue poach coaches without vigorous research.
Now the odds of getting it right are okish given some team has to improve and others of course slide. But often this “panic buy” has not reflected the full rationale of why a team has done well. There are so many variables that contribute to success and these added to player ability and team balance should be critically examined before rushing into spending massive amounts on coaches and assistant coaches.
Very few of these overpaid gurus are going to rewrite Bompas book of periodization or come up with a complex model of skill acquisition for training. Most clubs have great IT back up now and also statistical coverage and interpretation. Obviously some of these coaches are very ambitious at first and often really show infectious enthusiasm on the track. That is great and then “Chinese whispers” inflate the value of these guys. It often reminds me of the 1979 movie BEING THERE with Peter Sellers and Shirley Mclaine. Chance the gardener looked distinguished but actually was of pretty low IQ. Anyway he said something in front of dignitaries once and then rose to the top of the pile in politics. Very funny but scary. His famous quote was “I like to watch” when Shirley Mclaine was undressing but little did she know he was watching TV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There
I have met a few chancys in AFL and good luck to them! HA. One was so poor he cost a team a big final but could sell snow to eskimos and a quote reminds me of him. “It is a great art to know how to sell wind”. But it is quite odd how each team quickly copies the “best” team’s tactics. Usually gleaned from other sports anyway. And other clubs are desperate to find out some IP.
Media, public and those men in suits that run clubs create perceptions and then panic buying occurs. And boards need to be very wary of those men in suits that now invade middle management in AFL footy departments. Many work in the best interests of the club but many just jump on the marketing/perception bandwagon and then hope success comes and hope more they can keep their job.
I have seen some pretty average coaches get paid massive amounts simply because they were linked to a successful club. AFL is a sanitized competition. It is cyclical.
There is a good chance that a club may have a surplus of a certain type of player that can carry out new tactics. Maybe a heap of midfielders with pace & endurance OR defenders with perfect kicks OR a perfect blend of 2 or 3 big defenders and heaps of attacking defenders. Whatever! Often then one can create a system around the cattle one has. Bang they win, everyone copies and 2 years later tactics change. Think! So what happens to those guru coaches who are paid millions and developed amazing tactics 2 years ago that are now redundant. They are now seen as passé and new gurus get paid more money.
Those men in suits need to think a little and not get affected by having mobile phones too close to their brain hinder their logic. Also what I call the ‘AM coffee plus newspaper” research model that occurs. Add this research reading the papers plus a call to an ex mate in the AFL and ‘whack” there goes another 500,00o bucks of AFL money to a coach who really could not take the next step in a long term elite sporting environment..
That is why Alistair Clarkson was an inspired choice. Had done the hard yards in coaching. Was academically astute. Has done well.
Clubs need to really work out why success comes. They must realize it is biased young and that it takes almost a decade to rejig. Then not panic cull OR more so panic buy!
loris bertolacci 
