DETERMIING EXERCISE INTENSITY WITH HEART RATE

MONITORING

For endurance conditioning to be effective, it is essential that your players train at the desired intensity for
the required period of time. Too low of a training intensity will not challenge the energy systems to adapt;
whereas too high of an intensity will lead to fatigue earlier than intended.

The best way to determine what intensity level your players are achieving during a training activity is by
monitoring their heart rates, as there is a very close relationship between percentage of maximum heart
rate and exercise intensity. By monitoring the heart rate values of your players you can i) ensure they are
practicing at the appropriate intensity level for the exercise; and ii) track changes in endurance levels
(improvements or declines) as the season progresses.

For aerobic training exercises, players should be achieving values between 60 and 75% of their maximum
heart rate values; whereas for anaerobic conditioning, values between 80 and 95% of the maximum heart
rate levels are appropriate. To determine the approximate maximum heart values for your players, simply
subtract their age from 220. For example, a player who is 25 years old will have an approximate
maximum heart rate value of 195 (220 – 25) beats per minute. You can use heart rate monitors (available
at most sports stores) that will give instant readouts or you can deduce the values by asking your players
to check their pulse over a 10-second time frame and multiplying this value by 6.

PROGRAM DESIGN FOR ANAEROBIC AND AEROBIC

CONDITIONING

There are certain key factors to consider when designing the anaerobic and aerobic endurance component
of your training program. These include: intensity (assessed by HR values), duration of the work periods
(will depend on intensity level), training frequency, and training volume. These variables will be dictated
mainly by the phase of the season you are in.

The off-season should be used to develop a high work capacity, but in particular, aerobic fitness.
Essentially, we are aiming to gradually increase the time taken for the onset of fatigue. During the early
phase of the off-season, you should incorporate aerobic endurance exercises into training at least twice
per week. However, it is important to start at a manageable level and then gradually build work capacity.
This can be achieved by increasing the duration of the workout or reducing the work-to-rest ratios. For
example, in the Centre Circle Game for Dribbling, Passing and Sprinting exercise, you can start by doing
four or five 120-second repetitions with a rest period of 60 seconds between reps. You can then increase
the work period by 30 seconds every one or two weeks until the work periods are 180 seconds long. At
this point, you can start reducing the rest periods by 10 or 15 seconds each week until the rest period is
only 30 seconds long.

As you progress into the late off-season, you should gradually begin to incorporate anaerobic activities
into training. By the end of this phase, you should be doing anaerobic exercises at least once per week.