When the competitive season ends, many athletes find themselves in need of a break—mentally and physically. However, the offseason is not just for rest—it’s a crucial period to improve strength, speed, and aerobic capacity. Structured training can provide a significant edge when the next season begins.
This blog will focus on improving aerobic capacity and how to effectively test and train this key area during your offseason.
Speed: Explosive Power and Agility
Speed Testing
To measure and improve speed, assess your acceleration, top-end velocity, and agility:
- 40m Sprint: timed maximal sprint across 40m used to measure for acceleration and max velocity and can be compared to normative data.
- Pro-Agility Drill: Measures lateral speed and change of direction (COD), which is crucial for sports like basketball and soccer.
These tests provide a valuable baseline and allow you to measure improvements in speed and agility.
Speed Training Integration
Speed training should focus on increasing explosive power, acceleration, and change-of-direction ability. Training should focus on technique and shape work, acceleration and change of direction drills mimicking sport specific scenarios.
- Plyometrics: Incorporate box jumps, broad jumps, and bounding exercises to develop explosive power.
- Sprint Intervals: Perform short, high-intensity sprints (10-20 seconds) with brief recovery periods (30-90 seconds).
- Agility Drills: Perform drills like cone slaloms, T Drills, Z drills and mirroring drills with a partner to improve body control, reaction time, and change of direction.
- Acceleration: Train running take offs from 2 and 3 point starts. Incorporate mechanical drills such as ankling, A and B skips, wall switches. Resistance sprints (e.g., sled pulls, hill sprints) can further develop strength and power output.
Train speed 1-2 times per week with sufficient recovery between efforts in session as well as between training days to prevent overloading the nervous system.
Wrapping Up
The offseason is your chance to build strength, speed, and aerobic capacity to enhance performance and reduce injury risk. By testing your current fitness levels, setting clear goals, and progressively increasing the intensity of your training, you can build a solid foundation that will help you return to competition stronger, faster, and more resilient.
A physiotherapist can assess your movement, identify weaknesses, and help design a program tailored to your needs. They can also guide you in injury prevention strategies, ensuring that your offseason training not only maximises performance but minimises the risk of setbacks when you return to competitive play.
Consistency and smart training are key—so test your current levels, adjust your plan as needed, and be sure to consult a physiotherapist to ensure your approach is optimised for both performance and longevity.
