The quantification of within week session intensity, duration and intensity distribution across a season in Australian Football using the session RPE method

Purpose: Team-sports training requires the daily manipulation of intensity, duration and frequency with pre-season focusing on meeting the demands of in-season competition and in-season on maintaining fitness. To provide information about daily training in Australian Football (AF), this study aimed to quantify session intensity, duration, and intensity distribution across different stages of an entire season. Methods: Intensity (session Ratings of Perceived Exertion [s-RPE]; CR-10 scale) and duration were collected from forty-five professional male AF for every training session and game. Each s-RPE was categorized into the corresponding intensity zone; Low (<4.0 AU), Moderate (≥4.0 and <7.0), and High (≥7.0) to categorize session intensity. Linear mixed models were constructed to estimate session duration, intensity and distribution between the 3 pre-season and 4 in-season periods. Effects were assessed using linear mixed models, and magnitude-based inferences. Results: The distribution of the mean session intensity across the season was 29% low-, 57% moderate- and 14% high-intensity. While 96% of games were high-intensity, 44% and 49% of skills training sessions were low- and moderate-intensity, respectively. Running had the highest proportion of high-intensity training sessions (27%). Pre-season displayed higher training session intensity (ES = 0.29-0.91) and duration (ES = 0.33-1.44), while in-season game intensity (ES = 0.31-0.51) and duration (ES = 0.51-0.82) were higher. Conclusion: By using a cost-effective monitoring tool, this study provides information about the intensity, duration and intensity distribution of all training types across different phases of a season, thus allowing a greater understanding of the training and competition demands of Australian Footballers.