The content and load of preseason field-based training in a championship-winning professional rugby league team: A case study

This study reports on the content and periodisation of the preseason field-based training for a professional rugby league team. Thirty professional male rugby league players (26 ± 5 years, 180.9 ± 6.5 cm, 94 ± 9 kg) completed an 8-week preseason. Global positioning system devices and heart rate were used to monitor physical and physiological responses of different field-based training components (speed, conditioning, rugby skill and game-based training). Rugby skill training contributed the most to the total distance covered, conditioning was the greatest contributor to high-speed running (>15 km/h) and game-based training provided the greatest high metabolic distance (>20 W/kg) and overall external load. Game-based training provided the greatest time with heart rate ≥80% estimated maximum. The weekly preseason cycle had lower loads on Monday and Thursday whereas Tuesday and Friday produced the highest loads. The preseason described herein adopted a progressive overload comprising a weekly undulating cycle. This study emphasises how skill and games-based training contributes significantly to the overall load of a professional rugby league team's preseason with more traditional conditioning promoting high-speed running load and high metabolic load.

External and internal training load relationships in soccer players: the metabolic power approach

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between internal training loads (TL) (Banister, Edwards Training-Impulse (TRIMP), session RPE (s-RPE)) and external TL (Total distance (TD), high speed distance (HSD), high metabolic distance (HMD) in amateur soccer players. Nine male amateur soccer players (age = 28.74±5.2 years; height 173.74± 8.04 cm; weight 72.73±5.5 kg) voluntarily participated in the study. Individual field-based training sessions were monitored over 8 weeks. The results showed that there were moderate and very large correlations between s-RPE and both Edwards and Banister’s TRIMP (respectively, r = 0.42-0.86; r= 0.45-0.85). Additionally, from large to nearly perfect correlations were observed between the HR-based methods (r= 0.58-0.98). We also found moderate to very large correlations between s-RPE and HMD and large to nearly perfect correlations between HR-based TL methods and HMD. Correlations between internal load and external load parameters was weaker in HSD than TD. In the light of the results of the current study, internal and external loads should not be used interchangeable and HMD seems to be appropriate to monitor TL in soccer players because its equations include both speed and acceleration values.