The Quantification of Within-Week Session Intensity, Duration, and Intensity Distribution Across a Season in Australian Football Using the Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Method

Context: Team-sport training requires the daily manipulation of intensity, duration, and frequency, with preseason training focusing on meeting the demands of in-season competition and training on maintaining fitness. Purpose: 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; CR-10 scale) and duration were collected from 45 professional male AF players for every training session and game. Each session's rating of perceived exertion was categorized into a corresponding intensity zone, low (<4.0 arbitrary units), 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 preseason 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 intensity, 57% moderate intensity, and 14% high intensity. While 96% of games were high intensity, 44% and 49% of skills training sessions were low intensity and moderate intensity, respectively. Running had the highest proportion of high-intensity training sessions (27%). Preseason displayed higher training-session intensity (effect size [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. Conclusions: 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.