Down-time? Taking a rest? Holidays?
Nothing could be further from the truth for the fitness staff at AFL clubs, who go into overdrive when actual competition takes a break.
Paul Haines, Geelong’s fitness and conditioning manager, is running a workshop on pre-season preparation at the AFL 2009 National Coaching Conference, and he says off-season workloads for his staff have become extreme.
"There's five of us in the fitness department, looking after the conditioning, the football skills with the coaches, the running, the injury prevention, the weights side of things, working with the medical staff," he told afl.com.au.
"We're absolutely flat-out at the moment, doing about 70-80 hours a week.
"Six days a week at the club, and then you've got to go home and get some work done on the weekend to prepare for the next week of training, so it is quite flat-out, but you've got to expect that in pre-season.
"You'll hear no complaints from our end, but it's a lifestyle, not a job.
"You need a very understanding partner, that's for sure. I'm very fortunate to have that."
Football now has broadcast deals that span half a decade at a time, and fitness planning is similarly long-term.
"When I first moved over to Geelong – this will be my third season after moving from Adelaide – we came up with a three-to-four year plan in terms of where the group was at then, and where we'd like to get them to.
"We are pretty well on track with that program – the first year was just getting the guys fit and generally strong and not prone to injury.
"Since then, we've worked on a bit more speed and endurance, repeat speed work, and also worked on a lot more power in our weights program, rather than just general strength.
"We were quite unfit in '06, and leading into '07 we did get the group fit, and now in the last couple of years we've tried to make the group a little bit more powerful and hopefully a little stronger leading into the 2009 season."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registrations for the AFL 2009 National Coaching Conference are now open. The conference runs from Friday, January 30 to Sunday, February 1 at the MCG in Melbourne. It provides footy coaches with access to the most up-to-date Australian football coaching methods and practices.Find out more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
