Aerobic Base drill
Maximal Aerobic Grid
Hold time at or above your maximal aerobic speed, which is the single biggest driver of aerobic power.
- Time
- 30 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 30 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- Cones
- Space
- Rectangle calculated from your MAS
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
A rectangle marked with 4 cones. Long sides = your MAS in m/s x 15. Short sides = your MAS x 0.7 x 15. At a MAS of 3.9 m/s that gives long sides of 58.5m and short sides of 41m.
How to run it
- Set a repeating 15-second timer.
- Starting at one corner, run a long side in 15 seconds, which is 100% of your MAS.
- Without stopping, run the next short side in 15 seconds - that is 70% of MAS and it is your active recovery, so it is a steady run and not a walk.
- Keep going around the rectangle so one lap takes exactly a minute and you hit every corner on the beep.
- Do 5 minutes per set, 2 to 4 sets, with 2 to 3 minutes between sets, and build towards 8-minute sets before you make it faster.
Coaching cues
- Hit the corner on every single beep
- The short side is a run, not a rest
- Build set length before you build speed
Common mistakes
- Walking the short sides, which drops you off the aerobic stimulus the whole session exists for
- Building the grid off an out-of-date MAS so all four sides are wrong
Related drills
- Eurofit 15:15 IntervalsBuild aerobic power with short, fast repeats that feel manageable and accumulate brutally.
- Tabata ShuttlePush aerobic power with a dense 2:1 work-to-rest format once you can handle the gentler MAS methods.
- Extensive Tempo RunsBuild work capacity and aid recovery between hard days without adding meaningful fatigue.
- Pitch-Length Long IntervalsDevelop aerobic power with longer efforts held at your maximal aerobic speed.
- Four by Four Aerobic IntervalsRaise VO2 max with four long, hard intervals and a steady jog between them.
- Pitch FartlekBuild an aerobic base with varied-pace running that needs no equipment and no measuring at all.