The Game Is Decided By The Next Repeat Effort
Australian football asks more of the engine than almost any team sport. Long running volumes, then a contest, a chase, a spread and a second effort at the fall of the ball.
The player who wins the last quarter is not the one with the fastest 20 metre time. It is the one who can still back up when the ball goes forward again.
Breath hold sprint training is aimed squarely at that. Control your breath. Control the result.
Why Breathing Limits Repeat Efforts
Breathing is not free. In a laboratory study during maximal exercise, Harms and colleagues (1997) showed that the work of the breathing muscles can compromise blood flow to the working legs.
Think of a midfielder running to the next contest after a long chase down the wing. It is a useful reminder that breathing and leg fatigue are linked when intensity is at its highest.
To be clear, that study did not test breath hold training. It explains why breathing matters at high intensity. It does not show that breath holds fix it.
Where The Evidence Stands For AFL
We will be straight with you. We could not find a published study of breath hold sprint training in AFL footballers.
What does exist is a small but consistent body of work in other team sports. It is the closest evidence available, and we label it that way throughout this article.
The Most Relevant Study For An AFL Running Program
Closest evidence, mixed team sports. Woorons and colleagues (2020) recruited 20 well trained team sport athletes. Over three weeks they completed six cycling sessions of repeated 8 second efforts at a very high intensity.
Half used voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume, known as VHL: breathe out normally, hold at the bottom of the exhale, then perform the effort. Half breathed normally. Testing was done running, not cycling.
Only the VHL group improved Yo Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 distance, from 1,111 to 1,468 metres, about a 32% gain. The normal breathing group did not change.
In a repeated sprint test, best and mean velocity did not change in either group. But the VHL group's fatigue index fell from 7.72% to 5.18%, with better performance in the second half of the test.
Two points matter for an AFL club. The intermittent running test that improved is closely tied to the repeat effort demands of the game. And the breathing stress was applied on a bike, which spares the legs from extra running load during heavy blocks.
The 200 metre run and peak lactate did not change, so this is not an anaerobic power tool. The authors themselves said endurance benefits were possible, not proven.
Supporting Evidence From Rugby
Closest evidence, rugby union. Fornasier Santos, Millet and Woorons (2018) had 21 highly trained rugby players complete seven sessions of repeated 40 metre sprints over four weeks, with VHL or normal breathing.
Sprints completed before performance dropped off rose from 9.1 to 14.9 in the VHL group, a 64% increase. The normal breathing group showed no significant change. Top speed did not change in either group.
A 2025 meta analysis by Précart and colleagues pooled these studies and found the benefit is mainly in fatigue resistance and repeated sprint ability. Not maximal speed, and not VO2max.
What This Will Not Do
The research does not show higher top speed or a higher VO2max. Anyone selling breath holds as a speed or aerobic capacity fix is overselling it.
It is also not a replacement for conditioning. In every study above, the breath hold group and the comparison group did the same sprint work. Only the breathing changed. The sprints still have to be run.
Nasal Breathing For The Aerobic Base
Nasal breathing during low intensity running is a core part of the method. The evidence here is thinner, so we keep the claims small.
Dallam and colleagues (2018) studied recreational runners after six months of nasal only training. Breathing frequency was lower with nasal breathing, and VO2max was about 7% lower than with mouth breathing, a difference that was not statistically significant.
These were recreational runners, not footballers. The takeaway is modest: nasal breathing is workable for easy aerobic running, and it is not a tool for maximal efforts.
How We Program It For An AFL List
Nasal breathing in easy running. Recovery runs and aerobic blocks done with light, slow nasal breathing.
Breath holds after a normal exhale. Short static holds at low lung volume, full recovery, no straining. This is the entry point before any sprint work.
VHL efforts on the bike. Two sessions a week for three weeks mirrors the team sport study. A strong option in high running load weeks.
VHL running sprints. Repeated sprints of up to 40 metres with the hold at the bottom of the exhale, built up over four weeks, as in the rugby work.
Coaching Cues That Work
Exhale, do not empty. Breathe out a normal, relaxed breath. Forcing all the air out is not the target and makes the hold harder to control.
Hold, then go. Start the effort straight after the exhale and keep it short. The hold ends when the effort ends, or earlier.
Recover through the nose where possible. Take the first breath calmly, then settle back into light nasal breathing before the next rep.
Quality over volume. If technique falls apart on the track, the set is over. This is a fatigue resistance drill, not a test of willpower.
Expect discomfort, not distress. Strong air hunger is normal. Dizziness, tingling or confusion are not. Stop immediately.
Test it. A Yo Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 test or a repeated sprint test before and after the block tells you whether it is working for your list.
Safety: never do breath holds in or near water, never while driving and never alone. Stop if you feel dizzy. Get medical clearance first if you are pregnant or have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition.
Simon Kerle has worked with the Brisbane Lions and is an Advanced Oxygen Advantage instructor. This is not wellness. This is your competitive edge.
FOR ELITE ATHLETES, THIS CAN HELP YOU
✔ Cover more distance in intermittent running tests like the Yo Yo IR1
✔ Resist fatigue across repeated sprints, with a smaller drop off
✔ Get a repeat effort stimulus on the bike without extra running load
✔ Run easy aerobic sessions on nasal breathing
Performance takeawayNo AFL trial exists yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. The team sport evidence points one way: better repeat effort capacity, not more top speed.
In a game of second and third efforts, that is where matches are won.
Want this in your program? Enquire about Vincere Protocol for your team.
