The Legs-Lungs-Brain Analysis Method
By Mladen Jovanović
Legs-Lungs-Brain are interconnected and inter-dependent variables which are ’unsplitable’ in reality, but they may be used to qualitativelly analyse training drills, their requirements and goals and the ability of the athlete to fullfill this goals. Based on the Legs-Lungs-Brain analysis one may classify the training drills based on the goals and the loads placed on the athletes. If one compares the drill requirements with the athletic fullfilment of the same, training modifications and decisions can be made. For example, if the drill demands for quick execution of the soccer techniques with very little metabolic demand, but the athlete shows ’flat behaviour’ and ’heavy legs’ with great ammount of metabolic acivity the drill should be stopped or modified because it doesn’t fullfill determined goals.
’Legs’ reffer to the training intensity or the quality of the effort. The speed of the movement, number of sprints, tackles, driblings, shootings and other high-intensity elements determine the ’legs’ component. Look at the quality and ’easyness’ of effort of the players inside the drill/game.
’Lungs’ reffer to the metabolic demand of the drill. Metabolic demand depends on the drills intensity (’Legs’), duration, work-rest ratios, intensity and duration of low/medium intensity activity etc. When trying to qualitativelly assess the ’Legs’ component, one should look at breathing patterns of the players. Are the athletes heavily breathing, putting their hands on knees? Look at the sweating ammount cause this depends both on outside temperature and metabolic demand. Monitoring tools such as HR measurement, bLA measurement can be used as quantitative method but only as an addition to qualitative analysis, cause they depend on numerous factors. Look at the perfomance/athlete not HR!
’Brain’ reffer to the decision making done by the athletes. Involvement with the ball, ’density’ of the players at at given playing area, tactical requirements/tasks determine ’Brain’.
As already mentioned, Legs-Lungs-Brain are interdependent variables. The incerease in ’Brain’ may require greater intensity and effort, thus this may lead to increase in ’Legs’ which may result in the increase in ’Lungs’. Various game/drills parameters may determine the Legs-Lungs-Brain requirements, like playing size, number of players, zones, rules, tasks, number of touches, tactical requirements, technical requirements, duration, instructions, reinforcements etc. Anyway, the discussion of this issue not the aim of this article.
Various forms of fatigue and other factors may affect the athletes performance in the games and thus Legs-Lungs-Brain analysis and the fullfilment of the game/drill requirements. The ’art’ is to indentify this factors, modify the game, to plan/program the training process to adress them effectivelly. Some hypotehtical situations can be found in the following table.
Anyway, the exmples in the table are only hypothetical. Please note that there are many combinations and even more reasons for discrepancies between game requirements and athletcis performance. The coach must indentify the reasons and adress them. This is why coaching is an art more than a science.
The next table is mine attemt to define game requirements based on Legs-Lungs-Brain analysis.
This was just an example and I hope you get the point.
Looking forward to hearing opinions on this…
It is not that easy to classify the things.