AFL OFFSEASON PROGRAM 2026

Doors are open. The Offseason Program starts September 20th.

12 weeks of AFL-specific strength and power programming built by a physio who plays, for the one window in the year where you can actually fix what the season exposed.

Enrol by September 13th: $49/week. After that: $59/week. Enrolment closes September 20th when the program starts.

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Starts SEPTEMBER 20  |  12 weeks  |  $49/week or $525 upfront

THE GAP BETWEEN WHERE YOU FINISHED AND WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

You want to come back next season faster, stronger, harder to stop. Not the same player who finished this one.

But here's the gap most athletes fall into every year: the off-season is short, and without a plan, it gets spent catching up instead of building forward. The niggle you played through all season — the calf, the ankle, the hamstring you "almost fixed" — gets left exactly where you left it, because rest isn't a plan. The strength you should've built in the gym never happened, because club training felt like enough until it wasn't. And by the time preseason rolls around, you're not building on last season — you're trying to get back to where you were before you can even think about getting better.

That's the difference this window makes. Athletes who use the off-season properly walk into preseason already ahead — niggle actually fixed, strength already built, ready to hit it hard from day one. Athletes who don't spend the first month of preseason just trying to catch up to where they should already be.

12 weeks is enough time to be one or the other. It's not enough time to be both.

What is the AFL OFFSEASON Program?

It's a 12-week strength and conditioning program designed specifically for female footballers - built around the demands of an actual footy season, not a generic gym plan.

During the season, every program has to work around game day. Load management, taper weeks, in-season fatigue — it all caps what you can actually build.

Offseason removes that ceiling. No games to manage around. No taper weeks. Just 12 straight weeks to build real strength and power, fix the niggle properly instead of managing around it, and come back to preseason ahead of where you finished — not even with where you finished.

This is the block athletes either use, or waste. There's no third option — the off-season passes either way.

12 weeks of AFL-specific strength & conditioning, structured around

  • Progressions every 4 weeks so your body keeps adapting through the full season

  • Injury prevention built into every session and not an afterthought

  • Educational resources on fuelling, recovery, and load management included

  • Delivered through the Everfit app — works at any gym, on your schedule

  • Written by a physio who also plays the game at elite level

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How it works

When you join, you'll get immediate access to the Everfit app where your full 12-week program is waiting for you. I have developed the program to target 3 keys pillars for the offseason. Baseline strength, running capacity and endurance and

Week by week, the program covers:

  • Gym sessions structured to build your overall strength and basearound your game day: short, purposeful, 45–60 minutes

  • Running program to build your endurance and build capcity to layer on speed and power moving into the preseason block

  • Load that adjusts across 3 progressive blocks

  • Mobility and recovery protocols built into the weekly structure

You train at your own gym. You do it around your schedule. There are no live calls to attend, no specific time slots — just a program that's there when you are

What Athletes Are Saying

"I feel like I've improved in all areas of the game. I've been running faster, I feel a lot stronger, and I've been focusing on fuelling my body before games — it's come together so well. I've had so many compliments from my team about how much I've improved and how great I look!"

- Abbey

"The athlete method has helped me become stronger and more confident in what I can do. 1 year ago I thought I was going to have to give up sport. One year of doing the programs has built muscle for me to overcome the niggles, pain and soreness. I couldn't be more thankful for what the program has brought me."

- Emma

"I've gotten stronger. I've avoided a lot of the little niggles I would usually get. I think my running form has improved. I loved the combination of strength, power, speed, agility, form and injury prevention."

— Isabelle

Who is this for?

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Who is this for? 〰️

This program is for you if:

  • You've got a niggle that's "almost fixed".. a calf, an ankle, a hamstring and you've just been training around it instead of actually through it, because no one's given you a plan that does both.

  • You're talented but you know you're not where you should be — coaches say you've got it, but you keep getting moved around, cut late, or stuck wondering what "more" actually looks like for someone at your level

  • You want to finally feel like you can attack preseason rather than catch up

  • You're fitting training in around full-time work, study, or kids — some weeks you've got an hour, in and out, and a program that doesn't respect that just doesn't get followed

  • You were consistent through the season because the structure was there — club training, set sessions — and you already know that structure disappears the second the off-season starts, and so does your training

  • You hit a wall by the fourth quarter every single week and you know it's not effort, it's that your engine hasn't been built for it

  • You're motivated and consistent — you just need the right plan

  • You've been winging your gym sessions and you are sick of having to keep making them up

This program is NOT for you if:

  • You're a complete beginner to the gym - you need a foundation first

  • You want high-touch 1:1 coaching and custom programming - that's my other offer

  • You're not willing to show up and do the work

  • You are in rehab or have an injury reach out to me at cathy@theathletemethod.com.au for individual support and rehab guidance

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Who's behind the program?

Hey — I'm Cathy. Brisbane-based physiotherapist, strength coach, and currently in my 7th year as an AFLW athlete for the Brisbane Lions.

I built The Athlete Method because I kept treating the same injuries in the clinic over and over and realising they were almost always preventable. Motivated female athletes breaking down not because they weren't working hard enough, but because they didn't have a program built around the actual demands of their sport.

I've made most of the mistakes in this program myself. I know what it feels like to carry preseason load into the season and pay for it. I know what it's like to try to do everything — full-time work, elite footy, hard training and hit a wall.

So I built the program I wish I'd had earlier in my career. One that's smart, structured, and actually accounts for what female footballers deal with across a full season.

This is physio brain meets athlete experience — and it makes a difference.

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Join the waitlist and you'll be first to get access when doors open..

Program runs for 12 weeks starting mid September.

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  • The program is built specifically for AFL. The sessions, progressions, and structure are all designed around footy demands. That said, female athletes from other field and court sports have done it with great results. If you're unsure, DM me and we'll work it out.

  • A standard commercial gym is all you need: barbells, dumbbells, cables, a squat rack. If you're in a smaller gym, the Everfit app has exercise substitution options built in so you can always swap something out.

  • Gym sessions are 45–60 minutes. There are also recovery and mobility sessions that will around your club training schedule. Most athletes fit it in with 3–4 sessions per week total.

  • That's exactly what the program is built for. As a physio, I've designed load modification into the structure: you don't have to stop, you just adjust. If you need specific guidance, DM me directly.

  • Yes. The group program is self-led, you get the full program, the app, and the resources, but it runs without high-touch coaching. My 1:1 High Performance Coaching is fully custom, with integrated injury management, priority access, and direct coaching support. If you're dealing with a significant injury or want something completely tailored, that's the right fit.

  • If you're completely new to the gym, this probably isn't the right starting point you'd benefit from building some foundations first. But if you're already active and training consistently, just without a structured plan, you'll be absolutely fine.

Ready to have your best season yet?

12 weeks. Physio-led. Built for female footballers. Starts April 13.

Questions? DM @cathysvarc on Instagram or email cathy@theathletemethod.com.au

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