Sports Specific weights

frebel

Would appreciate any info/tips on how to tailor my weights program coming into the summer season.

For the last month, I have been trying to fit in a plyometric program for my legs twice a week consisting of
leg raises, calf raises (130 kgs each, 5 reps) squat jumps and power lunge thrusts (with 9kg dumbbells, 5 reps) with 3 sets of each exercise.

Previous to this I was doing a general 50 min of conditioning using compound exercises- 40/50 secs of each exercise using smallish weights with a 10 sec break.

For the last 3 weeks I have had to mix in my upper body weights program with legs workout as I do 2 hard nights of interval training with match on Sundays.

I try to do the upper body training below 3 times a week. Over the last week, I have cutting my 2 sets with 10 reps down to 2 sets of 8 reps with a heavier weight with the eventual aim of doing 3 sets by 7/8 with heavier weights.

I always try to integrate a lot ab, core/pilates into my workouts

Upper Body training
Long-Arm Weighted Crunch
Butterfly
Long-Arm Weighted Crunch
*Squat Jumps
Butterfly
Seated Ab- Crunch
Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover
*Squat Jumps
Seated Ab- Crunch
Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover
Weighted 1 side Crunch
*Squat Jumps
Shoulder Press
Weighted 1 side Crunch
Shoulder Press
* Power Lunges
Corkscrew
Chest Press
Corkscrew
* Power Lunges
Chest Press
Pulse Up
Lat Pulldown
* Power Lunges
Pulse Up
Lat Pulldown
Back Extensions
*Leg Raises
Dumbbell Incline Shoulder Raise
Back Extensions
Dumbbell Incline Shoulder Raise
*Leg Raises
2 point Bridge
Side Lateral Raise
2 point Bridge
*Leg Raises
Side Lateral Raise
Supermans
Tricep Cable
*Calf Raises
Tricep Cable
Supermans
Reverse Dumbbell Curls
*Calf Raises
Reverse Dumbbell Curls
Side Jacknife
Wrist Curls
*Calf Raises
Ab Machine
Wrist Curls
Ab Machine


I know I should be looking for upper and lower body power for GAA but my gym is really a leisure centre with 1-10kg dumbbells as the only free weights. I have an exercise ball and 60kg barbell at home, plus 10 kg dumbbells and chin up bar.

I will need to create a more compact program as the season kicks off in may and the week is getting busier with more and more skills and running training. My gym instructor is knowledgeable but is Slovakian and don’t think quite understands the subtleties of GAA (or lack thereof)

Any help or discussion on how to optimise speed and power in the gym to benefit me most on the GAA field would be hugely appreciated.

Rogueish

Hi

"For the last month, I have been trying to fit in a plyometric program for my legs twice a week consisting of
leg raises, calf raises (130 kgs each, 5 reps) squat jumps and power lunge thrusts (with 9kg dumbbells, 5 reps) with 3 sets of each exercise."

You really need to simplify your weights programme working with specific work loads associated with training phase (e.g. off -season, pre-season.) At the moment your in either OFF-SEASON PHASE with no games starting or your in PRE-SEASON PHASE with a few leagues building up to your COMPETITION PHASE (Championship games). This is called periodisation and is use to relate to want training programme occurs in what phase.

"Any help or discussion on how to optimise speed and power in the gym to benefit me most on the GAA field would be hugely appreciated."

The weights circuit training you started with is ideal for muscle endurance, however you need to build strength to develop this strength into speed using plyometric later in your pre-season phase.

You need to choose 6/8 exercise starting with 2/3 exercises we refer to as Core exercise (not pilate/core) e.g Squat,Deadlifts, Push Press, Bench press.
Followed by assisted exercise e.g. Lunges, Leg press, calf raises, Tricep Ext, Biceps curls, prone row and then isolated exercise core stability, shoulder prehab etc.

The sets and reps need to different also 4 sets of 5 reps of between 70-85% of your 1RM with 2min rest between sets. Followed by 3 sets 8-10reps 60-75% with 90sec rest and finally 3 sets of 12-15 reps with 30sec rest.

You shouls work on t5his programme for 4-6 weeks and then adding in explosive exercise e.g Hang Clean, Power Clean, Jerks, Snatch (requires good technique) Jump squats before your core exercise etc. Adding also in your progressive plyometric exercises about 6 weeks before you COMPETITION PHASE. Then during this phase a weight maintanence programme just once a week, to maintain your strength during the phase.

Hope this information isn't too technical for you but this is the future in strength & conditioning for GAA players.

frebel

very much appreciated rogueish- heading into pre-season phase now so time to get cracking.

I think i was trying to cover as much as possible as i wasn't 100% on how to develop going into the season.

cheers again.

amazingemmet

Don't bother witht he plyometrics til your lower body strength is pushing 2x bw squat as til you reach that point your rate of force development will increase as your strength increase, also its possible to do a lot of damage with plyo type exercises if your connective tissue isn't built up yet.

Edit: i followed this program with loads of success, 7kg gains in 3 months, huge leaps in strength and got quicker too

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459321

frebel

This program does seem to accomadate athletes quite well- 7kg is quite a lot over 3 mths and still pick up speed- Were you doing aerobic/sports training as well while doing this program?

I like the way the program keeps leg workout to one day a week to allow full recovery for training- but it seems very different to the lean towards weighted and unweighted plyometric work in sporting circles these days

Again the more i read up and listen on what is the best approach i seem to get more and more confused

daveirl

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amazingemmet

I was doing some acrobatic type training so i notice very fast if my power / speed drops, ie you land on your head but none of that happened.

Most coach don't undersatnd plyometrics or the shock training effect it should only be used once you have a big strength base and only for a short period to get your rfd( rate of force development) in line with limit strength,

i.e being able to create the force faster

edit: just remember the second version of the program which would probably suit better http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=667308

daveirl

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amazingemmet

Yeah thats all its meant to be low on the training days to accomodate sport specific training and skills work etc but don't mistake that for it being easy its a very tough one especially the RE day it really built up my endurance and conditioning.

daveirl

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frebel

going to go for max effort free squats for 2 weeks as part of the lower body program.

T-nation advises to move on to dynamic box squats after that. They seem really technical at 8 sets of 2 and are just plain impossible to do in my gym.

Any exercises with a similar effect i.e build up speed?

daveirl

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frebel

can't do squats in my gym though. I know this is the best exercise out there for the legs but are there any that come close

leg raises (135 kg max)
dumbbell squat cleans (10 -15kg max)
dumbbell squats

cheers

daveirl

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frebel

Finally condensed what i'm planning to do. Thanks for your help so far dave

• Monday, P.M. — Max-Effort Upper Body Lifting
A. Max-Effort Lift — Work up to a max set of 3-5 reps.
Thick bar or regular barbell bench press

B. Supplemental Lift — Perform 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press

C. Lat/upper back superset — Superset one exercise from the first group of exercises with one exercise from the second group of exercises. Perform 3-4 supersets of 8-12 reps of each exercise.
Group 1
Lat pulldowns (various bars & grips)

Group 2
Straight arm lat pulldowns


D. Elbow flexor exercise — Perform 3 sets of 6-10 reps
Choose one of the following exercises:
Barbell curls

E. Abdominal circuit
Just pick a variety of ab exercises and perform them in circuit fashion with no rest between exercises.

• Tuesday
A. Max-Effort Lift — Work up to a max set of 3-5 reps
Straight bar deadlift variation

B. Unilateral Movement — Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Bulgarian split squat variation

C. Hip Extension exercise — Perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps (I tend to focus more on hip extension exercises (as opposed to knee flexion exercises) for the hamstrings once we increase the volume of running.
Swiss ball hip extension + leg curl


D. Neck/Grip superset — Superset one exercise from the first group of exercises with one exercise from the second group of exercises. Perform 3-4 supersets.
Group 1

Dumbbell or barbell shrugs
Group 2
Plate or dumbbell pinch gripping (timed set)

• Wednesday – Skills and Running

• Thursday — Repetition Upper Body Strength Training
A. Repetition Lift — Work up to 3 sets of max reps, rest 90 seconds between sets.
Chin-ups

B. Lat/upper back superset — Superset one exercise from the first group of exercises with one exercise from the second group of exercises. Perform 3-4 supersets of 8-12 reps of each exercise.
Group 1
Bent-over dumbbell rows

Group 2
Seated dumbbell power cleans

C. Medial Delt exercise — Perform 3 - 4 sets of 8-15 reps.
Choose one of the following exercises:
Dumbbell shoulder press (seated or standing)

D. Upper Arm Superset — Superset one exercise from the first group of exercises with one exercise from the second group of exercises. Perform 2-3 supersets of 8-12 reps of each exercise.
Group 1
Hammer curls
Group 2
Dumbbell triceps extensions


E. Weighted ab superset — Once again, superset one exercise from the first group of exercises with one exercise from the second group. Perform 2-3 supersets of 10-15 reps of each exercise.
Group 1
Hanging leg raises

Group 2
Lateral bridge (timed set)

• Friday – Skills and Running

• Saturday morning – light aerobic / ball alley work

• Sunday – game

daveirl

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frebel

wouldnt manage that many chin-ups either - 13/14 would be my max - will change that so

daveirl

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frebel

not sure if i fully understand "work up to a max set of 3-5 reps"

Does that mean doing 3-5 reps of increasingly heavy weights until failure/ near failure? I looked at the t-nation site and there seemed to be confusion there as well.

This method seems awkward.Is it not more or less the same to just do a good warm-up and then do 4 sets of 3-5 reps of the max weight?

daveirl

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