Just to see what everyone thinks

Relevant

Just got this via email. Apparently it is from a GAA magazine and was written by one of the management panel for one of the big GAA teams. I said i'd throw it on here to see what people think!

Recently I have been asked to see if there was a way of measuring the exertion of a player in the Championship. Working with available information, I carried out an exercise that looked at three players from different counties - Galway, Derry and Meath - and averaged out their physical work rate during a game. One area covered delivered the following results.
The average overall distance covered by our three players was 6.2 kilometres, varying slightly depending on their position. Of the distance covered, 48% was spent jogging, 17% running, 4% sprinting and 31% walking. This information may be of value to both the fitness coaches and the strength and conditioning coaches. A training programme can be informed with this information. Leg work for explosive sprinting combined with an aerobic programme will supply the players with the power to keep up with the varying speeds and demands of the game.
In addition to a fitness program, Inter County footballers are on a strict diet. The following is a recommended meal plan for a player during Championship:
• Eat frequently, three main meals and four snack meals in the day
• It is essential to maintain a high energy intake seven days per week
• Eat more carbohydrate rich foods at every meal and snack
- Use thicker slices of bread
- Use cereal as a regular snack
- Baked beans, sweetcorn and peas contain more calories than other vegetables
- Always keep some snack foods with you, e.g. scones and jam, bread and bananas, cereals, dried fruit, biscuits, jellies, wine gums, low fat cheese and crackers etc.
• Include daily one litre of isotonic sports drink. Take fruit squashes, fruit juice or low fat milkshakes with meals.
• Add nuts, seeds, potatoes and dried fruit to soups, sauces, stews, cereals and salads.
• Make porridge, soups and sauces on full fat milk.
• Dried skimmed milk powder can be added to soups, potatoes, ordinary milk and stews for extra protein and calories.
With the proper diet and exercise programme, players are only going to benefit and increase strength and fitness. As players increase their strength, they increase the chances of winning. Competition will become fierce and the race to be the best will be filled with action, score increases and best of all more winning statistics for me to report to you!

Hanley

Sounds like sound advice.

Probably wouldn't bother with the isotonic drink everyday tho, and substitute the skim milk powder for whey.

AlphaMale 3OO

Judging by that diet I'm starting to realise why the Aussies kick the living sh1t out of our GAA players every year. I would wager that theirs is slightly different.

Hanley

forbesii wrote: »

Judging by that diet I'm starting to realise why the Aussies kick the living sh1t out of our GAA players every year. I would wager that theirs is slightly different.

Aren't they professionals?

hunter164

Yes they are.

Hanley

hunter164 wrote: »

Yes they are.

I'd hazard a guess that that is the reason we get murdered.

thirtyfoot

Surprised they only cover 6.2k in 70mins. Some of the top footballers will cover 10-13k in the 90 mins of football and I'd expect GAA to cover as much since pitch is bigger. It looks like a pretty amateurish review to be honest like something I'd write up myself- using terms like jogging, sprinting, running. What are these? Jogging to Gebresallasie would be different to the jogging of John Hayes. Also, with only 4% as "sprinting" and 17% as "running" you could say that a makeup of 21% anerobic would mean they should train like middle or long distance runners like a 5k or 10k runner. Maybe the players they used weren't the best examples.

I'd be interested to see how it was calculated and also what they qualify as sprinting or running.

hunter164

I think you're write in what you say of the review and the running and sprinting.But I think you're wrong the distance thing.Say you're playing corner forward you're not going to cover as much ground as playing in midfield.

AlphaMale 3OO

Hanley wrote: »

Aren't they professionals?

Yeah but its one of a number of factors holding us back in those games.

davyjose

Tingle wrote: »

Surprised they only cover 6.2k in 70mins. Some of the top footballers will cover 10-13k in the 90 mins of football and I'd expect GAA to cover as much since pitch is bigger. It looks like a pretty amateurish review to be honest like something I'd write up myself- using terms like jogging, sprinting, running. What are these? Jogging to Gebresallasie would be different to the jogging of John Hayes. Also, with only 4% as "sprinting" and 17% as "running" you could say that a makeup of 21% anerobic would mean they should train like middle or long distance runners like a 5k or 10k runner. Maybe the players they used weren't the best examples.

I'd be interested to see how it was calculated and also what they qualify as sprinting or running.

It's just a magazine article. I doubt it's the bible of GAA training and nutrition.

entropi

hunter164 wrote: »

But I think you're wrong the distance thing.Say you're playing corner forward you're not going to cover as much ground as playing in midfield.

Agreed with the positional point, but remember there are more players on field at any one time during a GAA match than a soccer match, so that negates the distance thing altogether. Pitch might be longer and wider, but i'd guesstimate that the players would carry out around the same amount the article writer has shown.

On the diet i would say it's pretty much spot on though.

thirtyfoot

davyjose wrote: »

It's just a magazine article. I doubt it's the bible of GAA training and nutrition.

Phew, thanks for clearing that up:rolleyes:

Is there a bible of GAA training etc though? In fact is there a bible of training and nutrition for any sport? Take the major sports and there are many 'faiths' of training philosophy, all different, some work for many while some work only for a few. Some are fads or cults while some are old-school and will always work. Where does this article fit in and will the average GAA trainer be able to review and make up their mind it works for them. Don't know what magazine its from but some trainers may read it and take it as gospel.

sharkDawg

Tingle wrote: »

Some are fads or cults while some are old-school and will always work. Where does this article fit in and will the average GAA trainer be able to review and make up their mind it works for them. Don't know what magazine its from but some trainers may read it and take it as gospel.

Don't know how many in this thread actually play gaelic football but there really is nothing new in that article that an avid footballer/trainer wouldn't know already.

Tingle wrote: »

Also, with only 4% as "sprinting" and 17% as "running" you could say that a makeup of 21% anerobic would mean they should train like middle or long distance runners like a 5k or 10k runner.

Long/middle distance runners are trained to run at a constant pace over a set distance, how would this help a footballer? Football is a very start stop sport with short bursts of energy and quick changes of direction. Sure only 21% is anaerobic but 31% is walking which probably also includes standing! If your worried that they are not doing enough endurance work, don't be.

Khannie

forbesii wrote: »

Yeah but its one of a number of factors holding us back in those games.

I'd say most of those factors stem from them being professionals. They're enormous lumps of thundering muscle (and they use this physical advantage well). The GAA lads look positively skinny alongside them.

edit: Like that quote sharkDawg.

davyjose

Tingle wrote: »

Phew, thanks for clearing that up:rolleyes:

Is there a bible of GAA training etc though? In fact is there a bible of training and nutrition for any sport? Take the major sports and there are many 'faiths' of training philosophy, all different, some work for many while some work only for a few. Some are fads or cults while some are old-school and will always work. Where does this article fit in and will the average GAA trainer be able to review and make up their mind it works for them. Don't know what magazine its from but some trainers may read it and take it as gospel.

You're the one who said it was an amatuerish review. I merely pointed out that it was just some bloke writing an article. So I wouldn't be reading too much into the facts and figures.

thirdmantackle

football involves a lot of running - off the ball runs, covering man, on the ball etc

hurling requires intense bouts of sprinting and power to win the ball

different fitness needs for both sports

thirtyfoot

sharkDawg wrote: »

Don't know how many in this thread actually play gaelic football but there really is nothing new in that article that an avid footballer/trainer wouldn't know already.



Long/middle distance runners are trained to run at a constant pace over a set distance, how would this help a footballer? Football is a very start stop sport with short bursts of energy and quick changes of direction. Sure only 21% is anaerobic but 31% is walking which probably also includes standing! If your worried that they are not doing enough endurance work, don't be.

I agree, I think the energy system %'s quoted aren't reflective of whats required in GAA so its a pretty wishy-washy article but then again my opinion is pretty wishy-washy too as I've never done a detailed analysis of the energy systems required:). Maybe if you took the jogging % out of it it might be more reflective.

matrixroyal

Obviously position makes a big difference.

I would say that half forwards / backs and midfielders cover way more than 6km, probably double and most of that running would be at 50% or 70% pace. Players in the full backs / forward position would not cover nearly as much ground in a game but I would say that nearly all of their running is at close to 100% sprint, mostly in 1 minutes bursts and this running is done in conjunction with rigorous tackling or resisting tackles.

Despite the different type of effort during a game from players in different, generally all panels will do the exact same things in physical training. When I started playing adult football about 12 years ago, it was mostly laps and then more laps and that could go on for 90 minutes. Now we do 1 hour but everything is done at pace with little rest in between. Most of what we do now involves quick bursts of explosive running.