Pre Session Training

BuyingorSelling

Just wondering what everyone here is doing for pre session training. We are an intermediate team and do not start trianing till late january or early feb. Started last week doing my own bit in the gym as havent done a whole lot in 3 months. Hope to make it to the gym 3 times a week to do weights. prob 2 days upper body and 1 legs. Just wondering what everyone else around the county is doing this time of year and any good weights programmes floating about for footballers

phil

Run, run, run. Seriously. You'd be better off going once a week and heading for a serious running session for the other two. Four times isn't a bad number for one week, you could do one session actually in the gym, two running and one at home (pushups, situps, plank etc. can all be done in the comfort of your own home)

Really what you're looking to improve on in the gym is your core strength, quads, hams, glutes, shoulders and chest.

Head over to the fitness forum for more specifics, there's some knowledgeable people there. My advice for anyone training for any level of football is look for exercises to increase power for running. It's always the bit people don't like... but weights work won't bring you anywhere that you want to go in football without putting a serious amount of miles in your legs.

An Citeog

phil wrote: »

Run, run, run. Seriously. You'd be better off going once a week and heading for a serious running session for the other two. Four times isn't a bad number for one week, you could do one session actually in the gym, two running and one at home (pushups, situps, plank etc. can all be done in the comfort of your own home)

Really what you're looking to improve on in the gym is your core strength, quads, hams, glutes, shoulders and chest.

Head over to the fitness forum for more specifics, there's some knowledgeable people there. My advice for anyone training for any level of football is look for exercises to increase power for running. It's always the bit people don't like... but weights work won't bring you anywhere that you want to go in football without putting a serious amount of miles in your legs.

If by serious running session you mean medium to long distance, I'd have to disagree. I agree with you re: the weights though. OP, squats and deadlifts will really strengthen your quads and hamstrings and I find that they give you a lot more power and help you to explode out in those first few yards. Core strength is very underrated aswell but is hugely important in football.

As for the running/cardio element, I'd be more inclined to focus on sharper sprints. Shuttle runs done at full speed are great for this or whatever variation you like that incorporates short sharp sprints. I'd recommend doing the running on grass, with boots, because that's where you have to do it in a match.

+1 for the fitness forum aswell. They really know their stuff over there but sometimes it can be a little daunting, with people offering various bits of advice, sometimes conflicting.

phil

At this stage of the year i.e. pre-season training, you want to be training like a middle distance runner and building up strength and power while running. You should be training to run the equivalent of 400 to 1600m basically now. Sprint + shuttle work come in when you have a better foundation laid for the longer distances later on in the year. Like most teams, he's probably focussed on peaking at championship time (i.e. May to August/September).

Yavvy

Kids don’t try this at home, you need to be at least 28, have more injuries than Jonny Wilkinson and consumed as much beer as Jonny Vegas

My pre Season schedule is
1. Looking a my belly..
2. my belly looking back at me.
3.I start thinking about running up and down muddy hills in February, then start thinking about retirement.
4. I call the manager and tell him there is no way Ill be back this year.. gettin auld.
5. I ooh and aah for a few more weeks and finally get back into training about a week before our first game ( usually on the side of a mountain in gale force winds..WTF)
6. I go back into retirement for a few more weeks.
7. April arrives and I’m feeling a little better. I buy some knee/ankle/wrist supports
8. Train once a week for the next few months..seriously planning to complete the 2 warm down laps any day now... but not this day.
9. Train twice a week 3 weeks before Championship
10 Get knocked out of Championship in the first round.
12. Moderate boards.ie During the Championship season..with chip securely fastened to shoulder
11. Start winding down for Winter. Training twice a month..then once..then meh

Happy 2010 !



I do not recommend my preseason to anyone else..unless your also playing AFL 10/11

Rizzla King

I know most posters on here are playing AFL but for me playing Minor, our pre season will be the hardest yet.

Training twice a week, maybe 3 times a week including sunday. Fitness fitness fitness is the moral of the story here and maybe a bit of physical work in between. When the league finally comes back around then we've forgotten how to kick or catch a ball.

GAAman

Alany wrote: »

My pre Season schedule is
1. Looking a my belly..
2. my belly looking back at me.

That made me laugh man

blackbelt

Alany wrote: »

Kids don’t try this at home, you need to be at least 28, have more injuries than Jonny Wilkinson and consumed as much beer as Jonny Vegas

My pre Season schedule is
1. Looking a my belly..
2. my belly looking back at me.
3.I start thinking about running up and down muddy hills in February, then start thinking about retirement.
4. I call the manager and tell him there is no way Ill be back this year.. gettin auld.
5. I ooh and aah for a few more weeks and finally get back into training about a week before our first game ( usually on the side of a mountain in gale force winds..WTF)
6. I go back into retirement for a few more weeks.
7. April arrives and I’m feeling a little better. I buy some knee/ankle/wrist supports
8. Train once a week for the next few months..seriously planning to complete the 2 warm down laps any day now... but not this day.
9. Train twice a week 3 weeks before Championship
10 Get knocked out of Championship in the first round.
12. Moderate boards.ie During the Championship season..with chip securely fastened to shoulder
11. Start winding down for Winter. Training twice a month..then once..then meh

Happy 2010 !



I do not recommend my preseason to anyone else..unless your also playing AFL 10/11

Those AFL12 lads must be relieved in the knowledge that the above doesn't apply to them.;):D

slingerz

Whats AFL about?

We're a Junior football team and have been in the gym since september. We're lucky to have a specialised gym for Olympic athletes nearby though. I missed last year after getting injured in our first game on Valentines night. The girlfriend was not happy to be spending that in A&E with me as I waited for my operation! So my pre season is looking like absolute hell. only started playing 5 a side since the injury 2 weeks ago!! the post about looking at my belly and it looking back at me is very apt in my case. i know some form of running is all i can really do as fieldwork starts sunday week against our u21's(bastards)

I'm dreading showing my multitasking abilities of running and vomiting at the same time!! retirement is seriously considered even though i'm only 24!!

BuyingorSelling

AFL stands for Adult football league

Antisocialiser

dont bother with the running at all if not very little, it will give very little effect in increasing your speed or strength. If you want to become a better footballer than you were last year do weights.

Squats (ass right to the floor), benchpress, deadlift etc maybe 5 sets of 6-8 reps increasing weight as you go along and you should be failing the last couple of reps cause the weights are too heavy - you need to over exert your muscles to the point they fail thats when new muscle is built.

Things like dips and chins are also good. These will make you faster and stronger and in turn a better footballer.

Dietwise cut out as many carbs (cereal, potatoes, breads etc) as you can and concentrate on meats and veg (preferably green), drink 2-4L of water a day and nothing else.

This change of exercise and diet will make you into a monster fast.

Economic

If your going to start training on your own then your current level of fitness will dictate how you should be training.

If your a senior footballer and take your football serious then your winter training should include three nights of weights. I wouldn't worry about running once your weights programme is structured correctly. You would taper your weights down to two nights once team training starts and closer to championship you would cut this down to one night. You don't just do weights for a couple of nights in the winter and expect to get benefit in the summer.

If your playing at a lower level weights won't be as important but you should try to fit them in, all year round preferably, even if this is just one night. Chances are though that at this level weight may be more of an issue and your enjoyment of the Christmas is showing on your waist. Even though I wouldn't train a team with long distance running the reality is that its a great way to take down the weight.

Any weights routine should include:
Shoulder Press
Deadlift
Squat

If you can get anyone to show you the snatch or power snatch then take them up on it. It wil improve flexibilty and power.

slingerz

Economic wrote: »

If your going to start training on your own then your current level of fitness will dictate how you should be training.

If your a senior footballer and take your football serious then your winter training should include three nights of weights. I wouldn't worry about running once your weights programme is structured correctly. You would taper your weights down to two nights once team training starts and closer to championship you would cut this down to one night. You don't just do weights for a couple of nights in the winter and expect to get benefit in the summer.

If your playing at a lower level weights won't be as important but you should try to fit them in, all year round preferably, even if this is just one night. Chances are though that at this level weight may be more of an issue and your enjoyment of the Christmas is showing on your waist. Even though I wouldn't train a team with long distance running the reality is that its a great way to take down the weight.

Any weights routine should include:
Shoulder Press
Deadlift
Squat

If you can get anyone to show you the snatch or power snatch then take them up on it. It wil improve flexibilty and power.

Thats unbeliveably ignorant of junior footballers. I know of at least a dozen junior football teams training twice a week in the gym since october.

training depends completely on the individual. If you are lacking in aerobic fitness i.e a bit of running makes you feel like your going to have a banger then running for a spell a couple of nights a week is whats required before included some anerobic work like sprints and interval training.

if your relatively fit and have have a good degree of fitness then some interval training mixed in with weights sessions would be ideal for the winter.

you will be doing a lot of running/interval training once the team goes back into it most likely twice a week. when that happens including weights sessions 2 nights a week is optimal but for any dual players like myself that will have fitness training over 4 nights a week with at least 1 game a weekend then 1 night of weights is all that can feasibly be done without working yourself to exhaustion

Economic

Sorry if it sounded bad when I read through again its not the way I would have liked it to come across.

I would consider anyone on a first team of a any club to be a senior player regardless of the grade they play at be that senior, intermediate or junior. The same commitment will be required. However as you go on to a second or third team you will find that in most but not all cases the comitment is lessbut at this level its really down to an individual rather than a team effort.

Now having even stated that in bigger counties the second team would still take things quite serious.

As for teams in the gym since October, are you serious? Is that group training or are they training as individuals? When did there season end?

delta_bravo

Those first few sessions back are always hell, laps and laps in the pitch black of Tymon Park, not even touching a ball for a month. Any other lads playing in the doldrums of the AFL know when games are starting back?

Yavvy

Ive done a few laps of tymon park myself

My club are back training 3rd for feb so the first match cant be far away

eroo

I don't play GAA but I've been into my fitness for the last 3 years so I can only give my experiences regarding fitness training.

If you do just running, you will lose weight(not always a good thing), and you will also lose some upper body strength. I used to be mad into my running 2 years ago, doing 10-12k runs. I became thin and even though I was doing some weights, I was making no strength gains and was quite easily 'put down' in kick abouts with friends!

Since then, I've switched my focus to weights. Lifting big and eating big, and I've gotten bigger as a result. Now, I could barely run more than 25-30 mins. However, if you are a GAA player you want speed and upper body strength, right? Well the best thing to do is balance it out. Maybe do 2-3 heavy weights sessions a week, along with 3 30 min runs, with 1-2 rest days. Basically, find a balance between strength training and cardio training during pre season imo. Adding a couple of pounds of muscle weight could be a good idea during pre season, or maybe before pre season.

My 2c

phil

Lads, football is a fitness game. Ideally you'd have four nights a week to do two nights running and two nights weights. If you only have 3, you emphasise the running. I'm not talking about running marathons or half marathons. I'm talking about middle distance running - 1600m or about 1 mile and high intensity.

I'm sorry, anyone who tells you to forget about running training for football has never played at a high level or is one of the very few people in this country who is naturally up to the level of fitness required to play 60 (or 70 if you're playing intercounty) intense minutes on a football pitch. Weights are an important part of being able to run hard and at that pace, but you will not become fit by pumping weights. You need to do them in conjunction with a proper fitness programme.

I agree running like a headless chicken will not help. I was very specific in the way I said to train - like a middle distance runner.

Rizzla King

Fitness is key this time of year, everyone knows how to play football I suppose so there wouldn't be as much need for ball work but my teams a crowd of moany aul bittys so we wouldn't get the numbers if we were doing running all the time. I find the best way is to get a pitch and do maybe 10 a side matches full pitch so we're running whilst playing ball at the same time.