Gaa Fitness & Weights training

Conord45

Hi,
I am a football midfielder/hurling full back. I'm about 6' 2" and weigh 14 Stone. About 2-3 stone of that 14 is fat. I am not strong, big, fit or fast enough.

I am looking to build for next years championship (I have given up on this year because I'm just too heavy. I will just focus on fitness until this season is over ) i will be in my last year U21 and am hoping to break into the club senior panel.

Has anyone got any programs/programming tips that could help me? I am planning on 3 home gym sessions per week and am unsure If I should do any cardio (running fitness/HIIT) or just focus on weights for the winter.

I will be training out of my garage gym (barbell,dumbells , bench, trx, stepper, squat rack, pull up bar, homemade prowler, med ball etc.)

Any advice anyone can give me would be infinitely appreciated

ironkiwi

Focus on Hypertrophy strength training (high intesity and high volume) during the first 8 weeks during the winter. Sounds like you need to fill out a bit more given the height. No need to focus too much on cardio during the early stages of winter. Don't ignore it altogether though. You can then move on to strength phase using heavier weights but reduce the volume of reps. Next is endurance phase which will enable your target muscle to perform for longer... high volume low intensity. Also remember the importance of a 10 minute warmup before weight training. Don't perform weight training unless the technique is good. In later winter months bring cardio into the training. Is your club not performing weight sessions with the club?

Conord45

No, we're mostly farmers (hence as strong as bulls and usually focus on fitness and hurling/football skills). Some of the main players do their own training alright

nice_guy80

Losing the weight would be my priority
If 15 lads on a team each lost close to a stone (some will lose more some less), they wouldn't have to carry the weight of an extra player around the field in every game.

PARlance

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Losing the weight would be my priority
If 15 lads on a team each lost close to a stone (some will lose more some less), they wouldn't have to carry the weight of an extra player around the field in every game.

Or they'd be a man down.

Limestone Cowboy

Squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench, rows, planks, pull ups and push ups. I was a bit like yourself last winter and headed to the gym 3/4 times a weeks and seen a serious difference after a few months strength wise. Actually put on a half stone instead of losing it but got way leaner. I'll run at training all day or in a game but can't motivate myself to do much cardio of my own accord.

nice_guy80

PARlance wrote: »

Or they'd be a man down.

Faster, not dragging all that extra weight around.

Get to a S&C coach, get assessed and get a proper program put together for you
Failing that, a Crossfit or weightlifting club would be the way to go.

AugustusMinimus

Conord45 wrote: »

Hi,
I am a football midfielder/hurling full back. I'm about 6' 2" and weigh 14 Stone. About 1 stone of that 14 is fat. I am not strong, big, fit or fast enough.

I am looking to build for next years championship (I have given up on this year because I'm just too heavy. I will just focus on fitness until this season is over ) i will be in my last year U21 and am hoping to break into the club senior panel.

Has anyone got any programs/programming tips that could help me? I am planning on 3 home gym sessions per week and am unsure If I should do any cardio (running fitness/HIIT) or just focus on weights for the winter.

I will be training out of my garage gym (barbell,dumbells , bench, trx, stepper, squat rack, pull up bar, homemade prowler, med ball etc.)

Any advice anyone can give me would be infinitely appreciated

If you only had 1 stone of fat you'd have a body fat percentage of 7%. You'd be absolutely ripped.

Prob have 3 or more stone of body fat.

Conord45

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

If you only had 1 stone of fat you'd have a body fat percentage of 7%. You'd be absolutely ripped.

Prob have 3 or more stone of body fat.

Your probably right

PARlance

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Faster, not dragging all that extra weight around.

Get to a S&C coach, get assessed and get a proper program put together for you
Failing that, a Crossfit or weightlifting club would be the way to go.

It's fairly niave to say that you'll have a faster team if they all were to lose a stone. He won't lose much, if any weight if he does a decent programme. He'll replace fat with muscle.

Dyr

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Faster, not dragging all that extra weight around.

Get to a S&C coach, get assessed and get a proper program put together for you
Failing that, a Crossfit or weightlifting club would be the way to go.

What about the chunky lad in at 14 or the big man in goals putting the fear of god into their forward line?

nice_guy80

PARlance wrote: »

It's fairly niave to say that you'll have a faster team if they all were to lose a stone. He won't lose much, if any weight if he does a decent programme. He'll replace fat with muscle.

generally if a club player loses some weight they speed up.
I've trained with enough club players

runawaybishop

Stronglifts or starting strength would suit you, linear progression strength programs with full body sessions 3 times a week.

ultrapercy

The obsession with strength training in the gaa has got to ridiculous levels. Strength training has its place in any fitness regime but it should be supplementary rather than the focal point it has become. A game lasts for 60 minutes at club level so it is an endurance event by nature. A gaa focused fitness programme should aim to have a player performing at a medium to high level for the entire 60 mins. Only one way, running. Long easy runs of 30 mins,interval sessions of 100m to 800m fast and some sessions of shorter sprints. Add in some strength sessions too for overall better conditioning. No matter what anyone tells you strength training will not keep you running at the same level for 60 mins.

ironkiwi

Weights training is great for endurance sports, lights loads with high reps will tax the target muscles, with efficient recovery that muscle will then be able to last longer.
Sports specific movements in Gaelic games include short burst of speed and lots of them during a game, gains in this area can be sought during the power phase in pre season... again light loads and explosive movements.
Just doing intervals of 100 metres sprints alone will not see exceptional impovement in an athlete.

nice_guy80

ultrapercy wrote: »

The obsession with strength training in the gaa has got to ridiculous levels. Strength training has its place in any fitness regime but it should be supplementary rather than the focal point it has become. A game lasts for 60 minutes at club level so it is an endurance event by nature. A gaa focused fitness programme should aim to have a player performing at a medium to high level for the entire 60 mins. Only one way, running. Long easy runs of 30 mins,interval sessions of 100m to 800m fast and some sessions of shorter sprints. Add in some strength sessions too for overall better conditioning. No matter what anyone tells you strength training will not keep you running at the same level for 60 mins.

It will keep you sprinting though
Hurling is a power/speed game played in short bursts not endurance. The average distance run each time to get a ball or with a ball in hurling is 0-20m at sprint speed. Most movement is done at walking or slow jogging pace!

You do need a good base of cardio fitness but running alone shouldn't be used to gain this.