Weight Training for GAA player

mectavba · 23-02-2010 12:22PM

OK didnt this post would bee so controversial!! Sorry if i wasnt clear.

Im basically looking to do a weight programme 3 times a week to improve my general upperbody and core strength. Im not looking to become a weight-lifting champ, but by developing upperbodt and core strength there is bound to be some bulking up.

I dont agree that some muscle groups are unnecessary for GAA, the stronger you are the better. I also know a lot of club and county senior players that use supplements and they are regarded very importantly by some.

I guess the main bit of advice that im looking for is whether i should be doing split sessions or full body sessions, given that i will make the gym 2/3 times a week. Targets would be, I suppose, being able to lift approx 30% heavier than what i am now in 6-8 weeks.

Also, im a bit uneasy about doing weights for my legs, any time i've tried them before, i've gotten injuries, particularly my knees. I figure im training my legs heavily in football sessions and matches so they dont need the workout as much as core and upperbody. Anyone any views on this???

J-Fit · 23-02-2010 01:09PM

mectavba wrote: »

OK didnt this post would bee so controversial!! Sorry if i wasnt clear.

Im basically looking to do a weight programme 3 times a week to improve my general upperbody and core strength. Im not looking to become a weight-lifting champ, but by developing upperbodt and core strength there is bound to be some bulking up.

I dont agree that some muscle groups are unnecessary for GAA, the stronger you are the better. I also know a lot of club and county senior players that use supplements and they are regarded very importantly by some.

I guess the main bit of advice that im looking for is whether i should be doing split sessions or full body sessions, given that i will make the gym 2/3 times a week. Targets would be, I suppose, being able to lift approx 30% heavier than what i am now in 6-8 weeks.

Also, im a bit uneasy about doing weights for my legs, any time i've tried them before, i've gotten injuries, particularly my knees. I figure im training my legs heavily in football sessions and matches so they dont need the workout as much as core and upperbody. Anyone any views on this???

Yeah, you need to train your legs.

Chet Zar · 23-02-2010 01:39PM

mectavba wrote: »

OK didnt this post would bee so controversial!! Sorry if i wasnt clear.

Im basically looking to do a weight programme 3 times a week to improve my general upperbody and core strength. Im not looking to become a weight-lifting champ, but by developing upperbodt and core strength there is bound to be some bulking up.

I dont agree that some muscle groups are unnecessary for GAA, the stronger you are the better. I also know a lot of club and county senior players that use supplements and they are regarded very importantly by some.

I guess the main bit of advice that im looking for is whether i should be doing split sessions or full body sessions, given that i will make the gym 2/3 times a week. Targets would be, I suppose, being able to lift approx 30% heavier than what i am now in 6-8 weeks.

Also, im a bit uneasy about doing weights for my legs, any time i've tried them before, i've gotten injuries, particularly my knees. I figure im training my legs heavily in football sessions and matches so they dont need the workout as much as core and upperbody. Anyone any views on this???

As regards your legs, find what works for you. Common sense would say that it probably isn't the best idea to deadlift or squat heavy the day before or two days before a big important match. But if you have a match on a Saturday, then why not train your legs in the gym on a Monday or Tuesday.

If you want to get stronger, train the big movements. Big movements = exercises that train the biggest muscles of the body. Bigger muscles stronger = overall stronger body. You could look at two heavy sessions and one lighter session each week:

A)

Squat
Bench/Dips
Pullups/Chinups
Some isolation work

Deadlift
Shoulder Press
Ab work (reverse curls/plank etc)
Bodyweight exercises - push-ups etc

Workout C could then be a combo of some of the above, some other exercises and some pre-hab (injury prevention work).

Keep reps generally low on heavy days.

Hynesy · 23-02-2010 07:57PM

mushykeogh wrote: »

Sweet baby jesus and the orphans, pecs, biceps and triceps, crunches? id recommend you watch a dvd of a gaa game and try and work out how relevant these muscles are to a gaa player (heres a hint, not very) this is just a build some muscles for the beach program. And 3 sets of 15 for big strength gains?? your winding me up.

Honestly you have no concept of the GAA game at all. Upperbody strength is hugely important in gaelic footballl. In case you didnt notice its a pretty rough game, an adequate layer of muscle is required to protect the rib cage and shoulders from injury. Breaking a tackle or holding off another player requires tricep and deltoid strength does it not?

And to suggest core strength isnt important for GAA? Are you insane? Weak core muscles are linked to higher risk of hamstring tears, groin injuries and hernias, all of which are very common among players of games requiring a lot of running and changes of direction. I suggest researcing before you make stupid statements like this.

And where did i suggest reps of 15 were for strength and bulk gains? The original poster commented that he was preparing for the GAA season with a some gym training. This would indicate that he only weight trains sporadically during the year. Up to 60% of strength gains are made by adaptations in the nervous sytems in the muscles. Hence if the person is starting out and does not have at least 6 sessions of preparotary training involving high reps and low strain they will find it extremely slow in gaining strength and bulk if they start straight into low rep heavy load training because they will spend 5 or 6 days recovering after each session as the muscles havent prepared for heavy training.

it is very easy to knock someones methods without actually giving anything constructive in return. I only responded to this after seeing the level of ignorance out there.

Transform · 23-02-2010 09:14PM

Hynesy wrote: »

Honestly you have no concept of the GAA game at all. Upperbody strength is hugely important in gaelic footballl. In case you didnt notice its a pretty rough game, an adequate layer of muscle is required to protect the rib cage and shoulders from injury. Breaking a tackle or holding off another player requires tricep and deltoid strength does it not?

And to suggest core strength isnt important for GAA? Are you insane? Weak core muscles are linked to higher risk of hamstring tears, groin injuries and hernias, all of which are very common among players of games requiring a lot of running and changes of direction. I suggest researcing before you make stupid statements like this.

And where did i suggest reps of 15 were for strength and bulk gains? The original poster commented that he was preparing for the GAA season with a some gym training. This would indicate that he only weight trains sporadically during the year. Up to 60% of strength gains are made by adaptations in the nervous sytems in the muscles. Hence if the person is starting out and does not have at least 6 sessions of preparotary training involving high reps and low strain they will find it extremely slow in gaining strength and bulk if they start straight into low rep heavy load training because they will spend 5 or 6 days recovering after each session as the muscles havent prepared for heavy training.

it is very easy to knock someones methods without actually giving anything constructive in return. I only responded to this after seeing the level of ignorance out there.

the level of ignorance may be out there to some degree but the majority of the replies have been helpful for the info given.

Yes work your legs please - if you are getting injuries you are just not doing them correctly.

mushykeogh · 23-02-2010 11:14PM

Hynesy wrote: »

And where did i suggest reps of 15 were for strength and bulk gains?

Hard to say but i think it may have been here "3) If you want big strength gains and muscle gain you should use roughly the following plan. 6 sessions of high reps (15 reps) and 3 sets of each exercise"

I suggest core isnt important? No, i was dismissive of ab crunches, core is crucial, ab crunches are not, id be recoomending planks, side planks, bridge, roll outs, med ball work, and anti rotation work as mentioned earlier. Crunches wont be worth a damn if you have a typical lower cross syndrome host of imbalances present.

Shoulders and triceps may be used to push a player off but not if there isnt a stable core present, and single leg stability and strength. Im sure youve heard the saying "you cant fire a canon from a canoe"!

As for researching before making statements, i have, im a past student of pat flanagan, involved in the fitness prep of kerry football in there last two all irelands wins, iv also attended workshops with him, they focussed alot more leg stability and strength work than upper body outdated workouts. As ian Mckeown tthe former lead strength and conditioning lead at sini recommended in a presentation for gaa, work on single leg stability then strength, core strength and endurance, general kinetic chain function,and then upper body function. I can email it to any one who would like it.

Hanley · 24-02-2010 12:42AM

Hynesy wrote: »

I only responded to this after seeing the level of ignorance out there.

The irony is delicious.

Hanley · 24-02-2010 12:43AM

mushykeogh wrote: »

Hard to say but i think it may have been here "3) If you want big strength gains and muscle gain you should use roughly the following plan. 6 sessions of high reps (15 reps) and 3 sets of each exercise"

I suggest core isnt important? No, i was dismissive of ab crunches, core is crucial, ab crunches are not, id be recoomending planks, side planks, bridge, roll outs, med ball work, and anti rotation work as mentioned earlier. Crunches wont be worth a damn if you have a typical lower cross syndrome host of imbalances present.

Shoulders and triceps may be used to push a player off but not if there isnt a stable core present, and single leg stability and strength. Im sure youve heard the saying "you cant fire a canon from a canoe"!

As for researching before making statements, i have, im a past student of pat flanagan, involved in the fitness prep of kerry football in there last two all irelands wins, iv also attended workshops with him, they focussed alot more leg stability and strength work than upper body outdated workouts. As ian Mckeown tthe former lead strength and conditioning lead at sini recommended in a presentation for gaa, work on single leg stability then strength, core strength and endurance, general kinetic chain function,and then upper body function. I can email it to any one who would like it.

Nice post!

Hynesy · 24-02-2010 01:31AM

mushykeogh wrote: »

Hard to say but i think it may have been here "3) If you want big strength gains and muscle gain you should use roughly the following plan. 6 sessions of high reps (15 reps) and 3 sets of each exercise"
.

You are taking this quote out of context. The first 6 sessions are merely preparatory work which im sure with all your expertese you would reccomend to anyone starting out on a weights program.

You ignored that it was followed by a series of sessions using higher weights and lower reps with decending sets to promote muscle growth and strength gains. Again feel free to constructively criticise this.

I would then reccommend a phase of concentric strength training coupled with explosive power work.

And i agree with you that crunches are of limited value to overall core strength, i merely gave the example of a crunch, leg raise and back extenson as an abdominal and lower back exercise combination.

J-Fit · 24-02-2010 12:09PM

Stop the penis measuring lads it serves no purpose. Hynesy, your theory is all spot on but your application is not. You strike me as a guy who has done all his homework but has not had the oppurtunity to apply any of your knowledge. Much of your info seems to come from core texts (Essentials of Strength and Conditioning?) and much of the time these sources are so far behind the curve I'm surprised they are still in print. You'll soon learn that bicep curls and crunches will keep a guy in the gym for a good deal longer than he needs to be when there are alternative exercises that can exercise several areas in one. Crunches are a redundant exercise that are fast being proven to be a source of vertebral disc rupture. There are a lot of good books out there and I'd recommend anything by Alwyn Cosgrove, Eric Cressey or Mike Boyle.

Transform · 24-02-2010 12:38PM

J-Fit wrote: »

Stop the penis measuring lads it serves no purpose. Hynesy, your theory is all spot on but your application is not. You strike me as a guy who has done all his homework but has not had the oppurtunity to apply any of your knowledge. Much of your info seems to come from core texts (Essentials of Strength and Conditioning?) and much of the time these sources are so far behind the curve I'm surprised they are still in print. You'll soon learn that bicep curls and crunches will keep a guy in the gym for a good deal longer than he needs to be when there are alternative exercises that can exercise several areas in one. Crunches are a redundant exercise that are fast being proven to be a source of vertebral disc rupture. There are a lot of good books out there and I'd recommend anything by Alwyn Cosgrove, Eric Cressey or Mike Boyle.

best post ever .... well in a while

Colm_OReilly · 24-02-2010 12:56PM

Yep, agree. Hynesy the lads here aren't trying to knock you down, just they/we have first hand experience with personal training and strength & conditioning. It does trump book knowledge.

bubbleking · 24-02-2010 12:59PM

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Yep, agree. Hynesy the lads here aren't trying to knock you down, just they/we have first hand experience with personal training and strength & conditioning. It does trump book knowledge.

+ 1 i have the CSCS (certified strength and conditioning specialist) qualification - but some of the theory is so dated its ridiculous. not brown nosing but iv leaned more about the application of the knowledge from this forum. In saying that the books do give you a firm base for understanding the science of it all.

Hynesy · 24-02-2010 01:52PM

J-Fit wrote: »

You'll soon learn that bicep curls and crunches will keep a guy in the gym for a good deal longer than he needs to be when there are alternative exercises that can exercise several areas in one. Crunches are a redundant exercise that are fast being proven to be a source of vertebral disc rupture. There are a lot of good books out there and I'd recommend anything by Alwyn Cosgrove, Eric Cressey or Mike Boyle.

Again i never mentioned bicep curls, so please dont insinuate that i advocated them as a worthwhile exercise for a GAA player!:rolleyes:

In fact the only exercise i mentioned was a crunch, leg raise and back extension which i only gave as an example! I generally dont reccommend isolation exercises for team sports players.

My main advice was not to do with specific exercises. From what i see the majority of team sports players do the same type of exercises, squats, dead lift, lunges, bench, pull ups, dips, seated row, upright rows, shoulder press, supine and prone flyes as well as core stability work and countless variations of the above.

I was trying to get across its how you do these exercises that will stimulate gains in strength and bulk. Nothing else. I see guys all the time complaining they they are not making progress etc.

I am not going to offer advanced or specific advice to anyone because i dont know them personally or their area of weakness etc.

And any person genuinely interested in the field knows not to limit their learning to one or two sources. I would be interested in learning a lot more about plyometrics so if any of you have some good info sources on these let me know.:)

Transform · 24-02-2010 02:04PM

Hynesy wrote: »

Again i never mentioned bicep curls, so please dont insinuate that i advocated them as a worthwhile exercise for a GAA player!:rolleyes:

In fact the only exercise i mentioned was a crunch, leg raise and back extension which i only gave as an example! I generally dont reccommend isolation exercises for team sports players.

My main advice was not to do with specific exercises. From what i see the majority of team sports players do the same type of exercises, squats, dead lift, lunges, bench, pull ups, dips, seated row, upright rows, shoulder press, supine and prone flyes as well as core stability work and countless variations of the above.

I was trying to get across its how you do these exercises that will stimulate gains in strength and bulk. Nothing else. I see guys all the time complaining they they are not making progress etc.

I am not going to offer advanced or specific advice to anyone because i dont know them personally or their area of weakness etc.

And any person genuinely interested in the field knows not to limit their learning to one or two sources. I would be interested in learning a lot more about plyometrics so if any of you have some good info sources on these let me know.:)

to be honest GAA guys would get more from doing some olympic lifting than plyos IMO.

Welcome to the wonderful world of training clients or watching people train in general - they do not always make the progress they want, they at times want to train how they want and avoid working eyeballs out on the basics so they end up doing bloody plank position for a minute and talk of training the 'core'

Finally, there is no need to say things like 'I would then reccommend a phase of concentric strength training coupled with explosive power work.
as the people who train clients regularly would normally never (in my experience) use those terms so we can keep it simple for the client/team.

Any of the gaa, soccer etc players i have worked with ALL could do with getting much stronger, wayyy more flexible and improving their ability to recover from short bursts of activity.

Barry.Oglesby · 24-02-2010 02:14PM

This really is a train wreck of a thread.

OP and Hynesy,
You're welcome to pop down to our gym for a visit anytime to see what GAA players are actually doing with an actual S&C programme and actual S&C coaching. I agree with Jfit, far too much willy waving and not enough discussion going on here.

BobbyOLeary · 24-02-2010 03:03PM

mushykeogh wrote: »

I can email it to any one who would like it.

Hey, can you send that on to me please? I'll PM you my email in a minute. Cheers.

solway · 25-02-2010 02:52PM

Transform wrote: »

to be honest GAA guys would get more from doing some olympic lifting than plyos IMO.

Welcome to the wonderful world of training clients or watching people train in general - they do not always make the progress they want, they at times want to train how they want and avoid working eyeballs out on the basics so they end up doing bloody plank position for a minute and talk of training the 'core'

Finally, there is no need to say things like 'I would then reccommend a phase of concentric strength training coupled with explosive power work.
as the people who train clients regularly would normally never (in my experience) use those terms so we can keep it simple for the client/team.

Any of the gaa, soccer etc players i have worked with ALL could do with getting much stronger, wayyy more flexible and improving their ability to recover from short bursts of activity.

Could you give a few other pointers towards training the core if your not convinced with the plank and also reccommend a phase of concentric strength training and explosive power work.

I work the core most days with 10kg weight on my back while doing the plank. I hold plank position for 60 seconds
Raise right hand 15 sec
Raise lefft hand 15 sec
" " right leg 15 sec
" " left leg 15 sec
" " right leg left hand 15 sec
" " left leg right hand 15 sec
and a further 30 seconds plank to finish off.
Am i wasting my time with this

Transform · 25-02-2010 03:19PM

not a wast of time but where is the progression?

A 40kg weight?? would be better to have a double body weight deadlift.

imo if you cant do hanging leg raises you really need to do some proper exercise and I am not talking about just isolating the core.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-wZCuSFSrs

my videos should help also -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOhyofgPh-4

hanging knees to elbows done in a 4 exercise work complex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-cUBizG5Bw

Plenty of work there

slingerz · 26-02-2010 01:11AM

As a fellow GAA player and one who is studying the fitness routines and programs that the inter county sides are into these days i hope i can provide a little insight.

Firstly, working all muscle groups and generally becoming stronger overall is a good idea. Doing countless bicep curls isnt going to win you an All-Star however.

Exercises such as the olympic lift, squats etc are important to a GAA player for overall strenght and stability.

In recent years the obsession that the northern counties have adopted is one of heavy contact and needing the abilty to take and receive big hits. I recall Paul Galvin highlighting a hit he received in the 1st half against Armagh in 2004 i think which left him unable to use his left arm for the rest of the first half. The following winter after being bullied by Armagh, Kerry focused on core strenght and stability.

This is an area that you should focus on for your pre-season GAA training. By all means keep training the shoulders, arms, chest etc but Core exercises need to be part of your routine every time you hit the gym in the off season. A number of GAA teams are using Pilates in the winter as the beginning prepartion for the coming season.

Also, Gaelic football is becoming more about mobilty and speed. You will need to improve your aerobic and anerobic fitness. These two will go hand in hand however. You should try googling Speed, Agility, Quickness(SAQ) training and adopt that into your routine. The beach weights wont do you any harm and can help but you shouldnt get hung up about these areas if GAA is your goal.

I believe this thread is most likely a moot conversation at his point as your side has most likely returned to the field. As other posters have indicated, rest is as important to your performance as training. Burn out is not the goal and you should remember that.

Barry.Oglesby · 26-02-2010 12:14PM

So in summation:

Do core work, and also don't.

make sure you work your upper body but don't work your upper body.

You need to do Olympic lifting and powerlifting and bodybuilding.

Work your arms but make sure not to work your arms.

Do plyometrics they're of benefit, but probably not of any benefit.

This thread has about as much quality information about GAA training on it as an Anne and Barry book. This is the sort of thread that people talk about when they criticise message boards.

So the question has to be "which teams do you train that qualifies you to give this advice?" Teams now, not individuals. Throw a stone in your office and you'll hit a Hurler or Footballer and the ricochet will probably hit another one. The answer for the vast majority of people on this thread is zero. Small data pools lead to inaccurate assumptions, and this thread is riddled with inaccuracies and assumptions.

Hail 2 Da Chimp · 26-02-2010 12:38PM

^ As per Barry's post above, there are obviously a lot of experienced trainers who post here.
Would 1 or 2 of ye not put your heads together and create a thread giving advice on this subject? Discuss different training methods used by different clubs / trainers.

There seems to be a GAA fitness thread every fortnight and every single one of them turns into a nightmare. It seems that any attempt at giving advice on this subject is a minefield.

d'Oracle · 26-02-2010 01:15PM

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

So the question has to be "which teams do you train that qualifies you to give this advice?" Teams now, not individuals. Throw a stone in your office and you'll hit a Hurler or Footballer and the ricochet will probably hit another one. The answer for the vast majority of people on this thread is zero. Small data pools lead to inaccurate assumptions, and this thread is riddled with inaccuracies and assumptions.

I now have a disciplinary meeting tomorrow for violence against workmates.
And no-one in my office plays GAA.

Last time I take advice off the internet.....

Chet Zar · 26-02-2010 01:18PM

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

^ As per Barry's post above, there are obviously a lot of experienced trainers who post here.
Would 1 or 2 of ye not put your heads together and create a thread giving advice on this subject? Discuss different training methods used by different clubs / trainers.

There seems to be a GAA fitness thread every fortnight and every single one of them turns into a nightmare. It seems that any attempt at giving advice on this subject is a minefield.

As of yet I have no experience training GAA players so I'll leave the specifics to the likes of Barry/Will/others who post here and do have experience. However, two things I do know:

1) You likely need to get stronger for your sport regardless of the approach.

2) Most time people come on here looking for a programme to make them a super-elite-athlete - i.e. they want to get fitter, faster, stronger, more mobile, more explosive but_not_bulk_up_too much at the same time. Madness. Get clear on your goals and prioritise them - get REALLY specific, and then you have a starting point you can work from and people can base their advice on. Without that foundations threads like these stay doomed to go nowhere fast.

Barry.Oglesby · 26-02-2010 04:30PM

Chet Zar wrote: »

As of yet I have no experience training GAA players so I'll leave the specifics to the likes of Barry/Will/others who post here and do have experience. However, two things I do know:

1) You likely need to get stronger for your sport regardless of the approach.

2) Most time people come on here looking for a programme to make them a super-elite-athlete - i.e. they want to get fitter, faster, stronger, more mobile, more explosive but_not_bulk_up_too much at the same time. Madness. Get clear on your goals and prioritise them - get REALLY specific, and then you have a starting point you can work from and people can base their advice on. Without that foundations threads like these stay doomed to go nowhere fast.

Not a bad post. On topic 2), what I'd say is that of those who actually have the knowledge to improve those qualities, very few know how to implement them over the course of a season, mix it in with games, postponements, pre-season, injury etc. and you have a complex problem that can't be solved with someone's idea of what it should be.

Anyway, I'll avoid being Mr. Negative all the time here and put in something positive. Here's a video made last night. This would be an example of a pre-season conditioning drill. This is about 5% of the total session from last night.

The info about the session is available on Will's blog here

If you go onto our front page and onto the second topic there's some examples too, as well as an excellent article by Bill Starr in the first topic which I'm actually going to start another topic about right...... now.

solway · 26-02-2010 09:22PM

Im a gaa player like yourself and this is my strength and conditioning weeks work. Feel free to cut the s***t of it but i find it works for me. I dont do dead lifts because last year i f****d up my back doing them and im scared s***less of them ever since.

monday bench press 4x10- 60kg
incline bench press 4x10- 45kg
press ups 3x20
pullovers 4x10- 14kg
core and ab work
chin ups 3x3-4 (im bad at them)
lat pull downs 4x10- 35kg
Tuesday Gaa training. Fitness and ball work usually

Wednesday barbell clean and press 2x3- 65kg
dumbell lat raises 4x10- 12kg each hand
push presses 4x10- 30kg
upright rows 4x10- 25kg
barbell curls, seated and standing- 25- 27.5kg
tricep extensions and close grip tricep press- 30-40kg
core and ab work

Thursday Same as Tuesday

Friday squats 4x10- 90kg
lunges 4x10 each leg- 45kg
jump squats 2x5- 45kg
hyper extensions 4x10 with 10kg weight
machine rows 4x10- 30kg
abs and core work

Saturday usually work alone on speed work if we dont have training or a weekend match.

Sunday rest day.

My diet would include: 6.30am porridge with nuts and honey, fresh fruit smoothie (5 fruits, yogurt and orange juice all blitzed together). Protein shake (instant whey by reflex). Off to work drinking a litre of water on the way.

10am crackers cream cheese, cereal bar and mug of tea.

1pm Tuna sandwich/chicken sandwich whole grain bread tomatoes lettuce cucumber etc. Mug of tea.

4.30/5 pm Bananna sandwich and litre of water on way home from work.
After workout/gaa training protein shake, dinner. Red meat/ chicken/ fish/ & potatoe/ sweet potatoe/ pasta/ rice & veg. 2 pints of water with dinner
Id also have a biscuit or 2 with a cup of tea while watching a bit of telly at night.

Once a fortnight id have a bad meal like a fry or chicken and chips etc.
(u know yourself)

Im 5ft 9, 12 stone,BMI 24.9 and body fat 11.6%.
I find that works well for me but i find sometimes at gaa training im tired from the workout the night before.

As i said feel free to cut the s**t of it. Im no PT or coach or nutrition expert i just picked up bits here and there from this forum and magazines and stuff.

J-Fit · 27-02-2010 04:42PM

solway wrote: »

Im a gaa player like yourself and this is my strength and conditioning weeks work. Feel free to cut the s***t of it but i find it works for me. I dont do dead lifts because last year i f****d up my back doing them and im scared s***less of them ever since.

monday bench press 4x10- 60kg
incline bench press 4x10- 45kg
press ups 3x20
pullovers 4x10- 14kg
core and ab work
chin ups 3x3-4 (im bad at them)
lat pull downs 4x10- 35kg
Tuesday Gaa training. Fitness and ball work usually

Wednesday barbell clean and press 2x3- 65kg
dumbell lat raises 4x10- 12kg each hand
push presses 4x10- 30kg
upright rows 4x10- 25kg
barbell curls, seated and standing- 25- 27.5kg
tricep extensions and close grip tricep press- 30-40kg
core and ab work

Thursday Same as Tuesday

Friday squats 4x10- 90kg
lunges 4x10 each leg- 45kg
jump squats 2x5- 45kg
hyper extensions 4x10 with 10kg weight
machine rows 4x10- 30kg
abs and core work

Saturday usually work alone on speed work if we dont have training or a weekend match.

Sunday rest day.

My diet would include: 6.30am porridge with nuts and honey, fresh fruit smoothie (5 fruits, yogurt and orange juice all blitzed together). Protein shake (instant whey by reflex). Off to work drinking a litre of water on the way.

10am crackers cream cheese, cereal bar and mug of tea.

1pm Tuna sandwich/chicken sandwich whole grain bread tomatoes lettuce cucumber etc. Mug of tea.

4.30/5 pm Bananna sandwich and litre of water on way home from work.
After workout/gaa training protein shake, dinner. Red meat/ chicken/ fish/ & potatoe/ sweet potatoe/ pasta/ rice & veg. 2 pints of water with dinner
Id also have a biscuit or 2 with a cup of tea while watching a bit of telly at night.

Once a fortnight id have a bad meal like a fry or chicken and chips etc.
(u know yourself)

Im 5ft 9, 12 stone,BMI 24.9 and body fat 11.6%.
I find that works well for me but i find sometimes at gaa training im tired from the workout the night before.

As i said feel free to cut the s**t of it. Im no PT or coach or nutrition expert i just picked up bits here and there from this forum and magazines and stuff.

I don't think anybody should be "cutting the sh1t" out of anything. I think people jump to such heady conclusions when they look at a programme, often criticising something which may have been formulated under unique circumstances to that individual. For instance, prior to my butting in here, you may have had people come along and demonise your programme, throwing around such terrible accusations that "you are working in a completely wrong rep range for strength gains" and "sure what relevance have bench presses when you are never lying down in a match". Such experts may never consider the fact that your coach was attempting to induce functional hypertrophy, not necessarily strength, and that he or she chose the bench press for it's strong anabolic hormonal response. These two facts validate the use of the exercise in your programme but it doesn't conform to the critic's philosophy so they disregard your methods. Any and every exercise can have it's place in a well-rounded programme but only if it is rationalised by the programmer.

You say your programme works for you and very often that is enough. Training people is about the people themselves, not necessarily the programming. Perception is reality and if you feel you are getting stronger, then you probably are. That is why these threads degenerate into a cluster-fcuk of criticism and differing opinions.

Anyway, (and here comes the preaching bit!) I'm not sure what your training goal is but your Monday session has far too much horizontal pushing (I would retain push-ups) and lat pulldowns are simply not required even if you are doing chins poorly. If you are failing early in the chins, do a few eccentric reps post-failure or just do three sets of eccentrics all up. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of body part splits and I like the full-body to be utilised every session but having said that, you aren't breaking any rules.

I like clean and jerks in the first session of the week when you are more fresh but are you sure your technique is solid? You say you hurt your back deadlifting and obviously the first pull of the clean is a stiff-leg deadlift so be careful. No need to do curls both sitting and standing (and if you ask me, no need to do them at all). You could throw in a few sets of dips instead of extensions.

Jump squats too, I would place earlier in the week. As you are playing on weekends (well I think you are) squats can be a pretty CNS intensive exercise to be doing so close to matchday. Keep up the lunges. I love single leg work for athletes as most sporting movements utilise the motor pattern to some extent. You say you don't like deadlifts but that's no reason to stay away from lower body posterior chain work. There are many deadlift variations that largely take the lower back out of the equation such as single leg romanian deadlifts etc so get cracking on them! In general, I think you need to incorprate a lot more lower body work. It's importance cannot be overemphasised and currently your programme heavily favours the upper body by a about a 2:1 ratio. Replace the machine rows with inverted rows.

If you want to stick to the higher/lower split format you'd be better off doing something like:

Day 1: Explosive/Olympic Lifts
Day 2: Lower body
Day 3: Upper Body

You don't specify what your core work is so I'm not sure what you're doing, just avoid crunches (not saying you're not!).

The diet can be improved in certain areas but if your bf is actually 11.6%, it isn't really hampering you. Obviously the conventional medicine practitioners of this world will hammer home the dangers of your BMI but if your body fat is kept in check there should be no issues. I would cut down on the processed stuff and make it the exception rather than the rule. Anyway, the match is on now so see ya!

solway · 01-03-2010 11:39PM

J-Fit wrote: »

I don't think anybody should be "cutting the sh1t" out of anything. I think people jump to such heady conclusions when they look at a programme, often criticising something which may have been formulated under unique circumstances to that individual. For instance, prior to my butting in here, you may have had people come along and demonise your programme, throwing around such terrible accusations that "you are working in a completely wrong rep range for strength gains" and "sure what relevance have bench presses when you are never lying down in a match". Such experts may never consider the fact that your coach was attempting to induce functional hypertrophy, not necessarily strength, and that he or she chose the bench press for it's strong anabolic hormonal response. These two facts validate the use of the exercise in your programme but it doesn't conform to the critic's philosophy so they disregard your methods. Any and every exercise can have it's place in a well-rounded programme but only if it is rationalised by the programmer.

You say your programme works for you and very often that is enough. Training people is about the people themselves, not necessarily the programming. Perception is reality and if you feel you are getting stronger, then you probably are. That is why these threads degenerate into a cluster-fcuk of criticism and differing opinions.

Anyway, (and here comes the preaching bit!) I'm not sure what your training goal is but your Monday session has far too much horizontal pushing (I would retain push-ups) and lat pulldowns are simply not required even if you are doing chins poorly. If you are failing early in the chins, do a few eccentric reps post-failure or just do three sets of eccentrics all up. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of body part splits and I like the full-body to be utilised every session but having said that, you aren't breaking any rules.

I like clean and jerks in the first session of the week when you are more fresh but are you sure your technique is solid? You say you hurt your back deadlifting and obviously the first pull of the clean is a stiff-leg deadlift so be careful. No need to do curls both sitting and standing (and if you ask me, no need to do them at all). You could throw in a few sets of dips instead of extensions.

Jump squats too, I would place earlier in the week. As you are playing on weekends (well I think you are) squats can be a pretty CNS intensive exercise to be doing so close to matchday. Keep up the lunges. I love single leg work for athletes as most sporting movements utilise the motor pattern to some extent. You say you don't like deadlifts but that's no reason to stay away from lower body posterior chain work. There are many deadlift variations that largely take the lower back out of the equation such as single leg romanian deadlifts etc so get cracking on them! In general, I think you need to incorprate a lot more lower body work. It's importance cannot be overemphasised and currently your programme heavily favours the upper body by a about a 2:1 ratio. Replace the machine rows with inverted rows.

If you want to stick to the higher/lower split format you'd be better off doing something like:

Day 1: Explosive/Olympic Lifts
Day 2: Lower body
Day 3: Upper Body

You don't specify what your core work is so I'm not sure what you're doing, just avoid crunches (not saying you're not!).

The diet can be improved in certain areas but if your bf is actually 11.6%, it isn't really hampering you. Obviously the conventional medicine practitioners of this world will hammer home the dangers of your BMI but if your body fat is kept in check there should be no issues. I would cut down on the processed stuff and make it the exception rather than the rule. Anyway, the match is on now so see ya!

Cheers for the reply J-Fit. I definetly will take some of your advice on board.

pkeno · 03-03-2010 02:19AM

mushykeogh wrote: »

I can email it to any one who would like it.

I'd be interested in that too if you wouldn't mind. I'll PM email address now. Thanks

solway · 14-03-2010 01:46PM

mectavba wrote: »

Im going back playing GAA in a couple of weeks and have been getting back in the gym the last few weeks but im wondering what programme would be best suited to me.

Last season I was getting to the gym on a Mon, Wed, Fri on most weeks with training on tues and thurs and match at weekend (on a very good week that is)

I used to just do a full body workout as in 1 or 2 exercises per muscle category on my 3 visits each week. I found it worked well enough to a point, but I could have got better results. Now im thinking this year should I alternate the muscle groups each visits as in: Mon Back and Chest, wed Legs, Fri arms and shoulders...or something like that? Also how often should I be doing core workouts and what are the best programmes?

Lastly, regarding supplements etc. which would be most advisable for a GAA player. I want to bulk up but at the same time want to remain mobile and not too heavy. Last year I used maximuscle cyclone for a couple of months and found it very good, although it is quite expensive. I saw holland & barrett advertising a whey protein for 20 euro, but it is this more for people into just pure bodybuilding? Anyone tried this one?

Thanks for reading and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Well Mectavba, Just wondering how your getting on with the weight training and gaa training. Did you come up with any suitable programme.

Weight Training for GAA player

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