Gaa watcher to Gaa player

Kevhog1988 · 03-12-2018 7:35pm #1

Hi all,

As the name suggests i was living and working outside of the country for a number of years where my weight ballooned to 18 stone through a mixture of very little exercise , guinness and far too much indulgence of my sweet tooth . I have a massive interest in GAA and whilst i love watching i am 30 now so want to get back to playing a bit of football before im too old. My main aims are:

1: Get myself up to a fitness level that i can manage to train with the juniors and eventually play.
2: Lose weight along the way
3. increase strength/skills in areas which would be beneficial to me possibly becoming a starting member of the team.

To date i have started my journey by:
1. beginning to watch what i eat and logging all meals in my fitness pal to hopefully be in a calorie deficit every day. (achieved for a week so far)
2. Taking the poor jack russell for a 5k walk every night. Will commence small bits of jogging in a week or so (run a pole walk a pole)
3. No beer

I intend to:
1. Join the local gym and get a lesson/programme on how to use the machines.
2. Become better educated on what im eating.

Any tips/advice etc would be greatly appreciated.

Kevhog1988 · 04-12-2018 10:03am

Things going well so far. under 1500 calories every day for the past week and doing a 5k walk with the dog in the evenings has me weighing 17 stone 11.5 lbs this morning. Am amazed how much i can actually eat and always feel full when eating cleaner.

Alf Veedersane · 04-12-2018 10:12am

theemigrant wrote: »

Things going well so far. under 1500 calories every day for the past week and doing a 5k walk with the dog in the evenings has me weighing 17 stone 11.5 lbs this morning. Am amazed how much i can actually eat and always feel full when eating cleaner.

Do you find using MyFitnessPal a bit of an eye opener in terms of the content of some food?

Kevhog1988 · 04-12-2018 11:10am

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Do you find using MyFitnessPal a bit of an eye opener in terms of the content of some food?

Completely!! ill never eat a breakfast bar again

incentsitive · 04-12-2018 7:06pm

Tip - keep er lit, keep doing what you are doing.
Once you keep doing what your doing, you'll lose the weight easily enough.
If you want real advice on what you are eating, go to visit a dietician or something like BBC good food. Don't mind any blogger or celebrity sponsored waffler about various diets.
But don't be afraid to have a blow-out night where you go out and drink a load of pints or have a take away. If you don't treat yourself, you'll get bored of it and fall off the wagon - make it a treat to celebrate a milestone, e.g. running 5k in under a certain time, or running 10k without stopping, etc.

Kevhog1988 · 06-12-2018 9:41am

incentsitive wrote: »

Tip - keep er lit, keep doing what you are doing.
Once you keep doing what your doing, you'll lose the weight easily enough.
If you want real advice on what you are eating, go to visit a dietician or something like BBC good food. Don't mind any blogger or celebrity sponsored waffler about various diets.
But don't be afraid to have a blow-out night where you go out and drink a load of pints or have a take away. If you don't treat yourself, you'll get bored of it and fall off the wagon - make it a treat to celebrate a milestone, e.g. running 5k in under a certain time, or running 10k without stopping, etc.

Im actually enjoying it at the moment. Im not craving sweets or anything as of yet. Would you say id need to be able to run 10k to be fit enough to play?

incentsitive · 06-12-2018 10:19am

Probably not to be fair, I just threw it in as a suggestion. I've played ball with a lot of shapes and sizes so you'd be grand I'd say. Just be able to do a good bit of sprinting etc.

Kevhog1988 · 06-12-2018 11:50am

10k should be manageable in time im hoping

Kevhog1988 · 03-01-2019 11:35am

Got a samsung gear watch from the girlfriend for christmas. Find the steps a constant reminder to keep on track. starting to notice clothes a bit looser now even though i did eat a bit of bad food over the christmas

incentsitive · 04-01-2019 4:20pm

theemigrant wrote: »

Got a samsung gear watch from the girlfriend for christmas. Find the steps a constant reminder to keep on track. starting to notice clothes a bit looser now even though i did eat a bit of bad food over the christmas

Sure who didn't, good to hear.

Lu Tze · 04-01-2019 4:24pm

Fair play to you, considered it myself but thought I was too unfit, old (35), and too long out of the game, having been not particularly good when I was playing!

Keep us updated.

Kevhog1988 · 04-01-2019 5:09pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

Fair play to you, considered it myself but thought I was too unfit, old (35), and too long out of the game, having been not particularly good when I was playing!

Keep us updated.

I wasnt particularily good either but have more of a gra for the game now than i had then so its one way to motivate me to do something. After moving home i definitely need to expand my social circle also so two birds with one stone. Im only hoping to make the c team so anything above that level is a bonus and making the a's is a pipe dream

Telo123 · 07-01-2019 4:40pm

Ah lads.Jusr looked through this thread there. Dont worry about your fitness levels just get on the pitch with your local clubs and enjoy yourselves , there are many people out there in the same situation as ye playing away. Nobody will care if your not unbelivebaly fit.Respect for getting out there and moving though, great for the mental and physical health.

incentsitive · 07-01-2019 5:31pm

Telo123 wrote: »

Ah lads.Jusr looked through this thread there. Dont worry about your fitness levels just get on the pitch with your local clubs and enjoy yourselves , there are many people out there in the same situation as ye playing away. Nobody will care if your not unbelivebaly fit.Respect for getting out there and moving though, great for the mental and physical health.

I'd agree with that lads. The GAA has survived for 125 years with lads who aren't in great shape, getting out and playing Junior B or whatever.

Alf Veedersane · 07-01-2019 5:39pm

To be fair, the lad is using it as a motivation to get in better shape so its not solely about getting a game

Consey · 07-01-2019 5:45pm

Great start for you OP, well done on getting going. Don't leave it too long to get out and join junior training, great time of year for it, be plenty of unfit lads there! You don't need a high level of fitness for junior football, apart from a strong grip to keep a hold of the jersey of whatever young lad you're marking!

Great to get back playing, you can't beat it and you've a few years left in you!

Kevhog1988 · 08-01-2019 8:40pm

Consey wrote: »

Great start for you OP, well done on getting going. Don't leave it too long to get out and join junior training, great time of year for it, be plenty of unfit lads there! You don't need a high level of fitness for junior football, apart from a strong grip to keep a hold of the jersey of whatever young lad you're marking!

Great to get back playing, you can't beat it and you've a few years left in you!

C's not back until march i think. Chairman has said hell let me know when they are. Down half a stone now!!

Kevhog1988 · 11-01-2019 11:00am

5k of walking/jogging/crawling done last night. im now running a pole walking a pole. was under pressure for km 2 & 3 but then started to enjoy it.

Kevhog1988 · 26-03-2019 9:36am

Sooo.. this fell by the wayside and im back to the same story. Going to try again now

Bassfish · 26-03-2019 4:25pm

Good on you, I joined Rugby Club in my late 20s having never played anything but tag. As expected, i was ****e and couldn't tackle a bag of chips but i really enjoyed it. Knowing i had training or a match that day forces you to eat right. You'd be hard pushed to do the same amount of cardio in a gym that you'll end up doing in training. Ended up making friends and being the fittest i ever was in my adult life. Don't let anything put you off and give it a crack!

Kevhog1988 · 24-04-2019 8:18am

Lost 3kg of fat and added 1.5kg of muscle according to the test they do in the gym. Feeling a lot better in myself and im out with the clubs c team this weekend. Doubt ill be playing but good to get started.

carltonleon · 26-04-2019 9:57am

Well Done. That is a great achievement and should spur you on to bigger gains and to train even harder.
I never played GAA in my life but played soccer . I ended up getting involved in the local club through mentoring my kids teams and ended up playing with the Over 40s (social) team once a week and really enjoyed it and I am closer to 50 than I am to 40 but I was pretty fit and obviously having played soccer I had a good idea of team sports so was able to not look out of place. I am probably the fittest I have been in 20 years and train about 5/6 times a week sometimes more but feel great so keep on with your path, you are only a young fella and once you get on the healthy track there will be something stopping you from going back on the unhealthy track again. It is all about consistency in relation to training and with nutrition it is not about dieting but about making a permanent change in your lifestyle.

Kevhog1988 · 09-05-2019 12:40pm

Played midfield in a training match and went well for 25/30 minutes.

Kevhog1988 · 13-05-2019 10:32am

Match last Friday Night against the local rivals, Didn't get a game but still liking being involved for now.When im not getting game time im going to try increase my activity levels as anybody on the team is getting an hour more excercise than me and i need to close the gap.
I did darkness into light saturday and then a 10k cycle sunday. Almost 29k steps over the weekend.

carltonleon · 14-05-2019 8:25am

How long did the 10k cycle take ? That's not really much if I am honest, I probably wouldn't get on my bike if I wasn't doing at least 35/40km with some climbing.
That's not a criticism by the way, but the reason I ask how long the cycle took you is that there would be a much more beneficial/efficient way for you to spend that 30mins if you are really looking for the fitness aspect and that would be a HIIT session which you can do at home.
So I did Darkness Into Light on Sat as well and then at about 3pm on Sat afternoon I did 3 sets of 13x45 secs on 15 secs off HIIT. But the difference is that for the first 2 sets I did it wearing a 20kg weight vest and the last set I took it off. And Yes, it was absolutely ****ing savage and left me wrecked but even without the weight vest 3 sets of this would be more helpful in gaining fitness, in my opinion, than 10k cycling.
This was done in my hall with the Seconds Interval Timer on my iPad.

So my set looked like this -
High Knees
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Squats
Knees to Elbow Mountain Climbers
Burpees
Switching Mountain Climbers
Jumping Jacks
Lunges
Russian Twists
Isometric AB Boat Hold
Step Ups (2 steps on Stairs)
Plank Shoulder Taps
Kick Throughs

Kevhog1988 · 14-05-2019 1:02pm

carltonleon wrote: »

How long did the 10k cycle take ? That's not really much if I am honest, I probably wouldn't get on my bike if I wasn't doing at least 35/40km with some climbing.
That's not a criticism by the way, but the reason I ask how long the cycle took you is that there would be a much more beneficial/efficient way for you to spend that 30mins if you are really looking for the fitness aspect and that would be a HIIT session which you can do at home.
So I did Darkness Into Light on Sat as well and then at about 3pm on Sat afternoon I did 3 sets of 13x45 secs on 15 secs off HIIT. But the difference is that for the first 2 sets I did it wearing a 20kg weight vest and the last set I took it off. And Yes, it was absolutely ****ing savage and left me wrecked but even without the weight vest 3 sets of this would be more helpful in gaining fitness, in my opinion, than 10k cycling.
This was done in my hall with the Seconds Interval Timer on my iPad.

So my set looked like this -
High Knees
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Squats
Knees to Elbow Mountain Climbers
Burpees
Switching Mountain Climbers
Jumping Jacks
Lunges
Russian Twists
Isometric AB Boat Hold
Step Ups (2 steps on Stairs)
Plank Shoulder Taps
Kick Throughs

It took me 30 minutes with some steep hills included. I can appreciate you probably would have spent that time more effectively but as per my opening post im extremely unfit and doubt i would be able for a 40km cycle.

carltonleon · 14-05-2019 1:48pm

As I said theemigrant, it was not a criticism but I was taking it from one of your previous posts with the muscle gain and fatloss that you posted that your fitness had moved on so I was just trying to help you up that with a suggestion. It can be hard to gauge from people's postings what level they are at or have moved onto

Kevhog1988 · 15-05-2019 8:55am

carltonleon wrote: »

As I said theemigrant, it was not a criticism but I was taking it from one of your previous posts with the muscle gain and fatloss that you posted that your fitness had moved on so I was just trying to help you up that with a suggestion. It can be hard to gauge from people's postings what level they are at or have moved onto

i feel like i have gone back in the last week or so. Got a bang in the ribs playing football and its been sore for almost two weeks. Coupled with my knees being extremely stiff first thing in the morning ive slowed down a bit this week

Kevhog1988 · 17-05-2019 9:29am

Lost a further 2kg in the past week. Delighted with myself as wasnt in the gym so much with the bad ribs. Went to the gym both yesterday morning and this morning. Starting to enjoy the gym sessions now.

carltonleon · 17-05-2019 2:14pm

theemigrant wrote: »

Lost a further 2kg in the past week. Delighted with myself as wasnt in the gym so much with the bad ribs. Went to the gym both yesterday morning and this morning. Starting to enjoy the gym sessions now.

Great .. Well Done ...
Once you get on that healthy track, it is a great feeling.
It is all about consistency and doing things regularly both in training and as regards nutrition.
Keep up the good work

Kevhog1988 · 17-05-2019 10:51pm

First appearance tonight. Got 40 mins at full forward. Delighted

carltonleon · 17-05-2019 11:09pm

theemigrant wrote: »

First appearance tonight. Got 40 mins at full forward. Delighted

Makes all the hard work worthwhile

Kevhog1988 · 20-05-2019 8:56am

carltonleon wrote: »

Makes all the hard work worthwhile

Thanks, It shows me im getting somewhere i guess. Was delighted to get to close out the game when they were taking other guys off. Really enjoyed the physicality of it also. The only frustration i had was i knew i should be getting somewhere a few paces quicker but i guess that will come in time.

Obrieski · 20-05-2019 9:10am

Good man theemigrant!

Good to see from your point you've a had a few knock backs, saying you fell off the wagon for a while, getting injured etc, but you never gave up! And I reckon that's the main thing. Keep plugging away.
Fitness and losing weight is no overnight trick, I find that consistency is key. I've gotten into a good gym routine now, training twice a week with sport and a game on the weekend and eating relatively healthily keeps the body in check. Agree on the fitness tracker also, aiming to get 10,000 steps a day is a nice target to have...not sure how overly beneficial it is but it does keep it in your brain to keep moving which is the main thing.

Keep up the good work and keep us in the loop!

Kevhog1988 · 20-05-2019 2:03pm

Obrieski wrote: »

Good man theemigrant!

Good to see from your point you've a had a few knock backs, saying you fell off the wagon for a while, getting injured etc, but you never gave up! And I reckon that's the main thing. Keep plugging away.
Fitness and losing weight is no overnight trick, I find that consistency is key. I've gotten into a good gym routine now, training twice a week with sport and a game on the weekend and eating relatively healthily keeps the body in check. Agree on the fitness tracker also, aiming to get 10,000 steps a day is a nice target to have...not sure how overly beneficial it is but it does keep it in your brain to keep moving which is the main thing.

Keep up the good work and keep us in the loop!

Thanks Pal,

My whole thing at the moment is to get into as much of a calorie deficit as possible whilst maintaining a decent diet. Im enjoying the gym now whereas 5 weeks ago i was vomiting half way through. Well done on your routine. I agree that consistency is key.

Obrieski · 20-05-2019 11:00pm

theemigrant wrote: »

Thanks Pal,

My whole thing at the moment is to get into as much of a calorie deficit as possible whilst maintaining a decent diet. Im enjoying the gym now whereas 5 weeks ago i was vomiting half way through. Well done on your routine. I agree that consistency is key.

How have you found the rest of the lads in your team?

I always found that the banter at the more junior levels of GAA was a lot better, where it wasn't as serious and you could actually enjoy training.
I bet after a few trainings you weren't even that far behind based on some of the lads I've seen tog out at Junior over the years

endacl · 20-05-2019 11:04pm

Fair play OP. Some musical inspiration!

rizzodun · 20-05-2019 11:10pm

theemigrant wrote: »

Thanks, It shows me im getting somewhere i guess. Was delighted to get to close out the game when they were taking other guys off. Really enjoyed the physicality of it also. The only frustration i had was i knew i should be getting somewhere a few paces quicker but i guess that will come in time.

Fair play, I went back playing at close to 30 after not playing since school, luckily for me the team struggled with numbers so I got plenty of game time since pretty much joining up.

I used the training sessions to get fitter and coupled that with running and cycling, never had the pace but learned that was more about reading the game better than being quick sometimes. Got a club county medal in the end, so was happy, before giving it up to concentrate on mountain biking.

Keep at it, you're definitely coming along seeing as you're lasting, it doesn't get easier, you just put up with it for longer and get a bit quicker!

Kevhog1988 · 21-05-2019 8:24am

Obrieski wrote: »

How have you found the rest of the lads in your team?

I always found that the banter at the more junior levels of GAA was a lot better, where it wasn't as serious and you could actually enjoy training.
I bet after a few trainings you weren't even that far behind based on some of the lads I've seen tog out at Junior over the years

They are all fairly supportive in fairness to them. They were going for pints after the match last week so i went in and had a heineken zero with them. Was good craic.

Kevhog1988 · 21-05-2019 8:24am

endacl wrote: »

Fair play OP. Some musical inspiration!

I used to lord it at under 12

. I prefer the junior b allstar one

.

Kevhog1988 · 21-05-2019 8:26am

1hr in the gym session yesterday morning and then 16km (50 mins) on the bike last night. Struggled on the bike after a few kms but then loosened out again.

rizzodun · 21-05-2019 12:30pm

theemigrant wrote: »

1hr in the gym session yesterday morning and then 16km (50 mins) on the bike last night. Struggled on the bike after a few kms but then loosened out again.

If I can offer advice for the bike it's to concentrate on your cadence (number of times you rotate the pedals), if you can keep your cadence at above 60 rpm and aim for a bit faster it'll help your cycling. The idea isn't to go fast, just always be in a gear that keeps you above the 60. A lot of people starting out grind away down the road doing a low cadence, not getting far, and not helping their fitness.

If you keep your cadence up you'll see you an go a gear or two higher and that'll get you further and faster.

Also, if you're getting stiff make sure your contact points on the bike are alright, hands, seat and pedals, if you know someone who cycles regularly ask them to check for you, saddle height in particular is important.

dobman88 · 21-05-2019 12:38pm

Just caught this thread now. Brilliant stuff by you and fair play. I moved county 2 years ago and thought I'd give up the football when I left my home club. At 31 years old and nearly 16 stone I didnt fancy chasing young lads round not knowing anyone but I was welcomed with open arms by the team and management and it's been invaluable in helping me settle down. I'm lucky my club has 2 junior teams playing in B and D grade and in division 3 and 5 of the junior leagues. Nowhere near the fittest fella around but starting every game for the D team and finishing most games with the odd league appearance for the B team. Have got fitter and lost some weight and it's still a work in progress for me.

Well done on getting back at it. Best of luck with the fitness work.

Kevhog1988 · 21-05-2019 1:57pm

rizzodun wrote: »

If I can offer advice for the bike it's to concentrate on your cadence (number of times you rotate the pedals), if you can keep your cadence at above 60 rpm and aim for a bit faster it'll help your cycling. The idea isn't to go fast, just always be in a gear that keeps you above the 60. A lot of people starting out grind away down the road doing a low cadence, not getting far, and not helping their fitness.

If you keep your cadence up you'll see you an go a gear or two higher and that'll get you further and faster.

Also, if you're getting stiff make sure your contact points on the bike are alright, hands, seat and pedals, if you know someone who cycles regularly ask them to check for you, saddle height in particular is important.

I adjusted the saddle half way round and thats what led to it becoming easier. Im on my fathers old bike whos 2 inches smaller than me so you were spot on with the saddle height.

Kevhog1988 · 22-05-2019 2:10pm

Very sore and tired this afternoon. Gaa training last night which was light enough but i just couldn't move on the rock hard ground. Very stiff this morning in the gym. The pt had a circuit towards the end of 30 seconds on bike, slams, ropes and bear crawls to be completed twice with a 30 second rest in between. Found it an absolute killer but got through it.

Kevhog1988 · 24-05-2019 10:02am

Down a further 1.7kg this morning when weighing in at the gym. That brought me under the 17 stone mark for the first time in a few years and a total of 1 stone 2 pounds gone since christmas. Had a fitness test in the gym that was extremely hard but will be good to measure improvements off of for next month.

Obrieski · 24-05-2019 11:21pm

theemigrant wrote: »

Down a further 1.7kg this morning when weighing in at the gym. That brought me under the 17 stone mark for the first time in a few years and a total of 1 stone 2 pounds gone since christmas. Had a fitness test in the gym that was extremely hard but will be good to measure improvements off of for next month.

Fair play! Always nice to see the improvement on the scales but I bet your all round general health has improved greatly and I bet there is a noticeable difference in your body shape and how clothes fit on you which is the big acid test.

Kevhog1988 · 27-06-2019 9:16am

We lost the league semi final a few weeks ago so waiting for championship now. As the training is sporadic at best im doing my own bit in the Gym and signed up for a short adventure race in October for some motivation. Its hard to get to ma fitness level that ill be starting when not getting that much game time.

Obrieski · 27-06-2019 1:21pm

6 months into the new lifestyle theemigrant, how have you found it all?

Have you been pretty good overall training and diet wise?
Noticing any body changes, health improvements etc?

Wildly Boaring · 01-07-2019 9:25pm

theemigrant wrote: »

We lost the league semi final a few weeks ago so waiting for championship now. As the training is sporadic at best im doing my own bit in the Gym and signed up for a short adventure race in October for some motivation. Its hard to get to ma fitness level that ill be starting when not getting that much game time.

Ive found these adventure races a great motivation tool.

Signed up for quest derg and will probably do quest killarney too.

Big money but did 2 last year and was in great shape for them. Wife had a kid then and I did nothing till may. Signed up for quest 2 weeks ago and loving having a plan.

I've no advice OP. Just enjoy feeling better. Don't overdo it. Little increases.

Kevhog1988 · 04-07-2019 12:50pm

Obrieski wrote: »

6 months into the new lifestyle theemigrant, how have you found it all?

Have you been pretty good overall training and diet wise?
Noticing any body changes, health improvements etc?

Enjoying it, im going to step it up for the next 3 months now that ive signed up for this adventure race. Ive noticed clothes are far looser, the jersey i wore to kildare v mayo last yr is no longer welded to me when i wore it to the kildare v tyrone game last weekend. Im enjoying the football even if im not getting a game.

Gaa watcher to Gaa player

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