What weights exercises should I do?

This is a question asked by players and coaches? What exercises should I do? How many times per week? How many sets and how many reps? Here is a typical weights programme for a beginner and a rationale for why each exercise is chosen. This programme can be modified to suit individual player needs. Each exercise can be developed to make it more difficult for the athlete and thus add progression.

Warm Up with 2000 metre on a rower - mobilise all joints.
Exercise Weight Sets Reps
1. Short Lever Plank Front and Each Side 2 x 20 seconds
2. Smith Machine Deep Squat Light 4 10
3. Press Up maximum number
4. Sit Ups maximum number
5. Jerk Shoulder Press Light 4 8
6. Leg Curl Light 4 8
7. One legged squats (each leg) maximum number
8. Med Ball V-Sit Ups Light maximum number

This programme is a basic but gives a good foundation. A rationale for each exercise now follows.
1. Short Lever Plank - this exercise is completed primarily to target the core. This provides stability for the lower back during movement and contact. Short lever is chosen (i.e. knees on the ground) to allow players to gently stress the body while acquiring the correct technique. Each side is done to challenge the body in different directions.

2. Smith Machine Deep Squat - this is an excellent exercise to help athletes learn the correct technique for the squat. Completing a deep squat with a light weight (bum almost on the ground) allows for excellent quad and adductor training. It allows athletes to build strength in extreme positions which may be missed with a traditional half squat. Athletes can complete this exercise by extending their ankles to go up onto their toes.

3. Press Up - another excellent exercise for the whole of the upper body and core. Completing press ups with good technique is a great way to build upper body stability. A target of over fifty press-ups with good form should be the aim for each player. Can be done at the end of every session. Superb!

4. Sit-Ups - again with correct technique, can held develop strength and stability in the mid-region that is essential for contact and good agility. Slow up - slow down until each athlete is unable to do any more. Another great exercise to finish a session.

5. Jerk Shoulder Press - assume a legs spread apart stance, one in front and to the side of the other (i.e. the stance that a weight lifter takes when they complete the jerk part of the clean and jerk). Press the bar up and down behind the neck - do not let the elbows pass shoulder level at first, but after a week or two, lower the elbows as far as is comfortable. Excellent exercise to build strength and stability under a high ball. This exercise can be completed with a long 20kg bar.

6. Leg Curl - lying face down, slower raise your heels to the buttocks using a light weight. This will strengthen the hamstring muscle group to reduce the likelihood of injury and also help increase speed.

7. One Legged Squats - one legged exercises help develop balance which can reduce the likelihood of injuries.

8. Med-Ball V-Sit Ups - gaelic games consist of many rotational movements. This exercise helps strengthen the rotators (anti-rotators).

This resistance training programme gives a good overall start to strengthening the body for higher levels of performance in gaelic games.

Should I do Weights?

Yes! Weights are a superb way to improve strength and also reduce the risk of injury. Weight training can improve your performance in a number of ways e.g. making you faster or better able to hold off a marker. Some common misconceptions about weights include that "they stunt your growth" and that they "make you slower". On the contrary weights are great for the skeleton and make you faster! One look at top sprinters and rugby players shows the value of weight training - they are powerful yet agile. Research recommends using weights that are 70% and greater of your one repetition maximum - or 1 rep max. A 1 rep max is the amount of weight that you can lift once but not twice as it too heavy, so intensity is important. You can do multiple sets - it is useful to warm up with light weights and perform multiple sets getting heavier each time e.g. 4 sets of 8. Twice a week or more will show good improvements for beginners. In gaelic football, most inter-county teams now do weights, indeed Armagh were probably the first team to take weights to a high level helping them win the 2002 all-ireland against Kerry. Since then most other teams have caught up. In the next article we will discuss some of the best weights exercises recommended for Gaelic football and hurling.

This is the year. What is the plan?

The start of each new year brings excitement and expectation, and what better time to plan your success. Developing an overview for the year is a useful way to identify the types of training you will be doing at different points in time, what holidays must be considered and when are those all important games. Is a written plan better than the plan in my mind? Plan to succeed.

Training for Gaelic Games

This blog will consider all aspects of training for Gaelic Football and Hurling. I hope to post my first blog shortly.