We hooked up with top fitness and weight trainers Johnny and Helen Smith in Portadown and they agreed to write Gaelic Star a few strength articles for GAA players. They own Crossfit gym in Portadown and have years of experience with weight training top athletes. This is the first of series of articles they will be writing.

 

Over the past few months we at CrossFit Northern Ireland have had the pleasure of training a few Gaelic sports teams and are amazed at how coaches are not up to date with new training methods or how they are miss informed by “fitness professionals” on what they need to be doing to improve their game.

The main problems many strength and conditioning coaches run into are a lack of resources, predominantly the resource of:  TIME.  Thus, there becomes a need to pare things down to the absolute bear minimum number of drills that will produce the most rock solid result. This month I am going to dispel a few of the training myths and give you 5 tips to becoming a better all round player.

 

 

One of the things coaches seem to miss or don’t have the resources to do is strength training.

 Don’t Discount Strength – training strength is often sacrificed in the training hierarchy, due to the perception that other physical abilities should come first.  Although, running can get you there, the stronger you are the faster you will become and in a true 50/50 contest, strength will many times be the determining factor. Even modern day soccer players have realised this and many top clubs now employ a strength and conditioning coach.

 

Another Hyped up training concept is training your core.

 

How many times during training do you do the plank or try to balance on a stability ball, don’t get caught up in the hype, core is strictly a marketing term that those in the industry have developed in order to sell product and set themselves apart.  Pilates and yoga are for vegetarian twigs that don’t play footy.Want core work – pick weight up off the ground, lift it overhead, squat underneath it, or carry it; and you’ll have all the core work you could want and then some.

 

Long distance runs will improve your fitness and benefit you on the pitch.

 At the risk of sounding like I am down on running I will say this, players shouldn’t be running more than 800 metres during anyone repetition.  The last time I checked in on a game, I didn’t see any players running a steady pace for a distance of 5, 3, 2, or even 1 mile, however I did see  players making 50 to 100 metre runs repeatedly.  If you want to log a lot of distance, do it running 400 or 800 meter runs. Make these runs maximum efforts and not only will you improve your speed but also your cardio endurance.

 

Looking good weights

This is one for some of the players I have come across who do go to the gym and weight train.

Performing sport specific strength training and bodybuilding are two completely different things.  10 sets of preacher curls followed by a superset of bench press and pec deck, are NOT going to make you a better player.  Get off the lat pull-down machine and do proper pull-ups instead.

 Now that we have all that out of the way, let’s look at my Top 5 drills for helping you on becoming the best all-round player possible.

 1.  Overhead Squat – if there a single lifting exercise that develops nearly every athletic quality desirable this just might be it.(see last months edition)

 Description -

• Start by standing with a hip-width stance and good posture while holding your implement (e.g., broomstick or barbell) overhead.

• Tense/brace the muscles of the lower trunk (abs) while also locking your arms and establishing a “proud chest” upper body posture.  This body position should be maintained throughout the entire movement.  If it cannot be maintained, discontinue the movement and seek professional guidance.

• Continue the movement by squatting down and pushing your knees “wide” as you descend.  This allows you to reach a deep and more comfortable “bottom position”.

• Note:  While moving into the “bottom position”, be sure to keep your weight on your heels and maintain your starting posture.

 

  2.  400’s – this might be the simplest drill of all.  Find a track and run around it, I mean really, who hasn’t done that before.  I will admit, if done properly these are not very “fun” but boy do they really work.  They accumulate distance and they work the energy system that is required for any player.  A good way to go is to start with a couple and gradually add as you become more fit; also set yourself a time to stay at, or under for each rep, for example to keep all repetitions under 1 min and 20 seconds.

 

 3.  Hill Sprints – At first look, hill sprint might not appear to be all that different from flat sprints; however there are three benefits that the incline provides over the flat.  1) Arm drive, if you don’t utilise arm drive during a hill sprint you won’t be going anywhere fast 2) Leg drive and knee lift the incline become emphasised both of which are important to sprint mechanics 3) Soft surface, although some hills may be on paved surfaces, the majority will be found in parks; and although it may not seem like it, the dirt and grass are softer surfaces, these surfaces are much better for the athlete’s orthopaedic health.

 

 4.  Sled Pulls – If I were only left with one device to use in training athletes it’s very likely this may be the one I would pick.  The anaerobic conditioning, posterior chain (this is the entire back side of your body) strength, developed by sled pulling are second to none.  These are 2 of the most pressing needs of almost every single player I see.  However, sled pulling isn’t limited to just lower body work; the upper body can be incorporated as well.  Don’t be turned off because you think you are going to have to buy a piece of equipment, you can latch on to about any old thing you can find and pull it around, everything from homemade sleds made of plywood, tyres, hunk of rusting metal.  Start by pulling a fairly light sled for 4 trips of 50yds then gradually progress, with both sled weight and distance.  Note: it is wiser to add distance first and then add weight.

 

5.  Power Clean + Push Jerk – the final drill of my top 5 is actually a combo drill; utilising lower body power, upper body power and strength.   Although some may be hesitant to participate in these drills due to their somewhat technical nature, it is entirely possible, especially for a young athlete to pick-up the drills in a relatively short time. If they can be taught to grandmothers then they can definitely be taught to players.   The benefit of total body strength, athleticism, and power, cannot be matched.  If the goal is to become a better athlete and hence a better player, incorporating modified Olympic lifts will pay off big time in the long run.

 

 Description -

Power Clean:

• Start the clean when the barbell is on the floor. The grip should be shoulder width apart or very slightly wider than shoulder width.

• Once you grasp the bar you will in what appear to be a deadlift position, with exception that you will want to have shoulder in front of the bar.

• While still having you weight on your heels.

• Begin the lift the legs are extended and your hips and shoulders travel up at the same speed.

• Your back is arched and tensed

• Arms are held straight

• At this point your bar should be roughly around knee level, and your shoulders should still be in front of the bar.

The explosive portion of the lift

• The bar should brush your thigh as high as possible; this is called the “scoop” it will assist in launching the bar upward.

• At this point the athlete needs to explode by driving the hips through, rising up on the balls of your feet and shrugging the bar simultaneously.

• The bar will travel up the body and the “catch” is made on the shoulders.

• The “catch” is a function of rapidly pointing the elbows forward and dropping slightly under the bar so that it lands upon your shoulder.

 

Push Jerk:

• Drop down into roughly a half or quarter squat and without pausing, drive up with your legs.

• This motion will make the bar rise off the shoulders.

• The bar should go straight from the shoulders to lockout by its momentum, without having to be pressed.

• At the end of the jerk you should have the sensation that you are trying to slow the bar down to keep from flying out of your hands.  NOT struggling to press to a lockout