It’s the time of year when a lot of teams are looking towards returning to training for the season ahead. Of course, most will have different league and championship calendars and will go about their preparation for each competition in various ways. Some will begin with gym sessions only, some will opt for field sessions only, and some will choose a combination of both. Some coaches may even decide to give their players another few weeks before returning to any form of training.
Something that gets asked about a lot is pre-season conditioning, and specifically the type of running work a squad should complete. This question has far too many variables to have a definite answer. However, from our experience of supporting the physical preparation for more than 80 teams over the past 6 years, our learnings have shaped some principles for us around the topic of training load.

 

We have found optimal progress, with minimal fatigue related injuries, when there are no more than 2 heavy training sessions delivered within a week (Mon-Sun). Typically, where a team trains 3 times per week (or twice plus a game), the first and last sessions of the week will be targeted for higher load, while the middle session presents a great opportunity to focus on coaching both technical and tactical aspects of the game. This also ties in with the obvious loading pattern within a week ending with a game. The game serves as the second high load session of the week in this case.
Managing the training load of players who do not receive game time or play for a minimal duration is another topic which we will aim to discuss again.

 

It is unrealistic to expect a linear increase in training load from week to week throughout the entire season. If parameters are applied correctly then fatigue will, and should, be slowly accumulating over a loading phase. There comes a point, usually following 3-4 weeks of progression, where a deload is required to allow for super-compensation and for bodies to “reset” ahead of the following phase. Most often, a drop off in load for as little as 1-2 sessions will allow this to occur. This will usually only require modification of the first session within the week – where, as suggested above, the second session is usually planned as coaching orientated and of low intensity & volume.

As a rule of thumb, when designing annual plans for field sports, we programme accumulation/extensive phases for 3-4 weeks, and deload for 5-7 days. For more  intensive phases we will stay within 2-3 weeks of loading before easing off. For both types of training cycles we will often end a phase with an impact week, but only where an appropriate deload will follow.

 

SCHEDULE IMPACT WEEKS

PLAY THE SPORT FOR SPECIFIC CONDITIONING

There are no practical running drills that demand a more specific combination of acceleration, deceleration, change of direction, jumping and multidirectional running, as would be demanded in, for example, a small sided game. We view conditioning/running blocks as supplemental to the main content of a session. These blocks of work are an important component within a training cycle but should not be included at the expense of more valuable energy systems development work completed in sport specific game variations.

 

 

AXSOM SOLUTIONS

– For players training on their own, abroad or in different parts of the country, we have an ideal solution – our online GAA Performance Plans provide everything required for a highly effective pre-season of strength, power & speed development and game specific conditioning. Find out more here!

– Alternatively, for full squad solutions check out our team services page or drop us a line to schedule a call with a member of our team.