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Pre-Season in Gaelic Games

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.

 

START SLOWLY

Although this first principle goes against the practice of many coaches, it is one of our most important. It is imperative that the training load is appropriate during the initial sessions of the season. Following a period of rest during the off season, the physical stimulus of running, jumping, cutting, accelerating and decelerating will cause significant muscle damage and soreness. If excessive amounts of any, or a combination of these demands are placed on the athlete too early in the training cycle then the result is an increased risk of injury for the remainder of that phase. In addition to this, the likelihood of successfully applying a progressive overload throughout the phase is reduced, negatively impacting performance and fitness improvements. As a general guide for the first sessions of the season, up to a maximum of 60 minutes of moderate intensity football drills with adequate recovery would be appropriate. In particular, repetitive sprinting and/or tackling should be avoided at this early stage.

BUILD GRADUALLY

We have found that a 10% week to week load increase is optimal for most athletes. Where GPS is not an option, as is the case with the majority of teams, training units (R.P.E x Time) can present a simple and effective alternative. Collecting RPE from players (rating of perceived exertion) provides the coach with a subjective unit of intensity for the session, while the total time of the session can represent the volume. To calculate the total load for a single session you simply multiply the RPE by the time in minutes. For example a 75 minute session where the average RPE collected from players is 7, would equate to 525 training units for that session (7×75 = 525). Over time a coach will become familiar with the types of drills and session layouts that deliver a planned intensity as measured using the RPE scale. Sessions can then be tailored in terms of duration to achieve a target load.

UP TO 2 HIGH LOAD SESSIONS/WEEK

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.

 

3 UP, 1 DOWN

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

Within each phase, as mentioned previously, it is best to overload gradually from week to week using a guide of 10% progression as a threshold. One slight exception to this can be in the last week of a phase, prior to a deload period of at least 5 days. These “impact” weeks will not be included in all phases but will be added where appropriate to optimise performance later in the season. A typical week where 1-2 impact sessions are planned may have an increase in total load of greater than 15% above the previous week. This is an acceptable exception due to the chronic load accumulated in the weeks prior, which is protective against injury, and the subsequent deload period that is planned.

 

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.
CONOR FINN

CONOR FINN

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

Conor Finn is the Managing Director and Lead Performance Specialist at AXSOM Sports. Currently the Head of Strength & Conditioning for the Mayo Senior Football team, he has worked with numerous high performing teams and athletes over the past 10 years

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Field Sport Conditioning

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As teams across the country are forced to suspend all collective training, we thought we would help out with a sample session that can be completed individually and modified to suit!
This session includes work in all energy systems to maximise transfer to your sport.
Give it a go and pass it along to your team mates if you think they would benefit. Feel free to get in touch with any questions!

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Repetition Tempo

Tempo is a training variable equal in importance to reps and sets. This programming tool allows coaches to target specific adaptations in an athletes programme and is a key component of a training plan. Essentially, in resistance training, tempo refers to the speed that an exercise is performed. The tempo that each rep is performed at will dictate the total time under tension (TUT) for any given set, and this component is one of the major keys to achieving the desired training response.

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Psychological Resilience in Sport

Think of the physical preparation that goes into an athletes performance; nutrition, sleep, strength training, recovery, rehabilitation are just a few. Ask, is mental performance receiving the adequate amount of time and dedication that it should be in comparison to the physical preparation, and if not, why?

Movement Skills – Acceleration

There are many elements to enhancing speed, no one training method holds the key. Rather it is a combination of components that result in greatest improvements. For example, developing specific strength qualities, is one of the most effective ways to increase the power necessary for maximal sprinting. However unless an athlete first focuses on movement, and in turn movement skills, they may struggle to maximise the results from their efforts in other areas.

Movement Prep

The purpose of any physical preparation routine should be to optimise performance in the upcoming session or competition, while decreasing the risk of injury.
Traditional warm-ups have typically included light aerobic movement followed by static stretching, and while this approach is successful in raising body temperature, it does not contribute significantly towards reducing injury risk, and certainly not towards optimising performance.

Fuel Your Performance

At AXSOM, we believe that the process of eating should be viewed simply as fuelling the body. In the same way that a high performance car needs clean fuel to perform to the highest level, the body needs clean fuel to be at its most efficient and effective. We fuel to train, fuel to recover, and fuel to compete. This is applicable in all areas of life, not just with regards to competitive athletes. With nutrition, you are not only fueling the body, but the mind too, as food provides energy for our brain as well as our bodies.

Training Variables – Part 3

As is the case when determining the optimal reps and tempo, the training objective also dictates another important variable – the number of sets.
In general, the higher the number of repetitions, the less sets that are required to achieve the optimal volume. Conversely, the lower the number of repetitions being performed, the more sets that are needed. There are of course exceptions to this, but to illustrate how training objective will most typically influence the number of sets performed we will take two examples for comparison..

Training Variables – Part 2

As a general rule of thumb, the higher the total time under tension, the greater the impact on body composition. This is due to greater metabolic adaptations associated with increased time under tension. In order for an athlete to maintain control over a weight for a prolonged period, he/she must sacrifice on the intensity of the set (weight on the bar). This has a knock on effect of potentially reducing the strength training effect. Heavier weights will be required to optimally develop maximal strength, and particularly so to develop relative strength, therefore lower prescriptions for total time under tension must be applied.

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