Can I get fit before championship?

[Fancy Dan]

I've haven't really trained properly since last October. Hit the beer fairly hard the last 5-6 months and I have recently hit rock bottom with regards to fitness. Decided to make a burst at it. Starting running 4-5 miles 2-3 times a week (some nice hills in it) and going gym twice a week as well. Only doing bench, shoulder press, planks, abs, bicep curl and lateral raise at the minute. Is this training gonna get me match fit or is it a waste of time? Any tips and ideas are welcome. Going to move into sprints once I get aerobic capacity improved. Biggest problem is that I cant avoid going out at the weekend becoz i'm fair bored where im living at the moment, job is boring and weekends are the only time I can have a bit of craic. Can I get fit before july and still have a social life?

[screenmachine]

What an attitude...lol.  Sacrafice is the name of the game son, plus a few games under your belt is the only way to get your match fitness up, you can run all the miles you want but its not the same as chasing or trying to get away from some other hoor on the pitch!

[AbbeySider]

I've haven't really trained properly since last October. Hit the beer fairly hard the last 5-6 months and I have recently hit rock bottom with regards to fitness. Decided to make a burst at it. Starting running 4-5 miles 2-3 times a week (some nice hills in it) and going gym twice a week as well. Only doing bench, shoulder press, planks, abs, bicep curl and lateral raise at the minute. Is this training gonna get me match fit or is it a waste of time? Any tips and ideas are welcome. Going to move into sprints once I get aerobic capacity improved. Biggest problem is that I cant avoid going out at the weekend becoz i'm fair bored where im living at the moment, job is boring and weekends are the only time I can have a bit of craic. Can I get fit before july and still have a social life?

Your already on the right road in my opinion. One ratio that stands true is Miles=Inches if you want to lose any weight; as in the more miles you do regularly (at a fair pace mind you) the more inches you will get off your waist etc. Hill sprinting is also a good one but I see that you will start that soon. Interval running is good to get up the fittness instead of jogging / trotting at one pace. Get used to the ball too, a lot of footballers solo end to end with both feet kicking points with both feet on their own. Is you own club not back training? You should get out with them as soon and as much as possible. Also never go to the gym during the day and train in the evening as you wont do yourself justice.

But depending on the level your playing at will determine the social life. Its not possible to drink regularly and get very fit. If you have a few pints at the weekend you will reach a certain point and plateau off and not get fitter. If you get off the drink, train hard you will be much fitter and enjoy the football more.

- Get off the drink, train hard
- Watch diet and bad eating habits
- Get to bed as early as possible
- Always drink loads of water

[wobbller]

 Are you not going to any Club training in all of this? 

[the Deel Rover]

if you still swamping pints at the weekend dan your wasting your time, the only thing you'll be fit for is the summer festivals 

[No1]

Also never go to the gym during the day and train in the evening as you wont do yourself justice.

Eh, how's this??

[The GAA]

Also never go to the gym during the day and train in the evening as you wont do yourself justice.

Eh, how's this??

Yip, who told you that?

[AbbeySider]

Also never go to the gym during the day and train in the evening as you wont do yourself justice.

Eh, how's this??

Yip, who told you that?

Im talking from experience. I tried it a few times and I found that I was flat at training in the evening. I also began to develop major problems with my joints being sore and weak from being over worked and I had to take glucosamine supplements like Jointace etc.
You cant give 100% at a hard training session in the evening when you have expended lots of energy in the gym that day.
I cant do it, and I dont see how you are supposed to sustain the energy levels if you do.
Rest and sleep is very important to let muscles heal and grow.
After a heavy lifting session in the gym, your body wont recover as quick and muscle wont develop without rest, thats why I wouldnt do the two in a single day. Its hard enough doing the two one day after another, but thats just my opinion! 

[neilthemac]

only professional sports people do that sort of training twice a day. if you were going to do it you'd do the skills session in the morning with weights later in the day.

if you are training you need recovery (rest and sleep) and good diet (eating good food like a horse btw). simple as. drinking a pint or two at weekend won't help (we're all amatuers after all), but it won't negate fitness work being done too much. only a pint or two though

running miles will help the basic fitness. but once you have base level of fitness you need to start doing some sprinting with short recovery between sets.

best two references for fitness are:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=252
http://exrx.net/forum/

[The GAA]

Also never go to the gym during the day and train in the evening as you wont do yourself justice.

Eh, how's this??

Yip, who told you that?

Im talking from experience. I tried it a few times and I found that I was flat at training in the evening. I also began to develop major problems with my joints being sore and weak from being over worked and I had to take glucosamine supplements like Jointace etc.
You cant give 100% at a hard training session in the evening when you have expended lots of energy in the gym that day.
I cant do it, and I dont see how you are supposed to sustain the energy levels if you do.
Rest and sleep is very important to let muscles heal and grow.
After a heavy lifting session in the gym, your body wont recover as quick and muscle wont develop without rest, thats why I wouldnt do the two in a single day. Its hard enough doing the two one day after another, but thats just my opinion! 

Fair enough if that's your experience but that wouldn't be borne out by science. professional athletes do it every week. might depend on what you're doing in the gym. the gym and field work should compliment each other.

[AbbeySider]

Fair enough if that's your experience but that wouldn't be borne out by science. professional athletes do it every week. might depend on what you're doing in the gym. the gym and field work should compliment each other.

Agree with those sentiments. They should complement each other and it does depend what you do in the gym.

But Hard Lifting should not be done the same day as cardio if you want optimum results (from lifting) and energy levels, that fact is a largely supported theory.

[Jinxy]

If you want to get your weight down you can do long, slow distance training on the same day as your regular training and you won't suffer any ill effects. Basically you are talking about working away on the rowing machine at a low intensity for an extended duration. It's a way of getting extra training in with a view to losing fat, without limiting the effect of your regular field sessions. Of course you'll have to get up early.

[Katchit]

I've training tonight but just back from a road run during my lunch, only a few miles but as someone said it's all about building a base for your fitness.

It's not really the pints at the weekend that is my problem, it's the take-away afterwards and the day after when hungover.

It's all about discipline and getting into a routine. Club training is a must though.

[screenexile]

Recently worked my way back into a bit of shape there after I done the cruciate this time last year. It was a struggle though as I hadn't really done a pre season training in a few years and with a month of lying around after the op my knee had gone to shite. Basically had to start from scratch. Hit the weights pretty well before Christmas and then my weight rocketed after the festive. Hit the weights again and did 2 decent cardio sessions a week for 6 weeks until club training started and did all of that with the rest of the lads. I found that I was able to keep up with them no probs really and I had a decent diet in me at that time so I lost almost 2 stone in 3 months.

Your main problem as screenmachine says is the match fitness. I was about the same as the majority of the team in training but when it came to playing matches I was completely mowed. I've had about 4 matches since and it's only now that my confidence with regard to match fitness is returning but I reckon I'll need another 3/4 games until I would consider myself in top shape. All the jogging and weights help but you need your body to get used to the scrambling, hits and the stop start nature of games so the more game time you can build in along with your training the better it will work out for you!

[Davitt Man]

I've training tonight but just back from a road run during my lunch, only a few miles but as someone said it's all about building a base for your fitness.

It's not really the pints at the weekend that is my problem, it's the take-away afterwards and the day after when hungover.

It's all about discipline and getting into a routine. Club training is a must though.

I wouldnt encourage road running, its very severe on the joints and can cause shin splints.