Overtraining ???

[AbbeySider]

This is another article from "The Coach" in the Galway Independent by Liam Horan. A few weeks ago I posted the article about stopping a big full forward like Donaghy. This week they are talking about over training and fatigue.


Pushing them too hard? The signs of overtraining.

An Intermediate football club's coach asks: "We trained harder than ever last season. But when it came to our biggest game of the year, the lads looked very flat. I'm worried we left it, as they say, on the training field. What are the signs of overtraining?"

We talked to Tyrone manager Mickey Harte, whose Tyrone teams famously adopt a less-is-more approach to training, yet maintain impressive fitness and hunger levels when championship comes round.

"We've always adopted a policy of organising collective training one night per week until the clocks change. Then we step it up to a second night. And if we have no game at the weekend we might sometimes have a third session.

Obviously everyone has their own ideas, but it's my feeling that if you have guys slogging through the muck four nights week in the depths of winter, it's awful hard to ask them to step up another level when the summer evenings come round.

But guys have their own strength and conditioning programmes, so it's still important to watch carefully for signs of overtraining.

Every player responds differently to training regimes but there are ways a coach can gauge players' different levels of fatigue. You can get players to record their own heart rate before they get out of bed each morning. Increased resting heart rate is a real indicator of overtraining.

Blood tests also very revealing. Overtraining can be detected from changes in blood variables.

But the important thing is to know your players. Watch them carefully. The symptoms of overtraining typically appear in three stages.

   1. Psychological; the tired player will exhibit mood changes and increased levels of mental fatigue, tension, depression and disinterest.
   2. Performance; watch the players' movement and the way they run. With a fatigued player, the execution of skills and movement patterns that were previously smooth, now appear strained.
   3. Physiological; in the final stages of overtraining-related fatigue, the tired player will suffer joint and muscle soreness and stiffness, heart rate may increase and the player may suffer loss of appetite and bodyweight and become more susceptible to headcolds and headaches."

Next week, Mickey talks about the ways you can prevent and treat overtraining. Mickey Harte has just launched a Player's Training Diary, available at sporttracker.ie Questions to coach@dvdsales.ie


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Interesting stuff. It is the case that sometimes "it is left on the training ground". It certainly seemed that way when Mayo last faced Galway in Pearse stadium. I cant be sure if its related to over training but that Mayo team had reached the final stages of the AI Championship since 2004 and they looked very flat on the day. It could have been the case that they hadnt any prolonged break or a chance to recover properly and were training nearly all year.

Players need a good break to be fresh for matches too. There shouldnt be much done on the training ground the week coming up to a match. It was Jack O Connor that said in his book that its the work you do the month before a big match that counts on the day; not necessarily the work you do the month leading up to a match.

It will be interesting to see what Mickey comes up with next week in the same article but I reckon the proper diet, rest and lots of sleep will be the order of the day.

[screenexile]

Definitely believe in that. I remember starting training November one year... all the training was going great and we'd done well in the league yet when we played championship against a team we should have beaten relatively easily we had nothing there... it is something I think this Down team would need to watch out for because it's very difficult for a team to play as well as they did last week and hope to keep that momentum going for 5-8 months longer!

[AbbeySider]

Definitely believe in that. I remember starting training November one year... all the training was going great and we'd done well in the league yet when we played championship against a team we should have beaten relatively easily we had nothing there... it is something I think this Down team would need to watch out for because it's very difficult for a team to play as well as they did last week and hope to keep that momentum going for 5-8 months longer!

Exactly, to quote Jack O Connor again he remarked about the Mayo team early in the league in 2006:
"They have too much running in them for this time of year"

Its all about peaking at the right time and Kerry are experts at it.

[Davitt Man]

Exactly, to quote Jack O Connor again he remarked about the Mayo team early in the league in 2006:
"They have too much running in them for this time of year"
[/quote]

How right he was, every year Kerry just plod through the league then come c\ship they are a different team altogether. Both Mayo & Donegal last year showed that league form has nothing to do with c\ship form, both teams fell out the c\ship last year

[Hardy]

I agree. Winning all around you and looking good in January and February is usually the kiss of death.

[AbbeySider]

How right he was, every year Kerry just plod through the league then come c\ship they are a different team altogether. Both Mayo & Donegal last year showed that league form has nothing to do with c\ship form, both teams fell out the c\ship last year

I reckon Derry peaked against Mayo last year which was still early in the championship. Im not trying to be harsh but I felt that way at the time.

As far as I know, most of the recent All Ireland winning teams came through the back door which highlights that they lost a game earlier in the championship when they hadnt peaked as a team.

But with the extra training and the extra game or two later in the season they were allowed to peak at the right time. I could be reading too much into it though.

[donelli]

Exactly, to quote Jack O Connor again he remarked about the Mayo team early in the league in 2006:
"They have too much running in them for this time of year"

How right he was, every year Kerry just plod through the league then come c\ship they are a different team altogether. Both Mayo & Donegal last year showed that league form has nothing to do with c\ship form, both teams fell out the c\ship last year
[/quote]

You have to remember though that Kerry and Tyrone both won the league and Sam in the same year (2005 & 2006..cant recall years before that)..
So not just as simple to say that teams that do well in the league do poorly in the championship. Sometimes its a good launch point for the season...

[Davitt Man]

Clubs are starting back training now and some clubs are training Monday Wednesday Friday Sunday. Is this too much??

[AbbeySider]

You have to remember though that Kerry and Tyrone both won the league and Sam in the same year (2005 & 2006..cant recall years before that)..
So not just as simple to say that teams that do well in the league do poorly in the championship. Sometimes its a good launch point for the season...

Good point, both teams had peaks and valleys throughout the season.

Kerry won both league and AI championship in 2006. But lost to Cork in the Munster SFC Final Replay
Tyrone won both Dr. McKenna Cup and AI championship in 2005. But lost the Ulster SFC Final Replay against Armagh

[J70]

Donegal started training a month later this year, having learned a few lessons from last year. A league win is nice, but it doesn't mean shit if you have nothing in the tank come Ulster championship time (even the first day against Armagh they were very flat). In 2003, they didn't train at all until McEniff took the team in January, got relegated in the league, gave arguably one of their poorest performances ever against Fermanagh in Enniskillen in June and then made an All Ireland semi. The likes of Kerry and (formerly?) Tyrone have the depth to win both both competitions, but most of the rest of us have to prioritize. I'll be surprised if Down do anything in the championship this year, but we'll see.

[BallyhaiseMan]

ive seen Cavan do it year in year out,
Start training back too early,
Look a lot fitter than all the teams they play in the league
Then when Championship comes, They look stale and a quick exit usually follows.

This Down team im afraid looks like their fitness is what it should be in March and i question whether they can keep that up for the championship.

[INDIANA]

PEOPLE DON'T FEEL IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET DOWN OUT OF DIV 3? Surely the talk of Down doing anything in the championship considering their league position is lunacy? I would have thought promotion from div 3 was the number one priority this year.

[donelli]

Clubs are starting back training now and some clubs are training Monday Wednesday Friday Sunday. Is this too much??

I have noticed the local teams all back training. 3 times a week at that.
Senseless i have to say. Come the business end of the year, lads are fed up with it and are jaded.

I think i've found the reason for this too. May be cynical, but most trainers these days are being paid by the night traininig. Its in their interests to have as many training sessions in the year to bolster their bank accounts...

[Zulu]

There is no real reason that a team can't do well in the league and championship, even the likes of Down, Donegal etc. If Down have sensible training structures in place they should be fine. The problem is often that lads are also playing and training with their clubs and of course holding down full time jobs. If they only served one master and could get the right rest and recuperation then they'd be fine. You can generally only peak a few times a year but there is no reason that one of them can't be in January and another in September.

[BallyhaiseMan]

how would you go about peaking at certain times Zulu?

Having rest periods of just say 2 weeks from training a few times throughout the year?