Can I get fit before championship?

[neilthemac]

buy a bike. head out for an hour each morning. that will soon knock pounds off ya and build up cardio fitness

[SidelineKick]

Went for a road run the other night, was only about 3 mile and thinking about doing it once a week, how much damage is that likely to do?  I know its bad for the joints etc but would even this short run cause problems?

[muppet]

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?

Dan, wee Davy Fitz reads this site. Could you not have thought of a better name?

[INDIANA]

Went for a road run the other night, was only about 3 mile and thinking about doing it once a week, how much damage is that likely to do?  I know its bad for the joints etc but would even this short run cause problems?

If you're a footballer you'd be better off with interval training. I'd cut out the long one paced runs/

[mattockranger]

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?

Dan, wee Davy Fitz reads this site. Could you not have thought of a better name?

excellent made me laugh out loud!

[moysider]

Went for a road run the other night, was only about 3 mile and thinking about doing it once a week, how much damage is that likely to do?  I know its bad for the joints etc but would even this short run cause problems?

No. Unless you re overweight and wearing hobnail boots. But avoid road surfaces if you can. Better off running on cross country tracks/ forest tracks/ race courses, even beaches. And make sure you wear proper footwear after you ve had a foot scan to determine your orientation. Remember only about 20% of people have normal feet but in stores stocks of runners are mainly for normal feet.

Avoid just running the same distance at the same pace all the time. The body gets used to it but its a good way to start. Better to vary it with cycling and maybe some circuits as well. And if you re going to be playing football long paced runs will only make you look slow but a good start to get rid of a few pounds and get you breathing.

Exercise never a waste of time but anybody carrying a bit have to watch what they eat as well. Carbs and junk the enemy here. When you get down to fighting weight you can take liberties again. People make too much of a big deal about the pints though. I remember an interview with Neil Cussack where he said he had 4 pints the night before he won the Boston marathon. If you r fit a few pints are nt an issue unless you do the hog on it coming up to a match. Pints are an issue if you re overweight, as are chips, buscuits, breakfast rolls, burgers etc.

[Fancy Dan]

Thanks for the ideas lads.
As regards club training, I havent trained with them much this year. With this job its too far to travel so only can make it back for matches. However, being unfit and missing training means Im on the sideline most of the time so its hard to get match sharpness.

Summer will be different as Im being re-posted and will be able to train more with the lads.

Social side of things is probably my only problem. Also im not overweight, just unfit. General diet is good, lots of chicken, fruit, pasta, water, tuna and eggs. However, I am mostly training alone so its hard to keep motivation. Any ideas on this side of things? How to stay motivated to train on your own and stay focussed? goalsetting?

[moysider]

Thanks for the ideas lads.
As regards club training, I havent trained with them much this year. With this job its too far to travel so only can make it back for matches. However, being unfit and missing training means Im on the sideline most of the time so its hard to get match sharpness.

Summer will be different as Im being re-posted and will be able to train more with the lads.

Social side of things is probably my only problem. Also im not overweight, just unfit. General diet is good, lots of chicken, fruit, pasta, water, tuna and eggs. However, I am mostly training alone so its hard to keep motivation. Any ideas on this side of things? How to stay motivated to train on your own and stay focussed? goalsetting?

What the f***. You ve been winding us up all along Dan. Pasta! Tuna! Fruit! Water!  That s Serie A stuff. You re a funny guy. Unless you re doing crystal meth at the week ends you re in prime condition. If you ve got a few rides in, then you ve probably peaked too soon  I mean you keep emphasising your social life - obviously at it like it like a weasel. I think maybe your just a gone a bit soft and they recognise this when you go home.
Hint. Drink more, eat worse, drink more, get paranoid, go home and crease somebody next match, sent off and they ll be texting you every week to make sure your down for every game after that. You ve gone soft.

[the Deel Rover]

Thanks for the ideas lads.
As regards club training, I havent trained with them much this year. With this job its too far to travel so only can make it back for matches. However, being unfit and missing training means Im on the sideline most of the time so its hard to get match sharpness.

Summer will be different as Im being re-posted and will be able to train more with the lads.

Social side of things is probably my only problem. Also im not overweight, just unfit. General diet is good, lots of chicken, fruit, pasta, water, tuna and eggs. However, I am mostly training alone so its hard to keep motivation. Any ideas on this side of things? How to stay motivated to train on your own and stay focussed? goalsetting?

What the f***. You ve been winding us up all along Dan. Pasta! Tuna! Fruit! Water!  That s Serie A stuff. You re a funny guy. Unless you re doing crystal meth at the week ends you re in prime condition. If you ve got a few rides in, then you ve probably peaked too soon  I mean you keep emphasising your social life - obviously at it like it like a weasel. I think maybe your just a gone a bit soft and they recognise this when you go home.
Hint. Drink more, eat worse, drink more, get paranoid, go home and crease somebody next match, sent off and they ll be texting you every week to make sure your down for every game after that. You ve gone soft.

Very good moysiderbest advice by far

[Zulu]

Lads a few of ye have commented that 'long one paced' runs will make you slow for football and this simply isn't the case, this is only a myth that has gained a foothold in recent years. Unless you're doing nothing but 15 - 20 mile runs every week you have little to fear from some distance work.

[Davitt Man]

Zulu, would you agree that the best type of training for footballers is interval training, up and down stuff, jog - 3\4 pace - sprint etc, this is game situation stuff.

i know a lad that did a marathon during the winter and when he came back pre season training in Feb\March he had lost a yard of pace, this guy was quick before the marthon but the long training had slowed him down a bit but he regained his pace after a few months.

[Katchit]

If you want to lose a few pounds then interval training is better but not everyone is member of a gym or has access to circuits training.

To gain that base of fitness, to get your breathing right there is nothing wrong with a couple of miles run on a bi-weekly basis, i've been doing it for a over a year and never had these 'associated' injuries you apparently get from running on hard surface. Just don't over do it.

[Zulu]

Zulu, would you agree that the best type of training for footballers is interval training, up and down stuff, jog - 3\4 pace - sprint etc, this is game situation stuff.

i know a lad that did a marathon during the winter and when he came back pre season training in Feb\March he had lost a yard of pace, this guy was quick before the marthon but the long training had slowed him down a bit but he regained his pace after a few months.

Best type of training for a footballer is football IMO DM, so I often break up the squad into 5 V 5, 4 V 4,3 V 3 or 2 V 2's and get them to play football games with plenty of balls around the perimeter of small pitches to ensure the intensity is kept high all through the game (no rest). So if it is 5 V 5 for example they'll play for 4min and then do an active recovery jog while kicking points for 2min and I'll repeat this 4 or 5 times, which is basically interval training with a football. Closer to championship I'll play 3 v 3 or 2 V 2 games for a minute with 30 - 60 sec active recovery.

Just to be clear this means there are loads of small sided games going on and nobody standing around waiting their turn, I'll change the rules to suit whatever i want the players to work on. But because these games are more suited to handpassing with little opportunity to kick scores most of my drills involve kicking and point scoring.

[erne bhoy]

Looking at this when people say interval training do they mean going to a pitch and say doing sets of sprints with a rest or recovery jog inbetween, or going out for a jog and periodically sprinting? Also has anyone any ideas as to how to improve your initial two - four yard burst as this has always been my problem?