Replying To waynoI:  "1. Prefer Nordic curls myself, But they are a lot harder on the hamstrings than regular hammy curls. I would make sure ive got proper form and technique with regular hammy curls before progressing to Nordic curls.

2. Agree, I'd lash a few sets of weighted lunges in there.

3. Even alternate between heavy bench press, incline bench press aswell which wasn't mentioned, and close grip to target triceps and chest.

4. Agree again, need a mix. Just focusing on one is grand but you wont reach your potential and plateau quicker, you have to mix it up.

5. Power day has me shattered just reading it, idea of it is sound, but its too much. decrease volume, focus on form and make each rep grueling but doable.

6. I see no form of recovery here, there should be foam rolling and stretches in the program. Even go into the gym on a rest day and foam roll for 30 mins or so, its absolute torture, but well worth it as it loosens out any tightness, and a lot of the time you don't even realize you are stiff or tight until after your foam rolling.

7. In my opinion, Kettlebell work is king, Add sme kettlebell swings in somewhere, Kettlebell power cleans are an absolute killer, Cleans should be included in every single program, Snatches aswell."

Replying To Laois76:  "Agree Waynol on 30min foam rolling on rest day. Brill for recovery. Literally a pain in the ass!

Listen to the body aswell, sounds simple but sometimes you have to cut back on a session. Less is more, particularly if you feel a sore throat chest infection coming on. You end up losing more time and fitness recovering from the illness."

Replying To waynoI:  "1. Prefer Nordic curls myself, But they are a lot harder on the hamstrings than regular hammy curls. I would make sure ive got proper form and technique with regular hammy curls before progressing to Nordic curls.

2. Agree, I'd lash a few sets of weighted lunges in there.

3. Even alternate between heavy bench press, incline bench press aswell which wasn't mentioned, and close grip to target triceps and chest.

4. Agree again, need a mix. Just focusing on one is grand but you wont reach your potential and plateau quicker, you have to mix it up.

5. Power day has me shattered just reading it, idea of it is sound, but its too much. decrease volume, focus on form and make each rep grueling but doable.

6. I see no form of recovery here, there should be foam rolling and stretches in the program. Even go into the gym on a rest day and foam roll for 30 mins or so, its absolute torture, but well worth it as it loosens out any tightness, and a lot of the time you don't even realize you are stiff or tight until after your foam rolling.

7. In my opinion, Kettlebell work is king, Add sme kettlebell swings in somewhere, Kettlebell power cleans are an absolute killer, Cleans should be included in every single program, Snatches aswell."

Replying To gotmilk:  "Foam rollers any good? Done a heavy back session on Wednesday night with a lot of deadlifts. Was repping 150kg and then played footie after it (just a kick about on the 4g) but my hamstrings are still ridiculously tight. Need to do something to loosen them? Is a foam roller worth the investment?"

Replying To waynoI:  "Yea I don't think ive met anyone who enjoys foam rolling, Its absolutely gross. Every nook and cranny gets rolled out for one hour every 2 weeks, whether that's 1 one hour of rolling, 2 half hour or sessions or we lets say 3 20 minute sessions. I tend to go with the later more often than not. Its particularly good for my quads but jesus the pain lol.

Agree on listening to the body. It absolutely sounds easy but people tend to ignore it and go in and give 60% in the gym and think they are making progress when in reality all you are doing is burning yourself out and running yourself into the ground. Injury is likely and not only that, from my own experience I tend to feel really bad mentally.

I don't think anyone should be going to the gym more than 4 times a week. I take weekends off usually but keep diet on point, when I go back on Mondays I feel like I can run through brick walls.

Doing a lot of conditioning/crossfit stuff at the minute myself. Loads of sprint work, Rowing, burpees, mountain climbers, bear crawls, yoga stretches and so on.."

Replying To gotmilk:  "Foam rollers any good? Done a heavy back session on Wednesday night with a lot of deadlifts. Was repping 150kg and then played footie after it (just a kick about on the 4g) but my hamstrings are still ridiculously tight. Need to do something to loosen them? Is a foam roller worth the investment?"

Replying To gotmilk:  "Foam rollers any good? Done a heavy back session on Wednesday night with a lot of deadlifts. Was repping 150kg and then played footie after it (just a kick about on the 4g) but my hamstrings are still ridiculously tight. Need to do something to loosen them? Is a foam roller worth the investment?"

Replying To waynoI:  "Yes.

It will be tough but worth it afterwards.

Did ya cool down/stretch after your work out/kickabout ?

Laois76.. Do/did you stretch before your gym work ?

I avoid it like the plague. Do a bit of a jog on the threadmill or row for 5-10 mins but I never stretch pre workout. Always leave it to afterwards. (Different before a game like soccer, GAA, Rugby etc) but it increases risk of injury to stretch before a leg day for example where you are overloading ."

Replying To waynoI:  "I understand that the thread is about a GAA work out plan, but people need to get crucial aspects of training right outside of the gym and pitch in order to perform to their optimum levels consistently. Heres what I have learned.

1. It doesn't matter what work out plan you are doing, if you aren't eating properly I think this is a very important point that a lot of people tend to over-look when going to the gym be it to improve their fitness (crossfit), strength (powerlifting), Asthetics (bodybuilding) or Calisthenics, all 4 of which you need in some form in a decent GAA program. Youd imagine that the majority of people going to the gym want to get stronger/bigger, so work out your calories (easily done online) and make sure you are in a small surplus (200-400) to gain size/muscle. The amount of body fat you are carrying particularly in your gut can have a huge impact on macro portioning, ie, The less fat you carry, the more the calories you take in will be used gain more muscle than fat. In lay mans terms, lower bodyfat % = more muscle gains, So if your carrying a bit of fat, you could try losing that first. Counting calories is a must, its tedious, But It has to be done. Discipline is the name of the game.

2. Staying properly hydrated is imperative, Probably as important as nutrition. Drink about 3-4 ltrs of water a day. In summer/warm days, more. So so important I cant stress how important it is. Don't over do it though, drinking too much water can leave you bloated, not to mention pissing every few minutes.

3. In the gym intensity of your workout is key, You don't need to spend so much time in the gym, I find if I'm in there any longer than 1 hour I'm going through the motions, Go in, get it done, work as hard as is physically and mentally possible and get home and get some decent nutrition into you. Excluding a warm up and cool down, your weight lifting session shouldn't take more than 1 hour at the most, aim for 40-45 mins and get out of there.

4. 3-4 sessions a week in the off season is Okay, cut it down to one or 2 during the season, And I wouldn't be doing weight lifting for size/muscle during the season, that's done in the off season when training 2-3 times a week with club/county.

5. Supplements - Wouldn't be a huge supplement fan, but if I had to pick one, creatine is brilliant, in particular, micronized creatine from Optimum Nutrition. Give you that extra boost when you need it, fills the muscles with water to increase energy to get that extra rep or two out that you struggle with.

6. As key as point 1. REST. Sleep. 7hrs30mins good deep sleep a night minimum. Try timing your sleeps so that you wake up at the end of a 90 minute period. Example, if you go asleep at 10PM you should be aiming to get up at, 5.30AM, 7AM or 8.30AM.

5.
Personally, wouldn't be a big supplement fan, but creatine is very very good, buy a micronized one, its cheap and gets broken down much quicker, will help increase"