Former Louth GAA Star and current Carlton AFL player Ciaran Byrne discusses his daily routine with John O'Brien.

Morning

What time do you get up at?

7:30 a.m. most mornings

How long do you sleep for?

8 hours sleep is needed.

What do you eat for breakfast?

Usually poached eggs on toast with avocado.

Do you train/exercise in the mornings?

Yes we usually have a 2 hour training session in the mornings.

What is your typical morning routine?

Team meeting at 8:30am every morning then into our training session around 9:45 a.m. for 2 hours.

Mid-morning/afternoon-

Lunch then into rotations which include weights, rehab, treatment/Physio then more meetings.

Do you go to the gym in the morning/afternoon?

Afternoon usually consists of both weights and conditioning

How many times a week do you go to the gym?

At least 4. Some weeks it changes depending on turn around for next game.

What do you do in a typical gym session?

Usually consists of full body exercises. Goes for at least 50 mins. Including the usual exercises like bench press, bench pull, squats, step ups and of course bicep curls.

Where do you work out?

We have our own high performance gym which has all the equipment we need.

What would you eat for your lunch?

Usually chicken with some sort of carb be it rice, spaghetti or a small piece of bread.

What does your diet consist of? Do you have to be very careful with what you eat?

More so in pre-season. Try to limit the amount of fat and carbs we eat. However after games we tend to eat heaps of carbs in order to put the weight back on that we lose during the game

Do you drink much water? How much?

At least 2 litres of water a day

Afternoon/Evening

What time do you get home from training at?

Monday and Wednesday are our main training days usually which go from 7:30 to 4:30 pm.

What do you usually have for dinner?

Night before game I like to have plenty of carbohydrates including pastas and crumpets. During the week we would have plenty of proteins like chicken, lamb, steak or fish.

What would a typical training session consist of?

15 minute warm up into a series of different footy drills. A lot of group kicking and handball drills just like a particular Gaelic session but with an egg shaped ball.

What time do you have training at?

After our morning meeting around 9:45 am

Where do you train?

At our own stadium named IKON Park

Is there anything in particular you would focus on in training yourself?

Depending on what came out of our previous games. Usually work on my deficiencies from that game which may include marking, kicking, ball security or even tackling.

How often do you train a week?

2 main training sessions. 2 half days which include weights, conditioning and performance prep for body maintenance

How long would a typical training session last?

2 hours on the track. A lot of system based drills which involve talking and tactics

Do you find it hard to motivate yourself for training sometimes?

Depends on how well or bad I sleep. I enjoy training. Sometimes shifting iron in the gym can be a hard task.

Would you often treat yourself with a takeaway/Chinese or a few pints? Or does this totally have to be cut out of your diet?

We do but very seldom get a chance to have a few drinks. But at the end of the day we are normal people so we get a chance to have a beer now and again but yes it is limited.

On a typical day what time would you go to bed at?

10pm at the latest haha

Do you miss life in Ireland?

Off course I do. Home is always going to be home for me. However I'm loving life in Melbourne at the minute. It's a dream come true playing sport for a living.

Would you like to return home to play senior football for your county again someday?

I always said I'd come back and play for my club and Louth someday. Not sure when that will be though. Love playing with them both. GAA is and always will be my number one sport.

Do you keep an eye on the GAA and in particular how your county is doing back home?

Yes of course I do.

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