Maximising the gain

A lot of our fellas face a challenging couple of weeks to get their fitness back up after their extended summer breaks. Last Tuesday was the first session in nearly a month for some guys. It means they have three weeks to find every possible gain they can get.

Finding ways to maximise those gains will be key. The first thing we did was to put two additional Saturday sessions on prior to the first round of the Championship on September 10th. That effectively gives us an extra weeks preparation considering we normally train twice a week. It means we will have the equivalent of a month’s work done.

Another important point is what lads do when they are not training. I raised this point last Tuesday. If guys want to get the full benefit out of each session they must do the right things in terms of recovery. Of course rest is a part of this but also what we eat and drink will be key to making sure we take as much out of each session as possible.

In days gone by, I’d rant at lads to be doing more on their own. However, the guys who are likely to listen to this are already doing a bit extra and the others fellas are unlikely to take heed so there is no point banging anyone’s head.

What players can do is control their diet a bit better. Cut out the needless two or three Thursday night pints and burger in The Oak or where ever else they may have them. Again, there is no point in lecturing guys, you just have to hope they understand the benefits. And I certainly wouldn’t ask anyone to stay off the booze totally – just pick and choose more wisely.

After that session on Tuesday, I was starving when I got home. There was nothing in the apartment after my holidays, bar two borderline out of date eggs and an English muffin. My default option would be to go back down the stairs and get a take away from one of the many pizzerias on my street.

I did my part though and boiled the eggs and called them dinner. Another thing I did was buy a recovery drink. It’s made by an Irish company called Kinetica and comes in powder form. I’ve long been sceptical about such products because you hear a lot of dodgy stories about them. Some of them contain low quality ingredients and traces of creatine, glucose and other things that can lead a fella to start bursting out of their clothes, and not in a good way.

This one is endorsed by the likes of Mike McGurn and Graham Canty and is made from 100% natural ingredients. The idea behind it is that it helps your muscles recover faster after training and that’s something I welcome with the high training volume at the moment between gym and field sessions.

You have to believe that these behaviours i.e. managing diet etc will make sure that you get as much benefit as possible out of training. I’m convinced you will see a difference even within two weeks. That puts your mental state in the right place and quite often that can nearly be more important than your physical state!