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Was in for a workout on saturday morning in my gym and was glad to see 9 of the offaly football panel getting tips on weight training won't anme names but it seemed to be the lads i would say would most benefit from this.

That's what they should have been doing last Sept/Oct. This time of the year it's the totally wrong thing to be doing, they need to be running and playing ball now. Weights will only take away from speed and skill now, a few weeks before the c'ship..

peter wrote:Was in for a workout on saturday morning in my gym and was glad to see 9 of the offaly football panel getting tips on weight training won't anme names but it seemed to be the lads i would say would most benefit from this.

If this post is true, you'd have to wonder. As Muck Savage says, weights is winter work.

Certainly if it's any of the lads likely to start in a few weeks against Carlow, then yes, it's completely wrong. However it depends on which players it was. If it was a rake of players who would be "bubbling under" but realistically won't feature this year, then there would be logic to it. However nine is an awful big number for that to be the case.

This is the kind of thing we should have a junior/development panel for realistically. All those lads that get one or two games before disappearing, it would be interesting to see how they'd shape up if they spent a full year preparing rather than being called into a county panel in October and being cut when they don't make the grade by March.

Not sure how the clubs would like that though. And by not sure, I mean they wouldn't.

Lads, there is no harm in doing weights throughout the year,once the programme is being mointored. There are specifics that one would do in Winter and also ones that would be related to the Summer training programme.........

Totally agree, but as long as they get beyond the soreness and adjust to the workload there should there be any harm to them doing it? Competitors in many sports lift right through competitive seasons.

If you stop doing weights completely during the summer you might as well not have done them at all. Ideally what you are looking for is a strength and power program which builds up your muscles during the winter/early spring and then a maintaining program during the championship that keeps you ticking over while you work on your speed and ball work.

Have to agree with TMFF on this one. Whats the point of working up winter muscle and then burning it off coming up to championship. One visit to the gym a week should be able to maintain their strengh and stamina.

I say fair to them!

Correct, heavier weight fewer reps in the winter, lighter weights more reps in the summer but from the original post it sounded like they are just starting now. Even if that is just a summer program it's too late a couple of weeks before the c'ship to be starting. To me it seems like it's far too dis-organized a training plan. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the fittness level of the lads in the league, especially the last few games. Now throw weights into the mold tis time of the year and I'm not sure there is a long term view here.
Overall I'm not convinced we're headed in the correct direction. We have a good crop of players coming through and they need to be trained and managed correctly. To me it doesn't seem so and now add to all this the fact that the Senior team is now only getting it's third selector........ In some ways I think we're trying to do things on the cheap again.

I really like LS's idea of having the Junior team be a development team where they spend a year doing weights etc. and get pulled into the senior team every now and again. Obviously some players wouldn't be up for this but I think you'd find 15-20 lads that would and if 2-3 came through each year it would be a big help.

It seemed to be all power training which is right for this time of year, as long as strenght training was done over the winter, been involved in training elite athletes for athletics and have competed at every level myself so know a little bout this subject. Was delighted to see this as i was wrongly under the impression this area of preparation was been overlooked.

There's no use trying to fatten the pig the morning of the market.
However anything is better than nothing. So long as players are given the correct advice as to what kind of weight training to do.

Year on year though, I don't see many Offaly players improve their physical conditioning. This I put down to very short management terms. Counties like Dublin and Armagh with long serving management and backroom teams are the perfect examples of teams who have developed serious strength and fitness over time.

For the last 5 years, on average 50% of an Offaly managers' term has been spent looking at players and deciding who'll make the panel and the team. Very little focus seems to be put on developing individual player’s strength and fitness...never mind other facets like improving their football skills.

Football skills such as kicking and tacking are the key to success aswell as having a strong running engine.

I agree that some weights training should be done but to be honest i think far too much time is been spent indoors in gyms and halls.

Get out onto the field. Sports specific training is the way to success.

You wont make a small player big with weights training, Offaly lack sum big tall players that can play football. You cant manufacture that.

Well I'm sure they could be manufactured alright, sure don't we all want to be trying to manufacture and as long as nothings manufactured we'r happy

But seriously, if you got that Staunton one that plays for Mayo women and crossed here with yer man Donaghy from Kerry ye'd have a righ footballer in a few years. 'tis all in the breed'n

Is this true,
wonder who the genius is that reccommended that sort of training three weeks before the championship to those lads.
wait and see, they will be brwon bread comer match day,
lethargic and unable to move cos their limbs will be in bits.