A Couple of Basic Myths debunked & Ideas to Ponder

Lets start slowly, we are not trying to re-invent the wheel or anything, but we may have to convince a few people first. Over the next few posts i will talk about Strength Training and its role in Gaelic Sports and why i believe its very important, not just to improve your performance but also in helping avoid injury.

But first, lets dump a few of the old myths that have held back GAA players and coaches for a long time.

Myth #1:Weight Lifting is Bad For Your Joints. Weight lifting is less stressful on your joints than running: it involves controlled, non-impact movements. Weight lifting - and especially strength training - will increase the health of your joints by strengthening the muscles & ligaments that hold them together
Weight Training Exercises like the Squat when done properly can actually prevent ACL damage in a lot of  young GAA players. A young star player going up against Senior players can be a disaster if the player is not physically ready. Research shows that the majority of  ACL injuries happen before 23. This is even more important for young women (particularly Soccer players) who are far more likely to suffer this awful injury. Start Strength training early to help prevent this injury.

Myth #2: Weight Lifting Stunts Growth. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Dave Draper, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Michael Vick, etc. They all started lifting weights in their early teens and are +6′ /1m82 tall. The only way weight lifting can stunt your growth is if you damage your growth plate by letting the bar fall on you. But if you use proper technique, you'll be safer than with Rugby or Soccer where collisions are common.
Supervise youth lifting weights. Enforce proper technique and discourage ego. Note that some believe weight lifting can actually stimulate growth because it increases bone mineralization.

Myth #3: Weight Lifting Decreases Flexibility. One of the realizations people who get into weight lifting have is how inflexible they are. Years of sedentary lifestyle may have tighten your hips, preventing you to Squat correctly.
Weight lifting will make you regain your flexibility and maintain it. Especially the Squat will give your hip muscles a full stretch. But increasing your muscle mass or strength won't reduce your flexibility at all.

and the big one.....

Myth #4: Weight Lifting Makes You Slow. Strong muscles contract faster and generate more power. That's why professional athletes like Shaquille O'Neil or Tiger Woods do weight lifting: strength training makes you faster.
Speed is all about generating power, the stronger your muscles are the faster they will recruit the power to make you run or perform any movement. We'll get into it more in the future, but its all about firing up the Nervous system.

Check out this from the American National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)

Some of those Myths came from www.stronglifts.com and i also added some of my own points. There are many other myths, but for now i think they are the most pertinent to Gaelic Sports. Over the next few weeks we will discuss programs, volume of training (how many days a week you train) etc. But first i want to make guys comfortable about the thoughts of off season training, which may include strength training.

Now a few things to ponder or questions to answer;

Why are Donegal such a better football team this year?

Why did Cork not build on last years win and play so poorly overall?

And finally, how committed are you to becoming a better player/athlete?

Its coming to end of season for many players, its might be time to look back and honestly evaluate how you did. And what you might be able to do in the off-season to improve for next year?

Are you going to just sit on your ass? Are you going to half ass play another sport? Or are you going to take a short break, recharge, evaluate, be honest, build hunger and come back stronger? Are you going to let age or maybe a not so successful season put you down or tempt you to pack it in? Think long and hard about everything, don't be afraid to look at what the winners are doing, are you far away? If not drive on and add 10%. If you are miles away drive on and give even more. You'll be retired long enough.

Don't give up for spurious reasons, give yourself a chance and you'd be amazed what you can achieve with a few small adjustments. Maybe something new will help you to be better, like spending one night a week on the track learning better running technique, or maybe yoga will help you gain that flexibility to allow you to train harder and longer or heading to the gym for the first time even at 35 and getting stronger. There are ways around or over all those hurdles that maybe putting doubts in your mind.

Keep going, you'll get endless hours of happiness out of it. I'll be back about the questions posed earlier in a few posts.