Replying To StoreysTash: "I play Aussie Rules for the past few years in Melbourne at the equivalent of "a good club" level. I was talking to the club S&C coach one evening and showed him the pre-season schedule for a club player. He nearly fell off the seat. His very words were "why are coaches putting that sort of load on the body? You need 6-8 week max of pre-season in any sport, that training schedule is a recipe for injuries". He said even American Football players do gym work in April/May for a season that starts in August. You would love to see the MISCP or some professional body provide some oversight on some of these charlatans doing S&C but its not a regulated industry so anybody can call themselves S&C."
NFL players do gym work all year round. Im surprised at your coach saying that to be honest. Premier League soccer players snd professional rugby players likewise do gym work all year round. Even fat 55 year old mechanics like me do gym work all year round if they go to a gym at all. And I dont go because I want get bigger, I was always pretty naturally big. I was near 6 foot tall and heading up towards 15 stone when I was 14. There's no point doing gym work in a stop start manner, you lose all your gains in a very short period of time. And another myth is that everyone who goes to a gym goes there to get bigger. Yes, many lads do, but many top professional athletes dont. It depends what the demands of their particular position or sport are, what they want to achieve, do they want to get faster, etc etc. Some people I know are on gym programmes to lose weight and body mass, to de- bulk. And they arent fat to start with. There's no 1 gym programme that fits all. As you say it should be better regulated. I know of clubs who have had lads in who wouldn't do tailored individual programmes at all. They should be shown the door straight away.
It isnt rocket science to state that ACL injuries are due to either over loading of joints or imbalance in the load placed on the joints.
A body is only as good as its joints - the biggest tighs in the world are no good if the rest of the body is not sufficently strenghtend to facilitate the massive thighs.
All best practice in this area (S&C) tells us that investing in a proper S&C programme at 14/15 strenghtens joints while the body is still growing but has done 90% of its growing.
If your body is imbalanced at 20, its very hard to correct that later.
What generally happens in "Schools of excellence" and representative teams is overloading of players with repetitive static weights, shuttle runs and excessive drills that force unrealistic turning/twisting motions that arent replicated in games.
The body is being trained for one thing, but then executing something different in a match.
Train how you intend to play - once six fits all S&C will garantee injury, especially for those who make underage county squads.
There are no many intercounty players who start at U16 and last until 33/34 without an ACL injury at some point.
Its all fixable - 20 years ago (before Roger Federer) tennis players were done by age 26. Through proper sports science Federer, Nadal and Djokavic all burst through that glass ceiling, each pushing their title winning age further and further.
THe GAA went down the road of getting all intercounty players to be able to run 10-12k per match as everyone went down the "you go, I go" running game. That is changing back again as the new rules allow a kicking game become more prevalent.
I doubt there are as many ACL's in hurling as running around after the slothar has never really been part of that game.
People are posting opinions as if they are trained experts. The trend of bench, squat and deadlifting serious weight with the aim of getting "big" has long passed. That was the trend roughly 15 years ago.
Every county squad is doing plyos, biometrics, prehab, proper warm ups, band work and players have tailored programmes. No one is bulking anymore unless you're lumping players doing gym sessions at club level by themselves into that mix. Even then the prevalent issue is the players aren't improving as there aren't lifting the correct % for the correct reps or rest time. It's way more often you'll see a player in the gym gaining zero benefit from it than you'll see a lad start packing on muscle or constantly improving his, bench, squat and deadlift. The Acl injuries do need a lot of research unless you want to post your findings on why it's the gyms fault and save them the hassle?
Replying To Viking66: "NFL players do gym work all year round. Im surprised at your coach saying that to be honest. Premier League soccer players snd professional rugby players likewise do gym work all year round. Even fat 55 year old mechanics like me do gym work all year round if they go to a gym at all. And I dont go because I want get bigger, I was always pretty naturally big. I was near 6 foot tall and heading up towards 15 stone when I was 14. There's no point doing gym work in a stop start manner, you lose all your gains in a very short period of time. And another myth is that everyone who goes to a gym goes there to get bigger. Yes, many lads do, but many top professional athletes dont. It depends what the demands of their particular position or sport are, what they want to achieve, do they want to get faster, etc etc. Some people I know are on gym programmes to lose weight and body mass, to de- bulk. And they arent fat to start with. There's no 1 gym programme that fits all. As you say it should be better regulated. I know of clubs who have had lads in who wouldn't do tailored individual programmes at all. They should be shown the door straight away."
He meant the "real" gym work, yes they stay ticking over all year round but the real pre-season stuff only happens in April/May I was told. God knows what they are taking to facilitate it mind!! Yes the problem is that ChatGPT can generate an S&C programme and a presentation so some charlatan can turn up at a club his sales pitch. A bit like any other profession, stick to the regulated sphere I say.