Eight teams get to play in Croke Park this weekend, 24 other teams may be licking their wounds having not made the final stage of the Allianz Football League.
I sat down with a current inter-county player this week and discussed the amount of strength and conditioning work they had undertaken so far this season.
This player's first session with the county was a comprehensive fitness testing session on Wednesday, 28 September.
The battery of test consisted of the following.
Yo-Yo test: This test is like the old-fashioned bleep test the main difference is most yo-yo tests have a rest period after every 40 metres (2 x 20m) distance covered, compared to the beep test which is a continuous test.
The Bronco test: This is a hard-aerobic running assessment where participants must complete a sequence of shuttle runs over 60m, 40m and 20m for five sets. The participants' aim is to complete the test in as quick a time as possible. The total distance covered is 1200 metres.
Body Fat: This test involves measuring different sites of the body using skinfold callipers. The total sum of the sites measured is added up and then using various body fat charts based on age, type of test carried out the body percentage is calculated.
Jump Test:The countermovement jump (CMJ) is a test during which the player squats to their preferred depth and then jump as high as they can. The primary purpose of this jump test is to measure the lower-body power and lower limb strength.
Gym tests including the most weight the player can move safely and proficiently 3 times, which included squat, deadlift, weighted pull-ups, bench press, mid-thigh pull and core stability.
Based on the scores the players achieved in these tests they were then furnished with a strength and conditioning program, where some sessions were collective and some individual.
Up until last weekend the player has completed the following number of Strength and Conditioning sessions this season.
106 gym sessions averaging around 90 minutes per session for a total of 154 hours. The content of these sessions are divided up into four-week block, each block working on a different aspect of strength and power. In this case it was blocks of maximum strength ( the ability to generate maximum force against a given load), strength speed (the ability to move relatively heavy loads as fast as you can), speed strength (the ability to move maximum load possible at very high speed) and rate of force development (increasing the explosiveness of a movement)
77 speed or conditioning sessions, normally around 50-70 minutes for an average of around 77 hours. These sessions concentrate on developing the ability to play high-octane powerful football for 70+ minutes. It is done by combining different types of exercises such as hard running, kick passing, tackling and shooting. This should mimic runs, tackles, passes and shots that take place in a match and a lot more football related activities.
55 rehab/prehab sessions which lasted 45 minutes for a total of 46 hours is designed to try to prevent injuries and strengthen the smaller areas of the body that the main gym sessions don't necessarily address. Prehab is a personalised, exercise program. It provides sports-specific, focused exercises and activities for a Gaelic footballer and other athletes needs. The philosophy is simple, to prevent injuries.
On top of the S&C work the player also had to navigate analysis meetings, warm-ups, cool downs, recovery sessions, football sessions and some one-on-one lifestyle and wellness meetings. There is also the travel time taken to and from all these sessions mentioned.
The dedication and commitment to sustain this schedule is incredible, from solely a strength and conditioning angle this player has already completed 229 hours this season so far, if this time was invested in a part time job earning minimum wage the player would have accumulated €2,587.70 or £2,386.18.
There is still a lot more training to be done in preparation for the provincial and All-Ireland championship competitions and teams will be ramping up the conditioning work to even higher levels to ensure they are flying once the ball is thrown in for their respective first match.
They will achieve this by strength and conditioning coaches prescribing shorter but far more intense training sessions and coaches will have to plan their training accordingly to whatever competition they are involved.
This summer will be the first staging of the new format for the football championship, with 16 teams playing a round-robin group stage and 12 qualifying for the subsequent knock-out phase. For some teams this may mean playing up to 10 more games to reach the All-Ireland final.
To prepare for this some teams will go to Portugal for a training camp, some teams are staying closer to home and holding domestic training camps.
These camps will consist of two to three training sessions a day, with weights, conditioning, and football strategy.
Part one of the 2023 season is over. Part two promises to bring a lot more twists and turns.
The inter-county player I met with has already invested 229 hours of S&C into this season with a lot more to come.
Incidentally, his total number of competitive minutes played this season?
Zero.
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