PMG Strength & Performance

29/04/2024

🏆 Ulster champs 🏆
Well done girls.
Privileged to be delivering strength and conditioning to this young group of athletes 💪🏼

13/04/2024

🌟 Female Gaelic Footballers 🏐💪

📚 A recent study by Hughes and colleagues on the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined the strength characteristics of elite and sub-elite female Gaelic football players? 🏆 The findings shed light on the key differences between elite and subelite players, highlighting the importance of strength and power in achieving top performance on the field for both elite and sub-elite players

🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ Elite players demonstrated superior peak force, relative peak force, and reactive strength compared to subelite players during isometric mid thigh pull, counter movement jumps and repeated jump tests.
✅ Jump height, propulsion peak power, and other CMJ phase characteristics were significantly better in elite players.
✅ These findings emphasise the critical role of strength and power in Gaelic football success.

🏋️‍♀️ Coaches should use this research to enhance player performance by tailoring training programs to focus on explosive power, and individualizing strength training to address specific needs.

🚀 Ready to take your Gaelic football skills to the next level? Stay tuned for more insights and training tips inspired by the latest research in sports science! 🌟

Drop a 🏐 in the comments if you're passionate about Gaelic football and eager to boost your performance! 💥

ℹ️ For more in-depth details, feel free to reach out or check out the full study on the strength characteristics of female Gaelic football players. Let's elevate our game and strive for excellence together! 🌟

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/9900/the_strength_characteristics_of_elite_and_subelite.418.aspx

17/03/2024

Resistance training for youth athletes has long been a subject of debate among coaches, parents, and even healthcare professionals. However, the prevailing myths surrounding its safety and efficacy often overshadow the considerable body of evidence

In the dynamic world of youth sports, the pursuit of excellence and peak performance is a constant endeavour. Coaches, parents, and young athletes are always on the lookout for effective strategies…

23/02/2024

🌟 Best of luck to the U16 Armagh Ladies Football team as they begin their Ulster championship journey this Saturday against Derry! 💪🏐
I’m currently the strength and conditioning coach for this team and I’ve personally witnessed these players continually improve and get more powerful.

With overall 13% and 8% increases in vertical and horizontal power production, respectively, in 8 weeks, this team are in full swing and ready to dominate 💪🏼
Best of luck girls

01/10/2023

New blog post.

Introduction Gaelic games, deeply woven into the tapestry of Irish culture, are more than just sports. They are a celebration of community, passion, and tradition. While many advocate for rigorous …

05/08/2023

Gaelic footballers and hamstring strain.

The hamstrings are the most common non-contact injury site in Gaelic footballers but why??
It could be due to lack of training load monitoring, or lack of intensity in training which results in players not meeting the physical demands needed during game days.

Up to 21% of total injuries are hamstrings and around 22% of players sustain a hamstring injury each season (Danielsson et al 2020).

There is no agreement on the injury mechanism for hamstrings but there are several theory’s.

Stretch like activities like during running has been a suspected mechanism for hamstring injuries which occur during the late swing phase when the knee is fully extended and the hip is in large degrees of flexion due to athletes running with an excessive forward lean(Askling et al 2007; Chumanov et al 2012; Higashihara et al 2015). Similar positions are witnessed during kicking a ball and picking a ball up off the ground like in Gaelic football (hip flexion, knee extension and ankle dorsiflexion).

In contrast, Mann et al (1980) suggested injury to occur during early stance due to increased impact forces from the body propelling forward.

Is strength an issue?? Possibly.
It was proposed eccentric strength became weaker due to fatigue in soccer players (Jones et al 2015).

One study actually captured a hamstring injury during data collection and stated that the injury occurred when the subject ran with an “abnormal increase in power compared with velocity qualities” (Mendiguchia et al 2016).