Christmas means resting, drinking, and eating until your belly feels like it is going to explode, and it truly is a bliss time of the year.
The mantra of 'sure it's Christmas' gives you a guilt-free excuse to eat, drink, and consume whatever you want for the better part of a week.
Like all good things though, it comes back to bite you, and for GAA players entering the dreaded world of pre-season in 2025, there is a darkness that awaits you.
Anyone who has endured a pre-season, at any level for their GAA club, will tell you that it is a horrific time of year. The sky is black, the air is bitterly cold, you can see nothing but a cloud of steam escaping you and your teammates, as you force one leg in front of the other to get in line for another torturous drill.
So in order to dampen your spirits this Christmas/new year, we have compiled the five worst drills that are coming your way this winter.
5. Figure of 8s
There are slight variations to this drill, but typically you would jog the width of one endline behind the goal, then as you turn the corner, you sprint flat out in a diagonal run across the field, ending up at the other corner, where you turn and jog the width of that endline, and repeat.
The jog is supposed to be your rest, but if you find yourself lagging behind during the sprint, then you start turning up the pace for the 'rest' part to catch up some ground, and now you're in deep trouble, as the lungs burn, the legs ache, and your stress levels are through the roof.
It could be five, 10, even 15 rounds of this depending on the size of pitch, or the lunacy levels of your coach, so be warned.
4. Tackling grids
At first this can appear as a welcome sight for players, who are comforted by the fact that a ball is actually being used, but that relief soon turns to dread.
Basically you and one other player are in a small square, there are four players at each cone, two of which have footballs in their hands.
If you are the 'attacker' then you receive the ball from one of these players, and hand it off to someone who doesn't have a ball, before going to receive the other one, all the while your opponent that is in the square with you, is beating the living shit out you.
You do this for a minute or so, and then swap it around, so you are now the one chasing and tackling, and by the time the whistle finally goes for a rest, you would swear you just did 10 rounds in the boxing ring.
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3. The Bronco
Adopted from the rugby world, this is fitness test that a lot of teams use at the beginning of the season, and then repeat a few weeks later to mark the improvements.
There is a start line, a 20m line, a 40m line, and a 60m line - you run to each line and back, and that counts as one set.
You run five sets in total, and however long it took you to complete those sets, is your official score. Most teams would be looking their fittest players to get it under the five minute mark, which is no easy feat.
This is an exercise where you completely empty the tank, give it your all, and leave nothing in the tank, but because it is over in a relatively short period, it means there is usually still a full hour or so of torture waiting for you afterwards.
2. MAS Runs
Maximal Areboic Speed runs are supposed to be a type of running where an athlete uses the lowest speed they can possibly use, without using anaerobic processes, which is fancy way of saying a lot of mid-speed running, without sprinting at max capacity.
The problem is everyone's MAS is different depending on their fitness levels, but coaches aren't going to cater to every individual when they have a team to train, so everyone tends to the same run, regardless of your current condition.
It is normally broke up into intervals, and there are lots of ways to do it, but one example, would be running from one sideline to another in 15-20 seconds, and then you have a 15-20 second break, before doing it again.
The problem is, once you do six or seven of these, you start to tire, so it takes you longer than 15-20 seconds to get to the other end, but the clock for your rest period has already begun.
That is only one example of many, and there are dozens available on Google so if you want to look them up to mentally prepare yourself, then be our guest.
1. The Beep Test
An old school favourite, and not dissimilar to the Bronco test, the beep test is a measure of your fitness that is usually taken at the beginning of the season, and then done again after a few weeks to see if there is a marked improvement.
You have two 20m lines, and you have to get from A to B before you hear the beep, but the 'beep' gets faster as you go up a level.
So level one is quite slow, and has nine or 10 runs, and then you will hear over the speaker that it has progressed to level two, and the beep is quicker.
By the time you get to seven or eight, you are properly running, and if you miss two beeps in a row, then you are out, and you take note of whichever level you reached.
However, anyone who has ever done this will tell you about the embarrassment or fear of being one of the first to drop out, and then stand on the sidelines for what feels like an eternity as your teammates continue to push through the pain barrier.
In your heart of hearts, you knew that you had more in the tank, but you lost the mental battle with your legs, and didn't give it everything, and that can really hurt.
The flip side is, if you do give it your all, every last ounce that you have, you are in for a world of pain, as your legs turn to jelly, your chest aches from the constant contractions, and you can't seem to catch your breath.
All we can say, is good luck, and enjoy those pints now, because you are going to be sweating them out of you very soon.
