Injury prevention on training return
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PLAYERS
Take responsibility for your own warm-up (foam rolling/ mobility exercises/activation).
Arrive early and take 10/15 minutes to complete, even if the same exercise is completed in the team warm-up. Concentrate on hip and shoulder mobility (range of motion), as well as groin and hamstring flexibility in your own warm-up.
Refer to the GAA 15 Warm-Up programme to learn your warm-up exercises (https://learning.gaa.ie/gaa15).
Try to complete a similar mobility programme on rest days as well as some active recovery such as walking, leisurely cycling or swimming.
COACHES
Begin with linear conditioning (straight line running drills with reduced twisting/turning) and move towards game-based conditioning (small-sided games) over a number of weeks. Spend more time than normal on your team’s warm-up in the first weeks and plan it to build to training speed at the end. Dynamic stretching is preferred, although some degree of static stretching can be incorporated into cool-down (slowly reducing heart rate).
Try to introduce speed work slowly (low reps at beginning) and always have it straight after warm-up (without fatigue).