GERARD O’Kane: Keep it achievable

GOOD luck to anyone trying to get a space at a local gym this week or to book in with a personal trainer or gym instructor who are all offering eight-week new year courses.

There are so many people who wake up with a turkey hangover (or indeed a normal hangover) and say – “I am going to start in the new year and be fitter and faster than ever.”

This correlates across to GAA players too. So many will be making plans this week, starting a gym programme ahead of the pre-season and making so many promises to themselves that they might even forget how many they made.

My advice on it all from 25-plus years of experience and also from coaching and managing through these levels too is that slow and steady wins the race.

Don’t go setting targets which are unrealistic and place demands on your time and body that you just can’t fulfil.

I have heard of lads promising themselves that they will start off by training every day in January, whether it be strength and conditioning, running etc.

Come January 20 these same lads are burnt out and don’t even want to think about training or pulling on the boots when managers are starting to pull players in for group sessions.

When setting any targets, whether they be on the pitch football wise or simply for your own personal fitness or health journey, make sure they are attainable but also push yourself to the limit a bit so you simply don’t get too comfortable.

Buddying up in groups or pods as a bit of company can go a long way especially if you are not massive onto self-motivation. Often the hardest part can be getting started – getting the bag and getting out the door is half the battle.

As regards the football itself, with the All-Ireland Club semi-finals are on this weekend, it’s a good way to ring in the new year with some high-quality football.

The forecast has been fairly mild in the last few weeks so the hope would be that the surfaces would lend themselves to allow for a decent footballing fare and not a mud bath that might usually be associated with this time of the year.

Two Ulster teams, Ballinderry and Errigal Ciaran, take on Kerry opponents, both with illustrious history.

Ballinderry’s opponents Austin Stacks would be similar to themselves in that they have traditionally been a senior team for a long time and a team that is used to competing at the sharper end of senior football.

Both clubs have witnessed a downturn in recent times resulting in intermediate football. It would have been seen as a rebuilding opportunity but also a challenge as after dropping into this level, both clubs would have been expected to make a crack at it.

Interestingly, both of these clubs played in the All-Ireland Club semi-final at senior level in 2014 (Ballinderry) and then in 2015, Austin Stacks played against Sleacht Néill.

Neither made it through to the final so that in itself makes for an interesting game between the pair a few yeas on.

In games like this, it’s hard to know who comes out on top as the pairings are such a novelty. The form line for both have been different.

Ballinderry had to fight their way past opponents both in the latter stages of the Derry Championship and then in Ulster, winning their last games by a single point.

Austin Stacks seemed to win most of their games fairly handsomely, scoring 7-7 in their Munster final after which their manager proclaimed he was not happy with their performance.

I am not sure if that was reverse psychology or he genuinely was not happy with their performance but it’s setting the bar fairly high when they win by 26 points.

Either way it sets up an interesting battle versus a Ballinderry side who have a number of lads now who have medals at both Ulster Senior and Ulster Intermediate level – that in itself is a rare feat.

The senior semi-final on Sunday between Errigal Ciaran and Dr Croke’s again promises to be a tight affair with the bookies having this at evens both ways.

Errigal have been really impressive on their journey through Tyrone and Ulster. Their most obvious threats come in the form of the Canavan brothers with Ruairi being particularly impressive right throughout their Ulster campaign.

Having these two lads at club level is a massive boost for any club and no matter what the odds are in any game, having the two lads play on the one team gives any team a chance.

I know this first hand. Having played 20-plus years of club football with the Bradley brothers up top, it takes a defence to be on guard for the full 65-plus minutes as one lapse in concentration and players of this calibre take full advantage.

At this stage of the competition, very little will separate any of the sides so at the risk of sitting on the massive fence I will go for a two-point victory either way in both of the games – as to who that victory will be for this weekend, I have no idea!

This week’s Gaelic Lives looks ahead to the All-Ireland semi-finals this weekend and we have Ulster minor winning reaction.