SHANE RICE: Stop copying runners – train for GAA

EVERY winter, Gaelic football teams hit preseason with the same problem: everyone knows conditioning matters, but not everyone agrees what conditioning should look like. Some coaches love long steady runs. Others want to do everything through small-sided games. And then there’s the tempo crowd, 100–200m reps on a whistle because it feels like proper work.

Here’s the truth in plain terms: the best conditioning plan isn’t about the coach’s background or favourite session. It’s about what Gaelic football actually demands, repeated efforts, changes of direction, accelerations, decelerations, and enough aerobic fitness to recover between all of that without falling apart late in games.

The goal of aerobic conditioning in GAA

Gaelic football isn’t an endurance sport. You don’t need marathon-level fitness. You need the right levelof aerobic fitness for your position, so you can keep making high-quality actions, pressing, tracking, breaking lines, and recovering, through the full match.

Preseason is the main window to build that engine. In-season, you mostly maintain it.

The main conditioning tools (and where coaches go wrong)

1) Continuous runs and ‘critical speed’ work

These are your steady runs or longer efforts. They can help build a base, especially early in the training year, or for players who are behind. But they’re not very GAA-specific because they’re straight-line and low chaos.

Where they do make sense? Off-season or very early preseason, when you’ve got time, and when you want something simple, low-risk, and easy to complete consistently.

2) Tempo running (Extensive vs Intensive)

In team sports, tempo usually means repeated 100–200m runs at a controlled speed with planned rest. It’s not the same tempo runners talk about.

l Extensive tempo = a bit slower, more repeatable (think 1:2 work-to-rest).

l Intensive tempo = faster, more demanding (often closer to 1:3 work-to-rest).

Tempo is great for getting controlled high-speed running and cleaning up running mechanics. But here’s the common mistake: tempo is not a full aerobic plan on its own. If you rely on it as your main aerobic builder, you often get sessions that look busy, but don’t push the engine enough, especially for fitter players.

3) HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) using MAS

This is the most reliable team setting tool for building aerobic fitness fast, because it’s measurable and fair.

You test a player’s MAS (max aerobic speed), then prescribe running based on a percentage of that. So the same session challenges everyone properly, even if fitness levels vary across the squad. That matters massively in club and county setups where you’ve got mixed engines and limited coaching numbers.

4) Small-sided games and conditioning through football

Every manager loves this idea: “We’ll get fit through games.” It can work, but it’s inconsistent. Some lads hide. Some lads dominate the ball and do less running. Some lads are naturally fit and get enough. Others don’t.

And even when everyone works, small-sided games often under-hit high-speed running unless you give enough space per player and design the rules for it. That’s why live GPS (even one unit rotating) or simple targets like metres per minute can be a game changer, because it stops football fitness becoming guesswork.

The smart GAA approach

Preseason conditioning works best when you blend methods:

l Build the base (some steady running early if needed)

l Drive aerobic gains (MAS-based HIIT as the backbone).

l Layer the football (small-sided games with targets).

• l Use tempo as a bridge (controlled work that supports running quality and repeatability).

Bottom line: don’t chase the “best session.” Chase the best fit for your squad, your time, your facilities, and the actual demands of Gaelic football. That’s how you leave preseason genuinely conditioned, without wasting time or battering lads for the sake of it.

Gaelic Athletic Academy
Shane Rice