Fionnuala Carr – Better Weights than never

Men benefit from weights training so should women

Two articles in the paper last week grabbed my attention, my colleague Pauric Grimes wrote an article about how some females are afraid to lift weights because they don’t want to be big and bulky and Aaron Kernon spoke about the impact of strength and conditioning training and how some people blamed it on a player’s poor performance.

I only have good experiences of strength and conditioning and weight training.

When I first started out there wasn’t any emphasis on strength and conditioning within the county set up, all our trainings had a focus on skills.

It wasn’t until I went to a personal trainer at 20 years of age that I began to experience weight training and the benefits from it. Nobody wants to be big and bulky – male or female, it doesn’t suit the demands of being a current intercounty player where the focus is on speed and mobility. However, the benefits of doing strength and conditioning training for any athlete male or female are hard to ignore.

I met Down senior footballer Packie Downey over the weekend and we had a good discussion on the season so far and the training that is currently being done.

It wasn’t hard to contrast the two training programmes especially considering I’m only really starting a pre-season in the middle of March.

I always enjoyed the weight training it made me feel stronger, healthier and fitter. For some reason I always preferred it to the endurance training but I found that it also helped me with the endurance.

I drive a lot with my job and then travelling home from training always gave me lower back problems and tightness in my glutes, when I incorporated the weights into my training the lower back problems always eased and the tightness generally went away.

The weight training always challenged me in a totally way and it usually challenged me for about three days after I completed the session when I couldn’t walk, stand or sit down without feeling pain.

It was a good feeling though and I knew I pushed myself hard and completed a good session. There is no doubt that your body shape changes but instead of becoming bulky and immobile I was a lot leaner and fitter as a result.

I sometimes think that what puts people off weight training is that they don’t see the number on the scales coming down and as a result they think it isn’t working or that it’s a pointless exercise to do.

Not only does it make you leaner but when you are training and playing matches you are a lot stronger and also fitter. Games have become so fast and physical that if you aren’t strong enough to take the tackle you will easily become brushed aside and dispossessed.

Female athletes generally don’t have the same level of exposure to gym programmes that the men’s teams do but that is slowly changing. A combination of cardio training with resistance training for me is the best way to train, it helps to keep the training fresh and challenging. It offers a different experience than training with a team where it is all primarily skill based or focusing on tactics.

This week is a huge week for Cushendall and Thursday will see a lot of people’s dreams come true when they see their club colours running out in Croke Park for an All Ireland Final.

I almost had the same experience two years ago and it is my biggest sporting regret that I didn’t reach a club All Ireland Final with Clonduff.

I would just like to wish Arron Graffin and all the Cushendall boys the very best of luck on St Patricks Day, play the game not the occasion…….but rise to the occasion.