5 of the best exercises for GAA Athletes

By Adrian| January 22nd, 2023

Weight Room Strength vs Athletic Strength

Strength training helps make athletes better. At all levels, a stronger athlete will have more of a competitive advantage & likely will suffer less injuries than a weaker one.

However, weight room strength is very different from athletic strength.

Afterall, “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones is really strong and a jacked guy but probably wouldn’t be leading the line in 100m sprints!

On the flip side, every club has that young athlete fresh out of minor that looks like they’re running at 100 miles an hour yet they’d be blown away with a shoulder!

So, what are some of the exercises GAA players should be prioritising to get the dream balance everyone wants? In other words, how can you become the strongest and fastest athlete possible and maximise your potential?

In this blog post I give you my top five exercise picks that will help bridge the gap between the gym and the pitch so you can help stay injury free and be strong and powerful year-round.

1. Sled Work

First step acceleration and being ‘quick off the mark’ is crucial in GAA. We all know someone who might not be the quickest runner over longer distances yet, their acceleration and speed over the first 10-20 metres is more than enough for them to get by in any game.

But how do you train acceleration and speed?

Sprinting is the most dynamic movement you can do. You cannot practice sprinting by doing it slowly. Furthermore, the more you have to think about how to sprint properly with good technique, the more likely you are to run slower because you’re thinking too much.

So how can you learn proper sprint mechanics without too much thought while being able to practice the technique?

Enter the sled! When you break down proper sprint mechanics, you have to look at:

• Forward body lean

• Positive shin angle

• Applying force into the ground

The sled offers you the opportunity to practice all of the above. And the best part? By adding weight onto the sled, it literally allows you to perfect the technique of sprinting while training slowly! In other words, the more weight you add to the sled, the slower you’re going to be able to move which means the more you’ll be able to focus on moving with good form.

As my favourite (and also legendary) strength coach Joe DeFranco says, “Training slow to get faster.”

Some of my favourite sled exercises for improving sprinting speed include:

• Sled drags

• Sled Pushes

• Sled marches

If your gym does not have a track and a sled, here are some good alternatives:

• Hill sprints

• Deadmill (sprinting against a turned off treadmill)

• Band resisted sprints (with a band around your waist)

2. Deadlift

GAA is a speed and power based sport – it requires you to be able to accelerate quickly and be quick off the mark. Applying this to a game situation, one moment you might be static but in the blink of an eye, you may be required to accelerate and sprint.

Being able to accelerate and sprint promptly requires you to produce a lot of force quickly.

What exercises can you incorporate which require you to produce a lot of force quickly in a short period of time?

Enter the deadlift. It’s you against the bar. Do you have enough strength and power to apply as much force as possible and to pick up the weight from the floor? It’s a fantastic exercise to train these qualities and increase your strength and force production.

My personal favourite deadlift exercise for GAA athletes is a Hex Bar Deadlift. Why? Because it’s like a hybrid exercise between a squat and a deadlift. However, more importantly, with the handles on either side, it means there’s less of a hinge/bend down required to pick up the weight meaning there is a reduced risk of injury.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the straight bar deadlift is a brilliant exercise. And I don’t want to nocebo (the opposite of the placebo effect) anyone into thinking ‘it’s bad for your back.’ It is not by any means and is probably my favourite back exercise as a whole.

However, the fact that you have to bend down lower to pick up the straight bar does mean there’s a greater risk attached of injury if you’re technique is not on point.

My recommendation would be to use the Hex Bar Deadlift in season and if you are a fan of the straight bar, use it in the off-season.

3. Lunges

When you look at sprinting mechanics and specifically having a nice forward body lean and positive shin angle, the lunge is an excellent exercise to train these qualities. Just like the sled, it’s joint specific and allows you to train some of the prime moving muscles of sprinting – specifically your glutes and also your quads.

Furthermore, when you are running, you run on one leg. Therefore, it’s a good idea to train on one leg. This way, it can allow you to identify if one leg has more strength and/or stability as another and enables you to train those imbalances.

And finally, lunges are just a brilliant exercise in general for building muscle! Yes, they suck and yes, they are so hard BUT, your glutes, your quads and your legs in general will thank you when the season comes back around again and you know you’ve put in the work.

Some of my favourite lunging exercises include:

• Split squats

• Rear foot elevated split squats

• Reverse lunges

4. Nordic Hamstring Curl

What is the most common injury amongst GAA athletes? A pulled hamstring! Sprinting puts a tonne of stress and strain on the hamstrings and therefore they need to be built up and trained adequately.

Most hamstring injuries occur when they are in a lengthened state. Therefore, by building strength in your hamstrings in a lengthened state, you are making your training more sport-specific and you’ll see more of a carryover onto the pitch.

One of my favourite hamstring exercises which trains them as they are lengthened is the Nordic hamstring curl. It is a fantastic exercise for both injury prevention and strength building.

If your gym does not have a Nordic hamstring curl, you could tuck your feet under a treadmill or rack or even get someone to hold your heels.

If this is not possible, some other brilliant hamstring exercises include:

• Single Leg Deadlifts

• Single Leg Swiss Ball Leg Curls

• Single Leg Glute Bridges

• Furniture Sliders

• Reverse Hyperextensions

5. Landmine Press

It would be a shame if I listed 5 exercises GAA athletes should be doing WITHOUT mentioning an upper body lift. I love the landmine press, and specifically the single arm landmine press for developing upper body strength and power.

Why? Being able to hold the ball in one arm and hand off your opponent with the other is important in GAA. I can’t think of a more specific exercise to train this quality than a single arm landmine press.

On top of this, it’s a brilliant, joint friendly exercise for improving shoulder strength.

The Takeaway

Weight room strength and athletic strength are two different qualities. Every form of gym work you do has the potential to positively carryover to your sport.


However, by doing the right kind of gym work, it can help you bridge the gap between the gym and the pitch which will allow you to stay strong and powerful year-round.


Here are my top 5 exercises which I feel will give you greater potential to see that positive carryover from the gym to the pitch.

• Sled work

• Deadlifts

• Lunges

• Nordic Hamstring Curls

• Single-arm Landmine Press

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