5 a side training at the gym...

[MunkyHeed]

I've recently joined the gym... firstly to lose weight but secondly to get better at our weekly 5 a side. I find that with 30-40 mins gone, I am fucked and plod around the pitch like a sweaty zombie.

Currently I do 20 mins on the bike, then 20 mins on the cross-trainer as I used to suffer badly from shinsplints, but I tried the treadmill for the first time and found it ok.

Am wondering what would be the best gym regime to get me better at the footy. Am I right thinking the treadmill is the most efficient fitness/weightloss machine? How do others use it? Do they run for a set time, or a set distance?

(expecting Sima to turn up soon...)

[mackemlegend]

Originally Posted by MunkyHeed

I've recently joined the gym... firstly to lose weight but secondly to get better at our weekly 5 a side. I find that with 30-40 mins gone, I am fucked and plod around the pitch like a sweaty zombie.

Currently I do 20 mins on the bike, then 20 mins on the cross-trainer as I used to suffer badly from shinsplints, but I tried the treadmill for the first time and found it ok.

Am wondering what would be the best gym regime to get me better at the footy. Am I right thinking the treadmill is the most efficient fitness/weightloss machine? How do others use it? Do they run for a set time, or a set distance?

You're not the only one

[shaviessafc]

You wouldnt find it better running outside? Treadmills arent very good, imo. Theyre nothing compared to 'real' running. That and a rowing machine would be good.


Try running interval training, this would help when it comes to adapting to the pace in five a side.

[Lonz]

Originally Posted by MunkyHeed

I've recently joined the gym... firstly to lose weight but secondly to get better at our weekly 5 a side. I find that with 30-40 mins gone, I am fucked and plod around the pitch like a sweaty zombie.

Currently I do 20 mins on the bike, then 20 mins on the cross-trainer as I used to suffer badly from shinsplints, but I tried the treadmill for the first time and found it ok.

Am wondering what would be the best gym regime to get me better at the footy. Am I right thinking the treadmill is the most efficient fitness/weightloss machine? How do others use it? Do they run for a set time, or a set distance?

(expecting Sima to turn up soon...)

No, it's not. Losing weight is actually a lot more straight forward than people make out. Pretty much 90% of it is diet. A lot of people I know who have lost a lot of fat recently, while retaining muscles, managed to do it with relatively little cardio.

As for football mind, I've found the best way to get good at the sport you're doing (fitness wise) is to simply practice and copy over and over the sort of things you'd be doing. Ryan Giggs used to train by simple running from box-to-box on a football pitch over and over again to get his fitness up to scratch after injuries, apparently. So for 5-a-side, I'd recommend sprint training, and intervals. That's high intensity cardio you don't need to do at the gym either. If you want to get stronger, then plan some sort of weight training into it, along with your diet.

A good source for fitness info (though it is mainly centered around weight training) is http://propanefitness.com

[safc_graeme]

At the minute I'm training for the great north run, so I'm more into my distance running outside, but when I'm trying for weightloss and improved stamina on the treadmill, I tend to do HIIT, and I've been recommended but never tried Tabata training.

Basically with HIIT it's between 15 and 20 minutes, and you do around a minute of jogging at around 65% of your fastest speed, then a minute of sprinting at around 95% of your fastest speed. Give it a bit of research and I'd suggest starting with something like 45 seconds jogging and 30 seconds sprinting, and work your way up.

I'm yet to fully research tabata, but to be honest it sounds like absolute hell.

edit: I should also point out HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, which is what everyone above has also suggested