You Can Still Run 5K But You’ve Lost Your First Three Steps – Here’s the Fix

🧨 Why Your Burst Disappeared

You can still run all day.

You can still get through 60 minutes.

You can probably still do a decent 5K if someone asked you to.

But that explosive first three steps?

The yard of pace that used to give you an edge?The burst that won you the ball?Gone.

And no amount of long runs or HYROX sessions is bringing it back.If you’re a GAA player between 25 and 35 and you’ve noticed you’re half a step slower than you used to be, this is for you.

🧠 The Problem: You’re Fit But You’re Not Football Fit

You’re still training. You’re not lazy.

But somewhere along the way you’ve lost your explosiveness – the ability to accelerate, change direction and beat someone to the ball in the first few metres.

You notice it most in training. Someone breaks and you’re just a split second behind. You go for a 50/50 and don’t get there first. You make the tackle but you used to make it earlier.

It’s subtle. But it’s there.

And when you try to fix it you do what everyone does – more circuits, more conditioning, more 5Ks.

But here’s the truth:You’re not slow because you’re unfit. You’re slow because you’ve lost power.

And power doesn’t come back from endurance work.

⚡ Why 5K’s Won’t Bring It Back

Once you hit 30 you start losing fast-twitch muscle fibres – the ones responsible for explosive movements like sprinting, jumping and quick changes of direction – faster than you lose endurance fibres.

That’s why you can still run 5K but sprinting feels harder.That’s why you can still play 60 minutes but the burst is gone.

Your endurance is fine. Your power is what’s dropped off.

And the type of training most players do in the off-season – long runs, HYROX, random circuits – conditions your body for endurance, not explosiveness.

A 5K jog doesn’t help you beat a player to a breaking ball
Endless circuits don’t make you faster. They make you tired
HYROX builds general fitness not power

Result? You train hard all off-season and still show up to January slow.You know the feeling – first night back someone’s flying and you’re hanging.

Don’t be that player again.

🏋🏻‍♂️ The Fix: Train for Power Not Fatigue

If you want to get your first three steps back you need to train the system that creates it. That means power-focused training in the off-season – short, heavy, explosive work that rebuilds your fast-twitch fibres.

Here’s what that looks like:

🛷 Sled Work Short distances (10–20 m), heavy load, max effort. Rest fully between sets. Goal: build acceleration.

🦵 Trap Bar or Box Jumps

Explosive lower-body power. 3–5 reps, full recovery, quality over quantity.

🏃🏻‍♂️ Sprint Mechanics Drills Wall drills, A-skips, short sprints (10–30 m). Focus on acceleration technique.

🔗 Resisted Sprints Bands or partner resistance to force more power output in the first few steps.

🏋🏻‍♂️ Heavy Strength Work Trap bar deadlifts, split squats, single-leg work. Build the strength base that power sits on.

👉🏻 Power training = short, explosive, full recovery.👉🏻 Conditioning training = longer, moderate, minimal rest.

>Most players are doing the second one and wondering why they’re not getting faster.You need the first one.

🧪 Real Results: What 8 Weeks Can Do

Last October a player messaged me.31 years old. Midfielder. Felt like he’d lost his edge. Doing two to three 5Ks during the week and a HYROX at the weekend.

We switched to a structured 8 week power block:

Sled work twice a week
Sprint mechanics once a week
Heavy strength work (trap bar deadlifts, split squats)
Strategic nutrition (gradual calorie deficit, high protein)
Proper recovery (mobility and sleep dialled in)

By Christmas his 20 m sprint time had improved by 0.4 seconds.

That’s the difference between winning and losing the ball.

More importantly he felt explosive again. Confident. Like an athlete.

He showed up to pre-season ahead of everyone else.That’s what smart training does in 8 weeks.

⏳ The 10-Week Window: Your Move

You’ve got around 8 weeks until Christmas. Then another few weeks until pre-season.

That’s plenty of time to:

Rebuild your explosiveness
Drop the extra belly fat
Show up to January ahead of the pack

Or you can keep doing what you’re doing and show up behind again.Eight weeks from now you’ll either be chasing or leading.

Which side are you on?

📩 Want Help?

I run an online and in-person coaching programme for GAA players, rugby players and team sport athletes who want their speed back without the guesswork.

Fully personalised off-season training plans
Power and speed-focused programming
Nutrition and recovery dialled in
Weekly accountability and support

📥 Email me at info@templetownsc.com or DM “OFFSEASON” on Instagram @TempletownStrengthConditioning to get your fully customised off-season plan built around your goals and weak points.

⚠ In-person spaces are almost full. Online coaching is near capacity too 💥

Don’t miss your window! Train smarter, not broken.