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Bespoke Coaching, Cork (2026)

09/03/2026

Fuelling before training and games is all about having enough accessible energy.
Whilst Protein is important for recovery and adaptation. Consuming Protein directly before training isn't that important and may actually take away from fueling correctly.
So no... Large amounts of meat, a protein bar or yogurt is not going to fuel your training session or games.
Your body performs best when it has sufficient amounts of carbohydrates ready to go so that is what you need to be prioritizing.
Whilst every athlete's gut tolerance, sport intensity and training load is different. Swipe across to see a framework to help you personalise your fueling plan...

05/03/2026

Over the last year. There seems to be more and more people scaremongering foods and telling us what not to eat.

🚨Avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs.
🚨Avoid dairy at all costs.
🚨 Avoid meat at all costs.
🚨 Avoid sugar at all costs.
🚨 Avoid seed oils at all costs.
And god forbid if you use a microwave. You might aswell call the funeral home that you are on the way.
However the ironic thing is that some people can spend so much energy on worrying about every ‘bad ingredient’ but totally ignore the most impactful things like exercising more, having a proper sleep routine, eating more quality proteins, fruits & vegetables and drinking more fluids.
Real health and performance comes from having solid habits and focusing on what actually matters.

02/03/2026

An extremely busy month of coaching, kicking on with rehab and attempting some balance.
February seems to be the new January when it comes to online coaching demand. I can't complain as this is my bread and butter and everyday brings something new with clients.
Kicked off the rehab on the osteitis p***s. If I'm honest, it's fairly tedious but thankfully I have already felt the chronic soreness improve without any use of NSAID's which I don't tolerate very well. Instead for anti-inflammatory effects. I have increased my daily Omega 3 intake to 3g and added 1000mg Curcumin each day whilst also increasing my polyphenol intake. On top of this I have implemented contrast therapy (Sauna & cold plunge) along with daily breath work to further help balance the nervous system. Outside of feeling improvements, objective data such as HRV has improved significantly so positive steps overall.
We had only one game this month but everything is ramping up as championship is just around the corner. Something that is not lost on me is having Odhran around the environment. Kids are sponges to what they are around and there are not many 5 year olds get to be around such a high performance, hard working and positive environment.
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Had a rare night out with Gemma at comedian. Great show and it felt good to switch off for a few hours.
March looks another busy month with a training camp, workshops and few more projects starting in the background. Hopefully a drier month than February after being washed out of it in February🤯

26/02/2026

First let’s look at what meal timing is. Meal timing means eating foods or certain nutrients at certain times for a specific reason.
Now a lot of people will say meal timing isn’t important at all but I have to disagree.
Swipe across to see my thoughts on why I think meal timing is something that needs to be considered.
What are your views on meal timing? Drop a comment below or DM me.

24/02/2026

First off. It's important to highlight that the cause of muscle cramps are multifactorial.
They can be influenced by dehydration, electrolyte losses, neuromuscular fatigue, sudden spikes in intensity or volume and the body being pushed harder than it is conditioned for. Often it is several of these at once.
Over the last few years. The use of Pickle juice has become more prevalent by athletes in order to ease muscle cramps quickly.
Whilst the acidic liquid is a concentrated source of electrolytes. 𝗔 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽. Instead it's that unpleasant acidic taste which activates receptors in the mouth and throat which triggers a neural reflex that temporarily dampens overactive motor neurons driving the muscle cramp.
𝗔 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀.
There is no evidence to suggest that drinking the juice before exercise has any benefit. It's more a cure rather than a preventative.
When I have players reporting muscle tightness mid-game or I see them rubbing their calves or stretching in-between play. I like to act early by having them take a shot of pickle juice whilst also prioritising fluids after its use in order to stop a bigger cramp from developing.
Also for 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲. Rather than drinking it straight. Ideally it is rinsed around in the mouth before swallowing. This ensures the mechanism of
triggering a neural reflex fully functions.
To sum up pickle juice.
🥒 It can help ease muscle cramps but will not prevent them.
🥒 A good rule of thumb is use it at the first sign of a muscle cramp to avoid a bigger cramp developing.
🥒 Ideally it should be rinsed around in the mouth (10-20seconds) before swallowing.
Prevention (See previous post on the grid) will always be better than cure but pickle juice is something I have found useful to have in the arsenal.

17/02/2026

Whether we like it or not. Nothing in life worthwhile comes easy.
Nowadays there seems to be trend that we should be seeking to have zero stress in our lives and everything should be easy.
In reality. If you aren’t feeling some stress or discomfort. You really aren’t seeing truthfully what you can do.
🏃‍♂️If you want to get to fitter? You are going to have to run/cycle/row etc longer and faster!
🏋️‍♀️ If you want to get stronger? You are going to have to lift heavier!
🏑 If you want to become more skillful? You likely will have to put more hours in practicing those skills.
📚 If you want to get a qualification or degree? You likely will have to spend hours with your head in the books!
📈 If you want to grow a business? You will likely have to spend a period working long hours and worrying about the business.
Yes we don’t want to be walking around ball of stress and totally burnt out but if you want to progress in anything. Try to do more and embrace the discomfort it brings.

12/02/2026

Do you find yourself constantly gassed in training and have yourself questioning your fitness?
Do you find your coaches are questioning your fitness?
Do you do more running, rower, cross trainer and bike sessions to get fitter but still find yourself in the same place or worse?
Maybe it’s not your fitness but it’s something else that can be quite an easy fix?
I have worked with numerous people at different levels from a wide variety of sports and when presented with a similar scenario. 99% of the time their fitness is not the issue.
It’s their nutrition and they aren’t fueling properly for the work they are doing.
Sounds simple but you wouldn’t expect to drive a car without any fuel in it would you?
Eat up particularly your carbohydrates if you want to perform at your best.

05/02/2026

I've been working in this industry nearly 15 years and when it comes to supplement use. Time and time again I see people waste their money through misuse.
Swipe across to see the most common mistakes I see people make with supplements.

02/02/2026

An extremely busy start to the year.
The inter-county GAA season kicked off and it's all hands on deck. From my side, this brings about implementing new phases for individual players and a big ramp up in logistical work through dealing with hotels, caterers and events managers. It's a part of the job that I actually enjoy as it allows me put my own spin on things but it definitely heightens my OCD.
Me & Billy Murphy delivered a successful workshop for over 50 coaches, nutritionists and players on all things performance nutrition.
We at Cork GAA officially partnered with Nutrition X. This has something that has been in the works the last few months and we are delighted to partner with a brand
that put the athletes needs at the forefront of interest through their sports nutrition, quality, third-party tested products.
A MRI on by groin showed the osteitis p***s was worse than I expected and up to 6 months of rehab could be needed. It is was it is and the focus now is doing everything I can to get it right and shorten that timeframe to when I can get back running fully. For not the bike is my best friend.
Online Coaching is as busy as ever with a nice diversity of clients with different goals working onboard. A snippet to the clientele I’m working with at the moment outside of work with Cork.
- Numerous club players in the midst of their pre season.
-Numerous professional soccer players overseas either in the middle or their season or starting pre-season
- A visually impaired cyclist getting ready for up and coming tandem bike races.
- A new mom looking to get back on the GAA pitch.
- Numerous endurance athletes getting ready for marathons and Ironmans plotted across the year.
This is the beauty of this job. No one client is the same and each will have their own unique circumstances which never makes it monotonous.
Looking forward to another busy month and copious amounts of caffeine.

29/01/2026

If there is one macronutrient that has some of the biggest myths. It’s Protein!
Swipe across to see 5 of the most common myths and most importantly. See the actual facts!

27/01/2026

It’s around this time of year that players start zoning in on body composition and a common question I get is..
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁?
My answer is always the same. There is no exact ideal weight.
Some athletes can get caught up in the mindset hole of always ‘needing to get lighter’ or always ‘needing to get bigger’ but each can come with a trade off.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿?
This can end up having many compromises in physical and mental health, quality of life, ability to perform ,injury risk and overall competency in sport and day to day life..
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿?
This can end up having consequences on fat to muscle ratio and therefore ability to perform. It may also increase the risk of injury as muscle and strength can increase faster than tendons & ligaments can adapt to the new loads.
My advice is to build good eating and lifestyle habits that allows you to achieve a body composition that will allow you perform at the highest with consistently ticking these boxes.
✅ Endurance
✅ Strength
✅ Focus & concentration
✅ Speed & agility
✅ Recovery
✅ Daily energy and wellbeing
A scales number will not be the bottom line to any of these
&C

Bespoke Coaching

09/03/2026

05/03/2026

02/03/2026

26/02/2026

24/02/2026

17/02/2026

12/02/2026

05/02/2026

02/02/2026

29/01/2026

27/01/2026

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