Evolution Strength Systems

Ranking Hamstring Exercises for GAA Athletes.
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D Tier: Hip Thrusts: Poor Hamstring Exercise ❌

Great glute exercise - but not effective for the hamstrings since they remain in a shortened position & cannot generate significant force.

C Tier: Good Mornings: Ok but better options 🤷‍♂️

Targets the hamstrings in a lengthened position 👌🏻

Good exercise, although it can be challenging to perform & places more stress on the lower back compared to other hinge exercises like RDLs.

B Tier: Back Extensions/Swiss Ball Curls/SL Elevated Glute Bridges/Banded Leg Curls:

Excellent rehab exercises 🤕✅

Helps reduce low back stress. However - they can be difficult to load in a lengthened position 🛑

Time & a place for these 🙌🏻

A Tier: Nordic Curls/GHR’s:

Outstanding Hamstring exercises ✅

Top-tier for hamstring development. Engages the hamstrings in lengthened positions ✅

Does not make my S Tier due to difficulty for many athletes to perform & the requirement for specific equipment 🙅‍♂️

S Tier: Deadlifts/RDLs/Leg Curls:

The GOAT Hamstring exercises 🐐✅

Deadlifts = The undisputed King for maximum force production of the posterior chain 👑

RDLs = The GOAT for developing the long head of the Biceps Femoris (most common hamstring injury in GAA). Targets the long head in a lengthened position, easy to perform & easy to load ✅

Leg Curls (Seated or Prone) = The GOAT for knee-dominant hamstring training. Perfect for targeting the short head of the BF. Once again, targets the hamstrings in a lengthened position, easy to perform & easy to load ✅

Irish Log & Deadlift Championship 2026

Log Press: 65kg
Deadlift: 235kg

Bodyweight: 71.5kg

Decided to try something new & put myself out of my comfort zone. First ever Strongman Comp & 4th time ever using a log 😂

The game plan was to play it safe and ensure the total was enough to qualify for Worlds (In hindsight I was too conservative on Deadlifts).

But done enough to qualify & I really enjoyed the experience. The Deadlift record will fall at the next one!

A well organised competition by Total Training and really enjoyed how supportive the Strongman community is & the atmosphere they create 👏🏻

Time now to knuckle down for Worlds, be less s**t at Log and get comfortable pulling conventional again 💪🏻

A massive well done to who competed at Irish Nationals at the weekend ☘️ Her second time competing at Open Nats 🙌🏻

S: 115kg
B: 60kg
D: 150kg
8/9 attempts ✅

Unfortunately, due to dealing with thyroid issues during her prep, she dropped a lot of bodyweight & inevitability her strength took a hit too. But credit to her for continuing to show up to training & not pulling out of the comp 👏🏻

Considering the context, we set the goal of “damage limitation”. We aimed to take 5kg off everything to account for the strength loss but also to maintain the standard she has set for herself.

She went 8/9 on attempts, only missing her final squat for a 2:1 call on depth. So overall we were very happy with the performance 👏🏻

Another big positive was how we managed her bloods for this comp. We adopted a new strategy & this was the best I’ve ever seen her bloods during a competition. She stayed within range the whole day & on average sat around 9mmol/L. The result was her third Deadlift moved the best its ever moved. She smoked 150kg despite failing it during her peak 🙌🏻

Next in the pipeline for Orlaleigh is to address her health issues & then get back to building muscle & hitting more PBs again 💪🏻

Thanks to my assistant to the assistant coach for the help in the warm up room. To & .mcatam for traveling down to support & to the rest of the Evolution crew for getting behind Orlaleigh.

Meet Recap -

S: 105kg - Equal PB
B: 52.5kg - (+2.5kg PB)
D: 152.5kg - Equal PB

Total: 310kg (+5kg PB)

Another 9/9 performance & total PB from Mags 📈 Another very consistent athlete and a true meet day performer 🙌🏻

We worked hard this block on depth & proud of Mags to go 9/9 & get all 27 white lights ⚪️⚪️⚪️

Prep went very well but comp day unfortunately fell on a low readiness week for Maggie. One of those things we can’t always control…. But as always, we took the maximum of what we could on the day & still managed to secure a total PB 📈

Maith thú Mags! A pleasure to coach as always 🫡

Meet Recap -

S: 190kg (Equal PB)
B: 127.5kg (+2.5kg)
D: 250kg (Equal PB)

Total: 567.5kg (+12.5kg)

This was Darran’s 10th competition & he continued his consistent run of increasing his total 📈

Darran has hit many individual PB’s on the platform but the goal for this comp was to put it all together & secure his best total to date.

Unfortunate to get a 2:1 call on his third squat, which was a disappointing call but we moved on with the rest of the day to go 6/6 and still get that total PB 👏🏻

Darran’s been a consistent hard worker in & out of the gym over the years & he continues to reap the rewards for his efforts.

Maith thú Darran 🙌🏻 The next goal is to get back to work & aim for the big 400 dots 🎯

Comp Recap -
(Aka - Jake Paul)

Squat - 150 (Equal PB)
Bench - 95 (5kg PB)
Deadlift- 160kg

Total - 405kg

A long awaited return to the platform for Mark after dealing with long term back pain.

The goal was simple - get back on the platform & build some confidence again!

Equal Squat PB & +5kg PB on Bench. Back pain kicked in for Deadlifts, so we played it conservative. Overall it was a very promising performance from Mark, considering he couldn’t deadlift 120kg just a few months ago.

Second comp ticked off & more experience gained ✅ Now back to building in the off season & aim to make these lifts his openers for next year 💪🏻

Comp Recap -

Squat - 205kg (+15kg PB)
Bench - 122.5kg (+7.5kg PB)
Deadlift - 240kg

Total 567.5kg (+17.5kg PB)

A perfectly executed meet day performance from Martin 🙌🏻 9/9 on attempts & squeezed the maximum out of each lift.

Martin worked incredibly hard for this comp, faced a lot of adversity & dropped over 2 stone of bodyweight but he stuck to his word & showed up regardless. A fantastic show of resilience 👏🏻

Martins approach to each lift was to stay calm & remember to enjoy the moment, which worked out in his favour 💪🏻

Next for Martin is try to rebuild into the 105s again and show his true potential in that division.

Maith thú Martin 🫡

Another flawless performance by 🔥

2nd place in the u57kg category 🥈 Competing against who will be one of the top u57kg lifters at Irish Nationals this year!

The goal for this comp was to hit the National qualifying total on second attempts & then further increase the chances of qualification on her thirds. And we did that without maxing out on any of her lifts. A comfortable day out! We will save the big lifts for the big stage!

We set the goal at the start of the year to start pushing into the top 7 & no stone was left unturned to achieve that. Training & nutrition was dialed in… & we even brought in the big guns to help get her bloods under control 💉

Squat: 125kg (+5kg PB)
Bench: 65kg (+2.5kg PB)
Deadlift: 155kg (12.5kg PB)

Total: 345kg (22.5kg PB)

9/9 on attempts ✅

399.9 dots… disgusting 🤢 but 400 dots will be smashed at Nationals 🙌🏻

“Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better” ~ Bill Shankly

One of my favourite quotes from a football legend ⚽️

Every time I hear or see the quote I often think about how well it relates to Powerlifting…

When you break it down we have 3 simple lifts to perform for 1 rep each…

From an outside perspective it sounds pretty simple but it’s often over complicated by the coaches & athletes involved.

Rep ranges, exercise selection, periodization models, TTP, overthinking technique etc. None of it really matters…

What matters more are the basic principles to any type of training or sport…

- Train with specificity
- Don’t overtrain
- Don’t undertrain
- Manage your readiness (sleep, stress, nutrition)

It’s that simple.