FOR DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN, maintaining a standard of fitness is more than just his job, he has made it his way of life.
Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
For proof, you just have to go to those who would never dream of lying to protect O’Callaghan – his kids.
While many fathers of O’Callaghan’s age may well groan and make some excuse to avoid getting off the couch, the 35-year-old second row has another kind of horizontal pose to take up.
“My kids kind of slag me that the main time I play with them is down on a foam roller, or one of these rumble rollers,” says the Corkman.
“I’m doing a mobility session and they’re taking it as a session for themselves.”
Indeed the overlap of the quality time for his deep tissue and his offspring is so pronounced that, after a long hard stroll outside with her auld fella, four-year-old Sophie O’Callaghan has been known to make a bee-line direct to the foam roller. Just to make sure she’s ready for some high intensity play-time the following day.
The lock calls it a necessary ‘selfishness’ that’s needed to play sport at the top level. And in his case, there’s no arguing it’s paying off.
At some stage of the Scarlets’ visit to Thomond Park tonight he will most likely thunder off the bench and over the touchline to win his 252nd cap for Munster. It will be a new record, just as it has been every time he has made an appearance since February.
The 94-times capped international works too hard to be modest about the position he’s put himself in. He has been a front-runner in terms of preparation standards even before the standard really existed.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
In a separate interview earlier this year, Paul O’Connell pointed to the early stages of his international career and his own short-comings in preparation – namely, sitting up late smoking with Peter Clohessy. As long as O’Callaghan was around to set an example, however, O’Connell was a willing disciple.
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“Ah, Paul is always hard on himself. He was talking about standards; no one trains harder than him. Believe me, he was never off the pace. Like, anything I was ever doing, he was doing.”
‘Donners’ has been fortunate that he has managed to steer relatively clear of serious injury over the years. Yet while he happily accepts that luck played a huge part in his longevity, so has his dedication.
“People do say that,” he says by way of agreement, “I’ve no problem getting in early and doing prehab, rehab for different things; knees, ankles, necks… It’s about addressing things before they’re a problem rather than putting a band-aid on something afterwards. If I’ve lost a bit of stability in my ankle or my knee I’d rather attack it beforehand.”
“I put fitness down to the bedrock of everything. If you’re fit you can make the smart decisions under pressure. If you’re fitter than the opposition you have an advantage.
“Maybe from that day to now, the margin is way down compared to what it was. Everyone’s fit now, everyone’s strong. Young fellas come in to the academy and they’re in incredible shape. So the margin for error there is less and less than it was maybe 10 years ago and the hangover from the amateur era.
“For me it gives me unbelievable confidence, if I know I’m fit and at the level I know I can rip through the gears of how I play.”
O’Callaghan speaks of a period of ‘hangover’ from amateurism, but he is by no means suggesting that there was any lack of effort from players. Merely a lack of direction while sports science as a whole evolved.
Nutrition is one aspect that has improved in spades, the lock recalls a day as recently as seven years ago when he was laughed out of it for bringing his own meticulously planned packed lunch. These days, players are expected to know exactly where their next meal is coming from before they leave the house.
As for the conditioning element, well, it’s a whole new world:
“I remember coming out of school and people saying the worst thing you can do is weights – ‘they’ll slow you down’ – that’s just not the thinking any more and thank God.
“Young lads now are coming in and they’ve all been doing correct technique for a few years in school. So when they actually come to this lovely part of their training cycle and their career, they’re able to shift good weight because their technique is good, their form is good.
“That’s probably the difference: we were coming in at 21, 22 learning how to have good form and technique whereas these guys now are coming out with it and are ready to go.”
Laya healthcare has teamed up with rugby star Donncha O'Callaghan to promote their new product offering of laya life. Being a father-of-three, Donncha knows how important it is to look after the needs of your family.
Such high standards are only serving to drive others on, and as he looked back on the golden days of Munster’s heavy lifters, he pictures himself starting a session with a text to get the latest vital statistics from the other half of the squad on the other side of the province.
“That’s lovely when you get that group that competes with each other. You throw guys like Flannery, Marcus and Wally in there… I remember getting to my phone after a Limerick weights session to see what these guys were cleaning. Or what times they were getting. So that when I went in, I could blow it away.
“If you can get a group that can compete in areas like that, which we have now at the moment; it’s great. We do squat testing and measure the power output and there’s no more competitive day around the place.
“You’d swear it was European Cup final day. Lads are going off to get psyched up in the corner. Every moment in every session is a chance to compete.”
“I think it’s just because there’s better knowledge, but there’s also better tools now. I think we’ve come a long way. In the early days we needed guys like [John] Langford and Jim Williams to show us how to be professionals, whereas I think now guys know it.”
INPHO
INPHO
Guys know it, but O’Callaghan is there to remind them that they have to live it too.
Laya life is a revolutionary new product combining simplicity with affordability. Laya provides a complete online process for customers comprising three to five simple steps; with no medical checks or delays with processing your information. Your cover starts straight away and the goal is to make everything as simple as possible. For more info visit LayaLife.ie
Longevity no accident for record setting Donncha O'Callaghan
FOR DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN, maintaining a standard of fitness is more than just his job, he has made it his way of life.
For proof, you just have to go to those who would never dream of lying to protect O’Callaghan – his kids.
While many fathers of O’Callaghan’s age may well groan and make some excuse to avoid getting off the couch, the 35-year-old second row has another kind of horizontal pose to take up.
“My kids kind of slag me that the main time I play with them is down on a foam roller, or one of these rumble rollers,” says the Corkman.
“I’m doing a mobility session and they’re taking it as a session for themselves.”
Indeed the overlap of the quality time for his deep tissue and his offspring is so pronounced that, after a long hard stroll outside with her auld fella, four-year-old Sophie O’Callaghan has been known to make a bee-line direct to the foam roller. Just to make sure she’s ready for some high intensity play-time the following day.
The lock calls it a necessary ‘selfishness’ that’s needed to play sport at the top level. And in his case, there’s no arguing it’s paying off.
At some stage of the Scarlets’ visit to Thomond Park tonight he will most likely thunder off the bench and over the touchline to win his 252nd cap for Munster. It will be a new record, just as it has been every time he has made an appearance since February.
The 94-times capped international works too hard to be modest about the position he’s put himself in. He has been a front-runner in terms of preparation standards even before the standard really existed.
In a separate interview earlier this year, Paul O’Connell pointed to the early stages of his international career and his own short-comings in preparation – namely, sitting up late smoking with Peter Clohessy. As long as O’Callaghan was around to set an example, however, O’Connell was a willing disciple.
“Ah, Paul is always hard on himself. He was talking about standards; no one trains harder than him. Believe me, he was never off the pace. Like, anything I was ever doing, he was doing.”
‘Donners’ has been fortunate that he has managed to steer relatively clear of serious injury over the years. Yet while he happily accepts that luck played a huge part in his longevity, so has his dedication.
“People do say that,” he says by way of agreement, “I’ve no problem getting in early and doing prehab, rehab for different things; knees, ankles, necks… It’s about addressing things before they’re a problem rather than putting a band-aid on something afterwards. If I’ve lost a bit of stability in my ankle or my knee I’d rather attack it beforehand.”
“Maybe from that day to now, the margin is way down compared to what it was. Everyone’s fit now, everyone’s strong. Young fellas come in to the academy and they’re in incredible shape. So the margin for error there is less and less than it was maybe 10 years ago and the hangover from the amateur era.
“For me it gives me unbelievable confidence, if I know I’m fit and at the level I know I can rip through the gears of how I play.”
O’Callaghan speaks of a period of ‘hangover’ from amateurism, but he is by no means suggesting that there was any lack of effort from players. Merely a lack of direction while sports science as a whole evolved.
Nutrition is one aspect that has improved in spades, the lock recalls a day as recently as seven years ago when he was laughed out of it for bringing his own meticulously planned packed lunch. These days, players are expected to know exactly where their next meal is coming from before they leave the house.
As for the conditioning element, well, it’s a whole new world:
“I remember coming out of school and people saying the worst thing you can do is weights – ‘they’ll slow you down’ – that’s just not the thinking any more and thank God.
“Young lads now are coming in and they’ve all been doing correct technique for a few years in school. So when they actually come to this lovely part of their training cycle and their career, they’re able to shift good weight because their technique is good, their form is good.
“That’s probably the difference: we were coming in at 21, 22 learning how to have good form and technique whereas these guys now are coming out with it and are ready to go.”
Such high standards are only serving to drive others on, and as he looked back on the golden days of Munster’s heavy lifters, he pictures himself starting a session with a text to get the latest vital statistics from the other half of the squad on the other side of the province.
“That’s lovely when you get that group that competes with each other. You throw guys like Flannery, Marcus and Wally in there… I remember getting to my phone after a Limerick weights session to see what these guys were cleaning. Or what times they were getting. So that when I went in, I could blow it away.
“If you can get a group that can compete in areas like that, which we have now at the moment; it’s great. We do squat testing and measure the power output and there’s no more competitive day around the place.
“I think it’s just because there’s better knowledge, but there’s also better tools now. I think we’ve come a long way. In the early days we needed guys like [John] Langford and Jim Williams to show us how to be professionals, whereas I think now guys know it.”
Guys know it, but O’Callaghan is there to remind them that they have to live it too.
Laya life is a revolutionary new product combining simplicity with affordability. Laya provides a complete online process for customers comprising three to five simple steps; with no medical checks or delays with processing your information. Your cover starts straight away and the goal is to make everything as simple as possible. For more info visit LayaLife.ie
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All-Ireland Senior HC Guinness PRO12 Donncha O'Callaghan Fitness Interview lock Munster Servant Scarlets