48 hours out from a championship game, a lot of club setups are in one of two places.

Either they're doing too much - a full contact session, heavy tactical work, legs carrying more than they should going into the weekend.

Or they're doing too little - a token jog, a few drills, players going through the motions and showing up on the weekend without having primed anything.

What Leitrim did is typical of what you'd see in a top county setup. Here's the breakdown.

The gym session - 1 hour before the pitch

The gym at MD-2 isn't a strength session. You're not trying to add anything physically at this point. You're priming the nervous system for game day.

Band activation first - targeted prep for the glutes and hips, the two areas that tend to switch off during reduced load or travel. When those muscles are underactivated, the body compensates.

Hamstrings get overloaded. Movement patterns get sloppy.

Mobility work followed, with intent rather than just ticking a box. Static stretching reduces force output in the short term. What you want at MD-2 is movement through range - keeping tissue pliable without switching off the muscles you need on Saturday.

Then individual programmes. Every player has a specific prehab protocol based on their injury history and position. A midfielder with a history of groin issues isn't doing the same prep as a corner back with a recurring ankle problem. The S&C coach is working the room.

The power primer is the most important element. A small number of explosive movements - jumps, med ball work, short acceleration bursts - keeps the fast-twitch fibres switched on without generating the muscle damage that leaves you feeling heavy on matchday.

The research is consistent: a brief neuromuscular stimulus 48-72 hours before competition improves power output compared to complete rest. You're telling your nervous system - we're going fast on Saturday, stay ready.

Music blaring. High arousal, high intensity, short duration.

The pitch session

The main session is capped at 50 minutes. At MD-2 you want enough volume to sharpen decision-making and keep the physical sharpness in the legs.

But 45-50 minutes of high-intensity, contact-encouraged attack vs defence work is ideal work for inter-county level athletes - it may be too high for club players.

The contact being encouraged is deliberate. Moderate physical contact - collision work, contested ball - primes the body for the physical demands of Saturday better than purely non-contact drill work.

The takeaway

You don't need a county setup to apply this.

The gym at MD-2 should be short, explosive, and neuromuscular - not heavy, not long, not a grind. If you're going into a game with DOMS from a Tuesday session, you've misunderstood what the gym is for at that point in the week.

Prehab and activation aren't extras. The environment you train in shapes the intensity you train at. And the brief, focused and intense session beats the long, unfocused one every time - especially when the game is two days away.

If you want to know what your own game-week gym structure should look like - what to do, when, and what to leave out - reply to this and I'll walk you through it.