Good to hear Tstud i can not wait. I can tell you guys this im sore as a mother today. My knees are pretty sore as well. I hope thats normal, not real real bad but im feeling it. Got a few team meetings comming up to get to know everyone on the team better. Alot of great guys who are willing to help a NOOB like myself. Its awesome!
[quote]Chris87 wrote:
[quote]SolarFall wrote:
So my buddies girl talked me into playing rugby. My first practice is in two weeks, i pretty much have no idea what i need to be doing as far as lifting and condition work. I’ve been doing a mash up of running, sprints and treadmill work. My cardio sucks very badly as i’ve beeb purely lifting heavy and doing bodybuilding stuff.
I would love as much input as humanly possible as far as what my weight lifting program should be and maybe some stuff to get my endurance up. Its a pick up Rugby thing its not like im gonna be a pro, but i definitly wanna crush some people on the feild. Im strong and some what fast i just have no endurance yet.
Im currently 210, about 13 percent bodyfat and 5 10. Just a little info. And this is my first post, i had no idea where to put this. THANKS GUYS!!![/quote]
You’re biggest issue will definitely be your fitness. Since practice is starting soon there’s not much you can do about it until then, so don’t get too worried. You will get a lot better during practice.
As far as lifting goes, I run 5/3/1, and I think it’s great for a rugby player. It will allow you to keep making strength gains without killing yourself in the gym and without having to spend a lot of time thinking about it.
When your practice starts, you will have to cut down on your lifting. 2 days a week is the general advice. The way I set it up is like this:
Monday:
Squat 5/3/1
Bench 5/3/1
Lat work
Ab work
Tuesday- practice
Wednesday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Press 5/3/1
Lat work
Arm work
Thursday- practice
Friday- recovery session. This generally will mean an extra foam rolling/stretching session and some contrast baths
Saturday- Match
Sunday- recovery session, same as friday
It’s important to note that I only do the prescribed reps in season, save your energy for practice.
I also foam roll/stretch every morning in addition to the recovery sessions and what we do in practice.
When you get to your offseason, you can lift more often. Conditioning work will absolutely have to be a priority. I cannot tell you how many guys I see that can’t play a full match because they are out of shape.
I train 4 days a week during the offseason, usually Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I follow this general template:
5/3/1 lift
2-3 assistance lifts, usually for 3 sets each
Hard conditioning work
For conditioning work, you have to realize that you need both an aerobic base (like jogging/running a few miles) and the ability to sprint/run fast over and over and be able to recover quickly.
There are all kinds of ways to approach this. 1 way would be to do 2 session of running/jogging continously, and 2 days of interval/sprint work. The way I like to do it is to combine the 2 in the same training session. Currently it looks like this:
2 mins of running, 1 minute of slow jogging or walking x3
30 seconds of running fast, 30 seconds of jogging or walking x4
10 seconds of sprinting, 1 minute of jogging or walking x6
There are plenty of ways to adjust this to your fitness level. There are a million programs online you can find as well.
I know this is a lot of information and is kind of all over the place, but if you have any questions I’ll be happy to help.[/quote]
man i thought this was BS. but dude you are so right…once practice started i’ve been sore as hell…i dont even know if i can do legs any time soon
Hows the season going? Play your first match yet?
Oh wow I didn’t know rugby was such a commonplace in the US nowadays!
I am a New Zealander, so naturally grew up watching several games per week during the winter and playing from ages 9-17, and coached when I was 18.
As one other person brushed on, you really shouldn’t need to worry too much about general conditioning because any coach will make you do bodyweight/calisthenics exercises and various kinds of running, agility, circuits, sometimes plyometrics, and the simple act of doing the drills and playing the games.
If the coach is noticing that your conditioning is particularly bad (as individuals or as a team) he will make you work hard!! Trust me.
Because of the incredibly diverse physical nature of the game, there are a million ways to train and they will likely all illicit benefits. Strength, short-term power endurance, aerobic endurance, short-term strength endurance, ATP replenishment speed- you name it, it is probably relevant to rugby, but those are the main ones. Far too many players train JUST gym strength and long-distance runs, opting to ignore their power, metabolic conditioning, heart maximum, agility, balance, and muscular endurance.
In your own time (not counting practice I mean), you really just need this:
- A little bit of pure strength training simply to maintain strength (im sure you can figure this out)
- Hill sprints with relatively short rest (try 1 minute rest, then try shorten to 30 seconds rest in subsequent sessions)
- Track sprints for power endurance (a couple of 100s and a 200 or something like that)
-Fit in some neck strengthening work (Jim Wendler I think made an article including stuff on this on this site, otherwise look through combat sports articles) - Do some unilateral DB/KB stuff if you have time.
- If you can, try setting up circuits that involve a mixture of moderately low rep weights, bodyweight/calisthenics, and running/jumping. For example 5 BB hang cleans, 12 Barbell front squats (or more, using same weight), rack the weight - then 8 BB Push Press, rack, 30s of burpees, 30s of running with high knees. And that is one example. I love that template, just try not to spew.
My point, don’t worry, and when you are training, train with maximum intensity/density. Those templates above do look sufficient.
Curious though, what position are you playing? There can be slight differences in your training depending on that
All good advice, but this comment - “i dont even know if i can do legs any time soon” - implies you’re still thinking like a bodybuilder. During the season I manage 2 sessions a week max, each with a Press, Pull, Hip/leg exercise and variation. And that’s about it. “Doing legs” meant a couple of top sets of squats or deadlifts at best, and that is it. The body really functions as one in rugby, so it’s best to emulate that in strength training.
Even top rugby players aren’t strong compared to proper bodybuilders and American Football players. James Haskell - considered pretty much one of the athletes of the England team - only just squeezed out 172.5kg on the bench. Impressive, but not big time (the drug-testing regime no-doubt has something to do with this). You do get exceptions (Sheridan, Cullen etc), and there are some powerful players, but on the whole strength is sacrificed for rugby-specific conditioning.
Great comment on the “rugby rhythm”. Good way to describe it.