Figure I’d start posting my log again. I’m currently playing rugby at one of the top rugby universities in the south, and I’m loving every minute of it. I’ll be updating this log with all of my training as well as outcomes of matches and such. I just made the switch to WS4SB 3, and since im currently in season, I’ll be using the in season template for the rest of the season. Previously I’ve used 5/3/1 for about a year, and made some good gains. I’m switching it up so I can train more like an athlete, and less like a powerlifter.
As for this current rugby season, my team (all 3 sides) is 3-5 overall. The first week of the season we played teams that weren’t all that good, and had a blowout in all 3 games. The second and third weeks the A and B sides played 2 of the best teams in the country, and dropped both. The C side played a good in state team, and lsot by 7. This coming saturday we have a big game against a neighboring state rival, and we will be looking to win big in all 3 games and turn the season around.
Box Jumps 3x3
Box Squats 165 6x2
Incline db press 3x8-12, worked up to 65x8
Rear delt flies 3x12
Db lateral raise 3x15
Ab wheel/back raise superset, 3 sets
Great training today. I haven’t done box squats in quite some time, so I’m basing the percentages off of a 275 max. I remember getting 275 for 1 or 2 reps back when I was still doing them. Everything else went great, I was especially happy with Db incline.
C side: I was very excited to finally get to play another school’s C side, since we’ve been playing smaller colleges’ A sides this whole season. Well, as it turns out, our oppenents loaded their teams with studs who had already graduated. When I say “loaded up”, I mean that 8 of their 15 guys were alumni. This was a dick move on their part and pissed me off.
As far as the actual game, we were tied 5-5 at the half, with our lone try coming from myself. The second half was a whole other story. Our backs ahd bricks for hands and commited penalties every time we had the ball, giving the other team possestion the whole freakin half. They put up 3 or 4 tries on us and we couldn’t get another score on the board, as the took it 20 something to 5.
A side: The A side let our oppenents get up by 3 tries before they got their heads in the game and started playing. They played well for the rest of the game, but it wasn’t enough as we lost 38-19.
B side: B side came out hot and heavy and poured it on for the full 80 mins. This was the only game that I felt we executed and played our game the way were suppossed to. We took this one 22-5.
We have really got to get our heads out of our asses or this is going to be a dismal season. It seems that every game it takes us 20 mins to start playing the way we should, and then were playing catch up. Hopefully the B side game will show everyone that if we can come out ready to play from the get go, then we will be a tough team to beat. On a personal note, I think I played very well this weekend. As I stated earlier, I scored the only try in the C side game. This was 2 mins after I scored but was called off sides. I also ran somebody over harder then I ever have in my life, and had a lot of tackles. Not a perfect game, and there’s always improvements to be made, but I did well.
Just learned that due to spring break, my next match isn’t for 3 weeks. It sucks, but at least I’ll have some time to heal up.
Today’s training:
Incline Bench: up to 165x5, 10 pound PR
Blackburns 2x1 minute
single legs squats (leg on bench) 3x8 with 25lbs dbs
Db row, shrug 3x8-12 worked up to 70x8
Ab circuit 2 sets
Had a great PR today, which is nice because my incline bench sucks. Single leg squats and the ab circuit absolutely killed me. Great training day.
Box jumps 3x3
Box Squat 195x5x2
Db incline bench 3x12, worked up to 60lbs
Rear delt fly 3x8-12
Db lateral raise 3x15
Ab wheel/back raise 3x10
My ass is sore as hell, and I’m pretty sure it’s from the single leg work on monday. Luckily by the time I warmed up, it wasn’t effecting me anymore. Had a great lifting session today.
Incline bench: 175x3 PR
blackburns 2x1 minute
single leg squats 3x8, 20lbs dbs
db row/shrug 3x8-12, worked up to 70x9
ab circuitx2
Moved my stance out further on the single leg squats and dropped the weight a bit. Last time I was shaking all over the place and had no balance, with the longer stance it feels a lot more natural. I’m going to keep the weight the same until I can get the movement down better. The PR is a cheap one because I’ve never done a triple on incline bench, but it is the most I’ve ever lifted.
box jumps 3x3
box squats 3 singles of 235
db bench 3x12
rear delt flies 3x12
lateral raise 3x12
ab wheel/back raise 3 sets
Good training today. The box jumps are improving each time I do them, I think it’s just because I haven’t done any kind of jump training in 2 years. The box squats were easy and quick.
[quote]Cardinal136 wrote:
Are box jumps the only jumping exercise that you currently do? How high are your boxes?[/quote]
Yes, but I’ve just started doing the jump training 3 weeks ago. I plan on mixing in verticle jumps, hurdle jumps, and broad jumps in the future, but I wanted to keep it simple to box jumps until I got my jumping ability back.
The box height has increased each week since I began, and I’m not sure exactly how high they were. Going off of a rough estimate, this week was around 28 inches.
You should consider adding single-response stair jumps (like box jumps but onto stairs) and multiple-response stair hops (like continuously jumping up a flight of stairs). I find these to be enjoyable, there is little risk of messing up your shins (I have scars from high box jumps) and, also, bio-mechanically stair jumps are very similar to the body position during the acceleration phase of sprinting, as you jump both vertically and horizontally. I would hypothesize that stair jumps would correlate higher than both SLJ and vertical jumps, which each have r>.8 to sprint times.
[quote]Cardinal136 wrote:
You should consider adding single-response stair jumps (like box jumps but onto stairs) and multiple-response stair hops (like continuously jumping up a flight of stairs). I find these to be enjoyable, there is little risk of messing up your shins (I have scars from high box jumps) and, also, bio-mechanically stair jumps are very similar to the body position during the acceleration phase of sprinting, as you jump both vertically and horizontally. I would hypothesize that stair jumps would correlate higher than both SLJ and vertical jumps, which each have r>.8 to sprint times. [/quote]
I’ve done the coutinuous jumping up stairs before when I was playing football. It was done more for a conditioning aspect then a jumping aspect. When I jump, it’s to get better at jumping, not to condition.
When I do box jumps, I am also jumping horizontally, or else I wouldn’t be able to land on the box.
Close Grip Bench: up to 185x5 10 pound PR
Blackburns 2x1 minute
single leg squats 3x8 with 20lbs dbs
db row/shrug 3x8-12, worked up to 70x10
abs/low back 3x15
Great PR on close grip, and I felt like I probably could have done 5 or 10 more pounds. I kept the stance wide on the single leg squats, and it felt even better then last time. A few more weeks and I should be ready to start upping the weight on these. Everything else went fine.
And by that logic, a Broad Jump really is a vertical jump because you have to jump vertically to go horizontally. Think about it. Also, here is a link to what I mean by stair jumping to improve jumping (but I do this on stairs).
well yea, on a broad jump you do move vertically. I don’t see how what they’re doing is anything different then a box jump. Sure they did a couple of them in a row, but they aren’t moving horizontally any more then I do when I do box jumps.
20 minutes of conditioning, 15 mins jogging mixed with 5 minutes walking.
I haven’t done any longer distance conditioning since before the season started. My lower legs (shins, calves, ankles, and feet) were hurting a bit after this, expecially my right leg. I was in a car accident a couple years ago and tore 3 ligaments in my right ankle. My conditioning was good, I didn’t really get that tired, which I am happy about, it’s just that my lower legs need a week or two to get used to the impact before I can push it. This will be useful information for the offseason.
