T Nation

In Season Lifting - Rugby

Training Logs
#1

I’ve just completed pre season training with my rugby club. And now im looking to switch from a much higher volume program to something that won’t beat up my body as much, since I’ll have to play at least a match a week. in the off season i was squatting monday benching wendesday deadlifting friday and overhead pressing saturday

I’ve now switched to something like this

Monday (game on saturday)
cleans 3x3
Squats/Deadlifts - 3x3
atg squats/snatch grip deadlifts - 3x6
back extensions - 3x10
russian twist 3x10es

i alternate the max effort and accesory movement on this day so one week i do max effort deadlifts and use atg squats as my second exercise then the next week i’ll do squats as max effort then snatch grip deads as my second one. and the cleans are used to excite the CNS nothing heavy enough to wear me out before the heavy movement

Wednesday -
Bench Press - 3x3 super set with DB rows 3x5
incline press - 3x8-10 super set with db rows 3x5
fat grip hammer curls 3x8
leg raises - 3 x 12

if i have a no game week then i’ll throw in a day for overhead press where i’ll focus on shoulder prehab exercises after.

if some one could give me there opinion on whether this looks like a good set up that would be appreciated.

#2

Looks pretty good, what are your goals? Just speed and strength? You could justifiably put a little bit more volume in your program if you wanted without worrying about aching too much in training and games.

Why do you differentiate between ass to grass squats and squats?

If you’re struggling to fit things in you could add a lifting day on a Sunday - I know you’ll be aching but sometimes it’s nice to loosen up a bit after a game. I’m assuming you’re training Tuesday and Thursday evenings?

#3

yeah my goals are just speed and strength, that was a major problem for me last year since up until christmas i play for 2 or 3 teams. this year i was thinking ill add another upper body day when theres and off week.

and i didn’t really explain the squats very well. my max effort movemnt is either a power squat or a deadlift, then i’ll use a snatch grip deadlift or a atg squat for my second exercise because they have a larger ROM. its also to make sure that even though the max effort movement changes every work im still doing some form of deadlifting and squatting each week t. i hope that makes sense.

my training up until christmas looks something like this

monday- club training or school traning
tuesday-school training & lifting
wedensday - school training then club
thursday - school
friday - off/ PE at school
saturday - game
sunday off

#4

Yeah that makes sense, just make sure you’re still hitting depth on all your squats or they don’t count :slight_smile:

When do you have school games? That’s a pretty hectic schedule, but it looks like the type of sessions you’re doing will serve you well, as long as you try to fit in some hypertrophy during offseason and Xmas break.

#5

the school games are on saturdays
but so are the club ones so when im not laying for school i play club games. i think once i get to xmas ill add in a session for hypertrophy

#6

would it be beneficial to put my uppervody day with the heavy bench the day after the game.

#7

I don’t think it should be out of the question, but you’ve got to listen to your body and make sure you’re recovering from the game properly.

I went through a program last year that had my team doing heavy bench on the morning of a game - the thinking was that fatigue wouldn’t set in until after the game, and our work capacity wouldn’t be affected as long as we took on plenty of carbs post-workout.

My personal opinion is that if you feel up to it and you feel that you can recover enough from the game to have a good session, then go for it.

#8

good i did it last season and still made some good gains but wasn’t sure about doing it again. if my shoulders start getting beat up then i can always switch to floor presses

#9

Legs

Cleans 1x3x65kg 1x3x75kg 1x3x85kg

squats 3x3 180kg (Depth was crap on half of the reps im going to try pyrmadding the work sets next week rather than using a straight weight for the work sets)

deadlifts 3x3 110 kg 115kg 120kg

lunges 3x5 each leg 25kg db’s

supersetted with russian twists 3x20 reps 5kg medicine ball

#10

How long should i leave between a max effort session and a game.
2-3days ?

#11

I’d say at least 48 hrs…but again it’s one of those things which you have to determine yourself. I like to leave 2-3 days between squatting and a game just because it takes me a while to recover from a squat session - but I can do it the day after a game. Some of my friends are the complete opposite. Trial and error is the way to go unfortunately!

#12

At the moment Im doing squats/leg work once a week usually a day or two after a game
upper body max effort the day after a game when possible and highier rep work for the upper body on a wednesday or thursday this seems to e working well at the moment