Program For Rugby, Comments

Hiya

I’m a rugby player (6’ 2" - 243 pounds) and I’ve started to train with weights a bit more seriously to get stronger and more effective for rugby. I’ve been doing my program (see below) for the past 6-8 weeks and I’m feeling a bit stronger and powerful.

Military Press (3x8) 35kg
Bench Press (3x8) 60kg
Deadlift (3x8) 70kg
Bent over dumbbell row on bench (3x8) 28kg
Seated Row (3x8) 72.5kg
Db Bicep Curl (3x8) 18kg

My coach keeps suggesting pyramids of 5,4,3,2 & 1 rep sets. Which of these do you think would work better in me getting strong. With the demands of rugby training in the evenings and CV training to be able to get around the field I’m doing 2 mornings per week on the weights.

First thing I notice is that you’ve got no form of squat in your training. Probably want to fix that. I like to alternate squats and deadlifts every week on my leg day. I’m doing a similar split with 2 or 3 days a week in the gym along with 2 or 3 team practices and a couple cardio/sprint sessions. BTW, I also play rugby, am also 6’2" and around 240lbs.

what position do you play? I play mostly prop and lock so with your size I’ll assume you’re a forward, probably tight five. If you lift in lineouts you may want to add the clean and press to your workout, translates really well.

Likewise, if you jump in lineouts, jump squats and box jumps are great. If you play prop at all, the deadlifts are good, but you could add squats, good mornings, and some “core” work (something for stability, say waiter walks or overhead squats, and something for rotational strength).

As far as set/rep schemes go, I generally try to keep volume low and weights reasonable, but not too heavy. With all the other work done in training and matches, recovery is usually my biggest concern. Most my work in the gym during the season is done to keep strength and maintain mobility, not really gain much.

Hope that helps,
Jay

nice 1 - so is the 5,4,3,2,1 less or more effective do you think?

bother is with squats - is that i train tues and thu am and train for rugby in the evenings, i feel the squats would fatigue my legs for the running about kinda stuff. BTW I play 2nd row or no 8!