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djregan
Question:
Pre Season Rugby Training
Hi im currently at university doing an assignment looking at creating a 12 week pre season rugby programme for a university athlete. It will have physical and psychological training to provide a solid power base and provide confidence to the athlete prior to the season commencing. Its only going to look at gym based physical training as the athlete already has his rugby specific work arranged by his coach. Any help in how to do this or even with example plans would be greatly appreciated.
Asked by djregan - 4 answers - 11 weeks 4 days ago
Alex S
Hello.
There is a lot of lit out there. I don’t know if you’re doing Union or League. If its league, look for lit by the likes of Gabbett and Meir.
First thing to do is conduct a needs analysis; needs of the sport etc. e.g. compare a forwards positioning in games, energy expenditure, work to rest ratio to Backs. What does that suggest about training….
Brief example.
In League, forwards run a maximum of 10 m per high intensity exercise bout. Thus, don’t train them for sprint distances longer than 10 m.
Submitted 11 weeks 2 days ago by Alex SAlexWolf
While I agree a needs analysis is important, basing a training plan for forwards not running further then 10m is short sited. The data is the mean distance of a ball carrier throughout the game. There are going to be times when a player greatly increase that sprint distance from 10m. Plus players running on to the ball will of travelled a distance prior to ball carriage.
To overload speed characteristics - acceleration, starting strength, top end speed, you are going to be very limited by limiting your forwards to run 10m.
An excellent resourse is the 'ultimate off season manual' by Eric Cressey for you strength/power training. It is one of the best resources i have purchased on this topic. Cuts the BS out of the idea and gives an excellent understanding of the progressions through the pre season. I highly recommend you get your hands on it.
Submitted 10 weeks 1 day ago by AlexWolfAlexWolf
Here is the link - http://www.ultimateoffseason.com/
Submitted 10 weeks 1 day ago by AlexWolfjohnshepherd
As the guys above indicate training for rugby at elite level does focus on the specifics of position and the relevant energy systems used. The key, is that rugby both League and Union is mainly anaerobic and yes Union forwards do do a great deal of immediate anaerobic work (less than 10 second, sprints and grappling). However, they still need short term anaerobic and some aerobic fitness. The key to rugby conditioning is to provide a base of fitness that will allow the player to compete without fatiguing (too much in games), to provide a base of specific conditioning and to pre-condition - that's to strengthen against injury. Research from the RFU indicates that players are particularly prone to hamstring strain - so relevant exercises should be included in the player's training routine, such as eccentric hamstring drills.
I have seen many interesting specific drills and these often involve dynamic movements performed from similar to rugby positions, such as press-up to 10m sprint and then the performance of 6 cleans (equating to being tackled, getting up, sprinting and then grappling)
Obviously writing for Peak Performance, I'm going to recommend some of our books - so take a look at those specific to rugby.
Submitted 10 weeks 1 day ago by johnshepherd