This is my first fitness for rugby blog post of the year. So apologies for that. Things here at the SHFC are mad with folks looking to really get stuck into 2012. SO it is head down. I have written 40 programs and the same number of nutrition plans ranging from weight loss to athletic [...]

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What I Learnt this Week About Getting Fit for Rugby

by John Lark on December 10, 2011

This week taught me a few things about getting fit for rugby. Here they are in a nutshell: – You need to make a read on all your players before they even start their warm up. You can see how much your players are up for it even as they set foot from their cars. [...]

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So this week has seen me do very little in the way of rugby training. Most days I have walked for 30-40 minutes. No weights, conditioning, speed, nothing. And to be honest I feel better for it. You know sometimes you have to step away and look at the bigger picture, give yourself a pat [...]

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Tip No 1 – Understand the Difference Between Training and Exercise When you drive your car would you leave it in 1st gear on the motorway speeding along at 120 km/hr? Training is intense and geared towards stimulating a response with your body. Hormones (our chemical messengers) are kicked into gear in the right direction, [...]

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25 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Your Fitness for Rugby

October 28, 2011

1. Train with more purpose and intensity. Being able to flick that switch and bring on an intensity at game time can be grooved outside of practice. 2. Shorten your workouts to 45 minutes. Your hormones will thank you. 3. 80% of your training program should include the Big 5, Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Clean [...]

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FMS, Bear Crawls and Fitness For Rugby

October 21, 2011

It occurred to me this week that the fitness industry is still plagued by paralysis by analysis and none more so that when it comes to getting rugby players fit for championship. The Functional Movement Screen for example has its place (and other functional based tests). But to do it at the exclusion of ‘work’ [...]

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Training Updates – Get Fit for Rugby

October 14, 2011

This week we welcomed the rugby fitness scholars ofNUIM Barnhall, an AIL team here in Ireland and my former hunting ground. They are part of a developing program guided by Dennis Bowes and one that I can see reap huge rewards in the  future. Why? The focus is on detail, professional standards, a work ethic, [...]

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Training this Week – The ‘De-Load’

September 24, 2011

It has been a bit of a chaotic week here at the Sphere Health and Fitness Centre hence my lack of detailed updates. This week I wanted to give you a sample training ‘off-loa’ week so you get an idea of the volume, intensity and things you can do to ensure that you make adequate [...]

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Training Updates

September 7, 2011

Hey folks a quick training update today as this week we have been moving the ‘lab’ to our brand spanking new home up the road. Here is a sneak preview of the place and also a video of some clean work I was doing. Not GREAT technique but felt TREMENDOUS after it – which all [...]

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Training Updates – Strength and Conditioning

August 26, 2011

WOW – it has been and continues to be a mad couple of weeks but I thought instead of the usual diatribe about this and that I would show you what I have been up to in terms of training and conditioning for rugby. Last week I was in Stockholm brushing up my neuromuscular therapy [...]

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