I have received a few emails about olympic lifitng and why I barely mention them. Well…good point, I don’t. A) because it is an oversight on my behalf and b) the majority of my time is spent actually on the field at the moment so whilst featuring once a week it has all been about conditioning for rugby there c) time/learning curve of the people I deal with
I love olympic lifting. Repeat - I love olympic lifting. I normally slot it in to the training week on a Thursday before training and 2 days before a match. I normally use a clean pull, power clean, hang clean, hang snatch and mix it up. here is a clean pull.
However, an amateur who can barely squat without crumpling to the floor…is another debate.
You see all lifts take a HUGE amount of time to coach and learn. So for all you lab rats out there here is a position.
YOU HAVE 15-20 AMATEUR RUGBY PLAYERS FIRST SET IN THE WEIGHT ROOM (IF YOU ARE LUCKY). WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT’S MORE MOST IF NOT ALL DO IT WITHOUT YOUR SUPERVISION. WHAT DO YOU DO?
here is what I would do…strongman conditioning.
If you have time to develop power and coach olympic lifting then great. Begin with the clean pull. However, if you are like 99% of amateur coaches then you don’t. And please DON’T do what I have seen and prescribe your players olympic lifting without even showing them how to do them. That would be as about as effective as an odourless fart.
BONUS week this week! Here is a great drill too to improve fitness and conditioninig around the tackle zone. You can set the height of the rope to whatever height you like. This is a good intense drill.
