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 performance for the public and Olympic level athletes. There are a lot of rugby players here too so my lab is fully cooking.
This year for me is the year of strength. My goals are set in stone and with brutal simplicity they are going to fall. Squat, Bench, Chin and Power Clean numbers will rise. That is all I am concerned about. I want to be lifting higher numbers by the end of the year.
Before Xmas I spent a day with Craig White, S and C to the British and Irish Lions, and I learnt a great deal about transitioning from weight training to ‘functional’ useful strength and fitness in rugby. It was a day spent learning from a true master with drills that will bridge the gap between lifting strength and pitch strength. Something that I felt was missing in my knowledge despite being subject to 20 years of pitch based conditioning throughout my career.
For instance, think of the strength required to bury your head in a ruck and force a turn-over. This is completely different to a squat strength. As he pointed out to some degree elite level players can have poor ‘gym’ strength yet dominate the contact area. Why is this?
A lot has to do with the player’s makeup and profile. Some players will be stronger in this area than others. The trick then is to identify it and incorporating it within the program.
I have been using it with a couple of rehab case studies to get them back to full playing intensity. So many of us rehab from an injury to a point that falls short of ACTUAL PLAYING INTENSITY. This is a big mistake. You need contact from the off even in acute level scenarios. Contact sports are called that for a reason.
Check out a short video of a 6 exercise circuit that I put together that works on contact conditioning for the two guys in question.
Seeing as this is the ‘year of strength’ at Get Fit for Rugby here are 5 ways to instantly improve your strength levels.
1) Cut your Training Programme Down to 4 exercises – Squats, Bench Press, Power Cleans, Chin Ups. Straight away you have removed half the fluff that makes up most amateur rugby player’s gym programs. Keep a training diary to record each and every improvement and dominate the bar!!!! Don’t train like a pussy!!
2) Increase the weight every time you train – novices should improve with every session. For this to happen extra weight has to go on the bar. Get some micro weight plates as I have found this to be useful to nudge up weight every week. 1 kg per week will mean a 100lb increase in your squat over the year. It works.
We have found that 50-100 reps per week per body part (upper body or lower body) works well to stimulate increases in strength and size. For example if you do 25 squats on Monday (5×5), try the same again on Friday (5×5). This works well for the novice lifter.
3) Rest out of the Session and During it too. Treat your gym work as practice. You are grooving and establishing movement patterns that take practice and many repetitions. Take 2-3 minutes rest between heavy sets. No rest in your warm up sets.
4) Eat big and shoot for 1g per lb of bodyweight in protein (use a Vegan based Protein along side meat, fish and poultry) for optimal health. Too much acid based protein wreaks havoc turning you into a spotty and pale looking angry sod. Take a rake of olive oil or coconut oil at meal time too.
5) Train 3 times per week, the morning of training if you have too. Toughen up and lash out 10 sets of QUALITY work on the same day of your training practice if you have too. Early morning gym sessions provided you are rested and fueled are great hormonally for you.
Let me know your thoughts on this
John
p.s. Make 2012 THE year http://www.getfitforrugby.com
