Fitness conditioning in rugby training
The fitness and conditioning of a rugby team is very important for optimum performance. This is not a short process and the training should be planned and progressed over a number of months to make sure players are in tip top condition.
Below is an example training programme of one of England's Women Rugby World Cup Squad. The programme started in July for the competition to take place in May with her club season and a Six Nations tournament being played alongside the programme until the eventual World Cup in Barcelona was played.
Pre season training
This is the first phase of preparations and started in July, lasting two months before the start of the club season in September. This phase was a general preparation phase with the aims of training to improve maximum strength, especially in the upper body, gain muscle mass and improve VO2max.
Weekly training schedule
The weekly schedule for the player during this phase is detailed below:
Monday - Resistance Training
Tuesday - 30 minute steady state jog.
Wednesday - Interval session on rowing machine.
Thursday - Resistance workout.
Friday - 30 min jog or rowing interval session
Saturday - 30 min jog and resistance workout
Sunday - Rest
From this schedule, this pre season training focused solely on endurance and strength. This was done by 3 resistance sessions and 4 endurance workouts, including two high intensity interval sessions.
Complete rest on the Sunday allowed the player to recover mentally and physically in order to maintain her effort during this demanding pre-season training phase.
The rowing machine was used for interval workouts because the player had a slight hamstring strain, which prevented her from running fast: otherwise the interval sessions would have involved running.
The interval sessions involved 8 x 500m rows in a target time of 2 minutes with 2 minutes rest between intervals. These were intense sessions working close to maximum heart rate. This kind of session is very effective at boosting VO2max fast, without requiring high volumes of training.
These interval sessions were also used because the science literature has stated that endurance training can be detrimental to strength gains. These high intensity workouts have low volume of endurance enabling both gains in strength and endurance.
Resistance workout
The resistance workout used during this pre-season phase was as follows:
- Barbell squats - 3 x 8
- Barbell one-leg squats - 3 x 8 each side
- Bench press - 3 x 8
- Single arm row - 3 x 8
- Incline dumbbell press - 3 x 8
- Machine-assisted pull-ups - 3 x 8
The resistance used for each set was gradually increased. The first set was moderatley heavy and for the second set the weight was increased. The player had to complete as many repetitions as possible. If she completed 8 reps or less the weight remained the same for the third set. If she completed more than 8 reps the weight was increased for the third set. 3 minutes rest was used in between each set.
The intensity and rest periods used in the resistance workouts ensured the development of strength. The player was kept motivated by being able to see improvements in strength every week, as she was able to either push more weight or perform more repetitions.
Sets of 8 repetitions were used to strike a balance between maximum strength gain and muscle hypertrophy (increase muscle mass). Ideally, sets of 5-6 repetitions are used for max strength development, whereas bodybuilders tend to favour sets of 12 reps with shorter recoveries; 8 reps is therefore the happy medium.
In the final few weeks of the phase, some of the exercises in the resistance workout were varied to avoid staleness and maintain motivation. In addition, the player completed a core stability and trunk strength routine 4-5 times a week.
At the end of pre season the player undertook a testing protocol. Her VO2 Max and strength levels had reached the squads target and her body fat percentage was reduced while gaining 2kg of muscle.
Club season training
The second phase of the programme ran from mid September to January and included weekly games on a Sunday. England players however had to maintain endurance, further develop strength and introduce power training before the Six Nations Championships in February.
Typical pre season training programme
This was like an extended pre season. A typical week for the player is shown below for both AM / PM.
Monday - Rest / Rest or 25 minute steady state jog
Tuesday - 20 minute jog / Heavy resistance workout
Wednesday - Rest / Club Training
Thursday - 20 minute jog / Resistance workout
Friday - 20 minute jog / Speed & power workout
Saturday - Rest / Rest
Sunday - Match
This phase continued to work on strength and endurance training, with some speed and power work. As the player had reached her VO2 Max target, endurance was maintained by 20 minute steady state jogs 3-4 times a week, which would not interfere greatly with her strength and speed development.
The club training and weekly match now counted as the high quality workouts in the club season phase.
The resistance training was designed so that the main workout was on a Tuesday, allowing the player to recover and perform well at the weekend.
Heavy resistance workout
Tuesday's workout was as follows. Sets and repetitions were 3 x 8 between October and mid November and decreased to 3 x 6 between Mid November and January. The exercises used were:
- Barbell lunges (back)
- Barbell one-leg squats
- Barbell squat jumps
- Dumbbell press
- Seated row
- Shoulder press
- Lat pull-down
The resistance used was increased as in the pre season phase. The intensity was also increased by reducing repetitions to 6 to ensure the programme was progressive and the athlete achieved gains in maximum strength.
More functional exercises were also introduced from the pre season phase. These exercises for the legs included lunges, which require more stabilisation, and squat jumps, which require more power than the squat. By using these exercises, the player should expect to see greater gains in match performance as well as strength.
A new weekly speed and power workout was also inroduced on a Friday. This workout included the following elements:
- Dynamic flexibility warm-up.
- Agility drills - focusing on side-step skills and acceleration technique.
- Resisted sprinting - power training using an elastic resistance rope attached to a belt to add resistance to the sprint running action.
- 10 x 30m sprints.
The main aim of this session was to improve acceleration and sprinting ability over short distances, which is more important in rugby than maximum speed over longer distances of 60-100m.
The resisted sprinting is effective at improving running technique and leg power, as they add resistance to the running action, working the running muscles more.
This training phase was again successful with further gains in strength, big improvements in leg power and a slight increase in VO2 Max.
The Six Nations
The third phase of training was the six nations competition, which ended in mid April. The aims were now more competition specific, with the emphasis on building leg power and speed while maintaining strength.
Typical training with no England game
A typical week's training (both AM / PM) if there is no England game would be:
Monday - Rest / Speed workout
Tuesday - 20 minute jog / Leg power + upper-body strength
Wednesday - Rest / Speed workout, leg power light + upper-body strength
Thursday - Rest / Agility + speed workout
Friday - Rest / England training
Saturday - England training
Sunday - Rest
Endurance is maintained in this phase by one steady state run with the emphasis now on high quality and high intensity training only. If there is an England match, a full day's rest is taken on either side of the game.
Leg power workout
The leg power workouts in the gym combine power oriented weights exercises with plyometric type exercises. A typical workout is as follows:
- Power cleans - 4 x 6, 5 mins rest
- Crouch start single-bench hop - 2 x 6 each leg, 3 mins rest
- Bench to bench drop jumps - 5 x 5, 3 mins rest
- Tuck jumps - 3 x 10, 3 mins rest
In this session the volume is low but intensity is high. The reason for using both weight and plyometric exercises in the same session is to employ different speeds of movement.
This is more sport specific as rugby requires activities requiring different speeds and intensities. For example, driving in a ruck or trying to break a tackle, involve high forces performed at moderate speed; where as sprinting free with the ball, involves lower forces and maximum speed.
The session therefore used a mixture of weight and plyometric exercises. Long recoveries were also used to avoid fatigue and to develop power by each repetition being of maximum intensity. The player also had to perform the movement as fast as possible to recruit fast twitch muscle fibres and develop more power.
Speed workout
The speed workouts comprised the following:
- Dynamic flexibility warm-up
- 6 x 10m starts, 1 minute's rest
- 8 x 40m, 3-min recovery.
The aim of this workout was to practice sprinting at maximum effort, with adequate recovery. As with power training, high intensity of effort without fatigue is required for speed development; if the rest periods are too short, then the workout turns into a speed endurance session, which is a different training goal.
The agility and speed workout was similar to the one above, including more rugby specific movements. This included activities such as side-stepping at speed, sprinting with the ball, sprinting and catching, picking up the ball and sprinting, sprinting curves, sprint cutting movements etc, to develop as much rugby-specific skill as possible.
The World Cup preparations
The fourth and final phase was the world cup preparations, which took place between the end of the Six Nations (April) and start of the World Cup (May).
The goal of this phase was to bring the players to a peak in terms of power, agility and speed. The training was similar to that used in Phase 3, but progressing to even higher intensities.
This phase required players to work on elements specific to their needs and position. This player focused on speed and agility, which is the most important for her playing position.
From this players nine month training programme you can see how training has been planned and organised to optimise World Cup Performance.
The general strength and endurance training lays the foundations for greater power and speed later in the season. The exercises used are also rugby specific.
Players from other team sports, such as Premiership football, who have a long season and need to be at their peak more than 4-6 months after it starts may also benefit from retaining some general endurance and strength training for the first half of the season.
From this programme it is important to plan your training and progressively increase the intensity to improve more specific components such as speed and power for the important parts of your season.
Courtesy of PPonline.co.uk
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