In was is likely the single greatest problem of most training regimes directed towards Rugby, the basic truth is that it most programs are a “hand me down” from other sports that are deemed as "similar" to the uneducated eye. Though this is an easy error to make from the broadest of broad notions for those whom never played the sport, Rugby is unlike other contact sports with very unique requirements.
Without a doubt training to excel in Rugby requires an intense commitment to sport specific techniques, tactical development and decision making abilities that includes team play along with more direct, easier to identify, physical attributes. This is significantly different that other sports where athletes “off-season” training involve only a surface level, if that, of technical and interplay with fellow players as within Rugby it should be a factor within each workout.
Notable physical requirements start with a level of overall athleticism as simply Rugby is not a sport with lax fitness standards or where you can “get a break” from play without either raising your risk of injury or letting your team-mates down with poor performance. Commonly accepted within elite ranks of the sport since my coaching career began, males will engage in maximal sprints within a stride or two in either direction of fifteen metres and cover from approximately 4,000 to slightly over 6,000 metres per contest. Naturally this varies with level of play, tactical plans and position but the important point to highlight is there are significant demands upon quickness, speed, hip flexibility and athleticism with overall fitness weighing heavily upon training.
Stated simply, you will need to be very fit and manage extensive maximal speed and speed-endurance requirements, with proper positional / sport body posture.
As noted this must be tempered with the needs of the sporting technique and all players training cannot ignore this key facet or they will effectively “training to train” as opposed to excel in Rugby. However, when combined properly with skill and tactical work, workouts from the “Modern Monday” series will greatly assist with fitness development, range of motion and overall athleticism with further specialised work coming in the “USPlabs Iron Day”.
Disclaimer The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk
The growth of internet over the last fifteen plus years has created a surge of available information in countless areas and certainly the realm of sport conditioning is amongst the list. Unfortunately the vast dearth of “information” within the sports conditioning field is not always valuable, very questionably accurate and all too often merely a conduit to sell a piece of exercise equipment which ultimately leads the coach or athlete far off course of their athletic goals.
This problem of poor quality information being available in the mainstream is very much the case in the sport of Rugby where it is commonplace to suggest training approaches that either a near photocopy of another sport, seemingly developed by someone without any firsthand knowledge of the game or again or merely a conduit to sell exercise equipment. Though obvious to actual players and coaches of the sport, Rugby is tremendously complex, requires many skills as well as advanced physical development but not merely an activity that can be exclusively developed in the gymnasium.
Rugby requires a pedigree of extraordinary general athleticism, speed, strength along with sporting skill and tactical knowledge within personal qualities of sportsmanship, honour, courage and respect of “team”. Whilst many sports will consider player development akin to a piece-meal of adding up different physical attributes, this is not the case with Rugby given its enormous technical demands and tactical knowledge.
The battleground of Rugby recognises confrontation with the opposition is endless and success is dependent upon adaptation (i.e. adjusting to defending approaches) whilst maintaining a disciplined style of play in conjunction with team-mates. Rugby is an intricate weave of tactical knowledge, sporting skill and physical ability wrapped in a team sport where success hinges on being without a weak link. If there is a mitigating factor of these three major areas is that they work in synch with each other and must be developed cohesively or performance will drift to the lowest ability.
Quite naturally areas of sporting skill and tactical knowledge should be firmly understood by the “performance conditioning” coach but intricate, if not all teaching, is left to the hands of specialists or coaches dedicated to those matters. For the “performance conditioning” coach, they much be keenly aware of the requirements of the sport naturally as well as the style and tendencies of tactical play of the team but always recall that athletic development is akin to a great pyramid where fine sporting skills are “layered” atop a foundation of generalised traits. Simply to develop great players, the performance coach must ensure they are well rounded overall athletes.
In the oddest of ways just as I have been asked on countless occasions of “what (single) exercises to perform”, I wish to remind all coaches and Rugby players, particularly young ones that “the one thing is the whole thing”. This means succinctly that all players must remember to develop a broad set of general abilities and not allow one particular physical attribute to dominate training focus. This fits neatly into my two major tenets of exercise that regardless of athletic developmental will guides all training concerns.
My theories on exercise and sport development hinge upon the seven “Renegade Concepts of Training” that upon thorough review can be adapted to any environment, equipment availability and play a role in every decision.
“Renegade Concepts of Training”
Movements trained, not musculature
Efficiencies of movement reinforced
Motor patterning and grafting
Postural alignment is perfected
Stabilisation in the most destabilised training environments
Force developed such that it can be projected, accepted and redirected at maximal levels.
Adopt chaos as your training “home” and utilise rapidly changing situations.
The “Concepts” have remarkably far reaching implications on every training decision and are applied to the next tenet, the “Renegade Wheel of Conditioning”. The “Wheel” represents various attributes that the “performance coach” keenly looks to development but ensuring at all times each “spoke” is of equal ability and recognises how they work together. The target of “equal ability” is to ensure the foundation is granite solid and with skill and tactical knowledge development will play an integral role in building the better player and team.
“Renegade Wheel of Conditioning”
Drive, Determination lay at the centre of the hub for which all else revolves around and without success will be limited. Once an athlete understands and accepts “adversity is something that you overcome” they will withstand the rigours towards goal achievement.
Sport Skill / Tactical Knowledge as noted previously this area is the concern of a specialised coach, yet “performance conditioning” expert must be keenly aware of these needs and apply a strategy towards the goal.
Range of Motion, Static: To be strong and powerful you must be “soft” and capable of “folding” effortlessly in managing sporting needs. Range of motion needs to be stressed in every situation and in recognition of the body’s three basic planes of motion:
• Coronal plane: cutting the front and back portions of the body.
• Sagittal plane: cutting the right and the left segments of the body.
• Transverse plane: dividing the top and the bottom parts of the body.
Range of Motion, Dynamic (see above and to be discussed in later segments).
Agility is paramount to the success in the sport of Rugby and a by-product of proper training in every “spokes” of the wheel (to be discussed at a later date within strength training) they are specific approaches that are highly influential and equally carryover to skill requirements.
Linear Speed, like “agility” is of utmost importance in the development of an athlete but by-product of every “spoke” of the wheel as well as very specific drills and regimes.
Strength is an extremely broad term and for our consideration loosely categorised in sub-headings of relative strength, absolute strength, starting strength, explosive strength, strength endurance and speed strength. Each of these is of importance to the developing player, dependent upon level of maturation within an overall goal of “strength training” to reduce the risk of injury and improve sports specific power and speed. In the broadest sense of the goal of strength training as well as all physical conditioning, the over-riding mandate is to perform your function in the field of competition at an alarmingly faster manner then previously considered possible such that you can control the ebb and flow of the competition and dictate victory.
Work Threshold / General Physical Preparation (“GPP”) is at the core of Renegade Training™ which will in fact serve as the foundation that all other work to be built upon. All training is a product of having sufficient levels of fitness and improved levels of overall athleticism such that proper postural alignment is maintained and the vast specialised skills needed to excel can be built.
These attributes are the cornerstone and when properly applied in a dedicated fashion with the “Concepts” in a balanced exercise regime that understands the needs of the sport the athlete’s grown is extraordinary.
In the next of this series we will review important needs and applications to help you attain your greatest goals.
Disclaimer The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk
Ten days into Rugby World Cup 2011 in beautiful New Zealand, fans across the world have been treated to a brilliant competition. Amongst the great stories of outstanding performances and underdogs rising the occasion, the sports great lessons of courage, honour and good sportsmanship are being showcased to the world. As the sport readies for a massive push on the global front that will increase its visibility far beyond its present level, many will begin to realise it is equally one of the most complex in its preparation.
Rugby is fine line that carefully blends extraordinary overall athleticism of brute strength and speed with tactical precision, discipline and carefully crafted sport skills. Unlike many sports where physical training often takes on an algebraic notion, albeit often misguided, that certain attributes will naturally make up a better player, such notions are quickly squashed in Rugby. With all its demands, Rugby is in my opinion the truest form of competition within team contact sports as it combines the above characteristics in a mixture of unified team play and undaunted courage.
It is important to recall that the game is a chess board battleground, where confrontation with the opposition is endless and success is dependent upon adaptation (i.e. adjusting to defending approaches) whilst maintaining a disciplined style of play in conjunction with team-mates. No doubt that will sound complicated regardless of level of experience as Rugby is an intricate weave of tactics, technical and physical ability wrapped in team sport where success hinges on being without a weak link.
Within strict physical training and while skill specific and tactical knowledge cannot be underestimated, the basis of the preparation starts with mobility, maintaining body position under extreme duress as well as explosive hip and power. Though many other sports will talk greatly of such physical abilities, none places such onus on them as Rugby, as well as combining high degrees of fitness and speed-endurance.
While always maintaining a connection to the ball, preferably facing off in light to modest physical contact, mobility / tumbling drills that stress a low centre of gravity, hip flexibility and “tight bend” such as basic somersaults (both forward, background and wide straddle), frog jumps, spider lunges, bear crawls (with some very advanced options) are the early foundation of work. This work, along with RED2 and Hurdle mobility drills, should start with younger athletes, i.e. pre-puberty and be maintained throughout their career but within a heavy eye towards ensuring they do not become more upright and losing hip mobility.
Disclaimer The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk
