Q and A - Get Fit for Rugby

Q. What is the best cycle to follow for an in-season Rugby Player?

When you mean cycle – I understand you mean ‘conditioning cycle?’ The best cycle to follow is the last outlined in my book, Get Fit for Rugby. This should provide you with 2 club sessions and 2 gym based sessions per week for the club enthusiast. Any more and recovery (if you mix it in with life!!) will be impaired.

Q. During which cycle is fitness done and which cycle do you practice speed?

All cycles will incorporate fitness (by which you mean conditioning for rugby?) and speed training.

Q. In the max strength cycle the Deadlift the programme is like this -
1 x 6
1 x 1
1 x 6
1x 1

How does it work with 120 sec rest?

I understand the 1 x 6 reps but the 1 x 1 reps is it just one rep max?

This is a routine borrowed from Australian Strength Coach Ian King and Canadian Strength Coach, Charles Poliquin. It is geared towards increases in strength.

The 120 seconds work by peforming 1 set of 6 and then resting for 2 minutes before completing 1 set of 1. This ‘wave loading’ sequence will prime your nervous system allowing you lift heavier with each 6-1 wave.

So if your Deadlift 1RM was 200lb you could do the following wave pattern:

170 x 6 reps
Rest 120s
200 x 1 rep
Rest 120s
175 x 6 reps
Rest 120s
202.5 x 1
Rest 120s

Q. If doing weights/ speed/fitness how do you combine it in a training week and cycle since I am confused how to put it together.

A lot will depend on your training cycle and goals. Put what you need to prioritise first. So if you need to get stronger place it earlier in the week. Likewise if you need to work on your fitness.
If you are looking at incorporating all three into a training session begin with strength work, then move into speed work before finishing with some form of fitness or conditioning work in that order.

-----------------------------------------
John Lark

Near the Start of the Real Kick-Off

I addressed the team that I will be working with this season and their players to map out why and what they need to be doing for their Strength and Conditioning this Season. and more specifically what they can do to boost their rugby fitness.

To say they were bullied around the park last year would be an understatement. Thier rugby fitness was poor.

Now they have invested in a new gym and there is a genuine interest to make rugby fitness improvements.

This team contains a number of professional rugby players. But they are no means flush.

Instead they realise as a group of individuals that something had to be done. One step at a time. One session at a time. Rugby fitness is about baby steps (I plan a year at a time)

It called for the usual platitudes of 'honesty' and 'hard-work'.

But at the end of the day it is all about getting in the heads of your players. Some are family men, young fellas or labourers - not gym junkies. The thought of them hitting the gym would be real pain.

So what would you do? Here is my formula:

Find their pain, remind them of it, encourage success and the pleasures in winning.

What would you do?

--------------------------
JL
www.getfitforrugby.com

How to Turn a Loss into Grand Slams

One of my clients was in the company of Warren Gatland,

Wales' successful coach here in (sunny!) Dublin last
week at a non-rugby related event.

It was refreshing to hear the candid honesty from a guy who
is a genuine rugby nut - through and through.

My collegue asked him:

"How much time do you spend with the players"

"Not much"

"Eh?

"We get together on Monday - hit the gym with short and intense
sessions and then spend the rest of the day on mental rehearsal and
tactical preparation. Tuesday we meet up. Have two very intense
sessions of 45 minutes and then guys go home untill Thursday"

Take Home Message:

1) Never sacrifice quantity over quantity. As a coach you had better
be in a position to justify going over 1 hour for your rugby fitness
training sessions Most coaches simply do not plan their rugby
fitness sessions.

2) Elite level rugby is in training above rugby match intensity.
If you hit the gym go with purpose and a plan get out in under the
hour. Your rugby fitness will match your intensity. Train hard..

3) Success leaves clues.

Post Rugby Workout Nutrition

The Window of Opportunity!

Post workout nutrition or 'what you fill your face with after a match/gym/session' is crucial to success. It can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Why?

a) Speeds up recovery
b) Builds Muscle
c) Burns Fat

And who doesn't want all the above?

If you are above 10% Body Fat for Men and 14-16% for women then untill you reach those levels use this formula for your Post Workout Shake:

a) Whey Protein 25g for Women / 40g for men
b) Glutamine 10-15g

For those who are lean then adding Carbohydrate in the form of Fruit Juice, Banana, Maltodextrin will help

a) Whey Protein (as above)
b) Glutamine
c) Carbohydrate (3:1 - Carbohydrate: Protein)

Load her up and get it down!

------------------------------------------------
www.getfitforrugby.com

Why do I not Get Any Results with my Rugby Fitness?

A question that is often fired at through the email is 'why do I not get any results?'

Good question - a great one in fact. It shows that you are not going through the motions and thinking about what you are doing.

There are three over-riding reasons:

1) Wrong Training System.

A rugby player came to me looking to boost his rugby fitness particularly his rugby strength. It read like most training diaries. 3 sets of 10 for all the big lifts with a few curls etc.

What is your goal? If it is strength for rugby then train for that. If you are looking to lean up then do so. Try not to chop and mix goals during a training cycle. Work at 3 weeks for increases in rugby strength before maybe dropping to a more 'accumulation' or volume based cycle. Or work at getting lean and improving growth hormone response over relative strength work.

Similarly is your nutrition training system in line with your training?

Boozing away whilst trying to lean up will lead to near suicidal binges on lettuce leaves in a vain attempt to 'carve up'. Likewise leave the almighty pasta feeds to 'bulk up' to the victims of the 1970 body building community.

It is possible to put on mass without eating like a pig - and I mean lean muscle - the stuff that is acutally used on a rugby field.

2) What are your goals?

This goes back to writing down what you want to achieve.

A simple task really. You are FAR more likely to achieve your rugby fitness goals by writing them down. Any less than that and it is a wish.

3) Compliance

Think you are eating 5 good clean meals 7 days a week. That amounts to 35 meals a week. Compliance means hitting 90% week in week out. When you boil it down to figures then look long and hard at your compliance scores. Hitting every scheduled workout?

Get this right and then, and only then will we worry about the intricate details.

---------------------------------------------
JL

p.s. Stoppped being pussy whipped around the ruck. Now.

Dumbbell Finishers for Rugby Fitness

Ready, Fire, Aim

I get alot of emails from people regarding their rugby fitness. Here is one:

"John, when it comes to rugby fitness, as outlined in your manual, is it better to do 3 sets of split squats followed by 3 sets of bench press for fat loss or will I swap the two around and try 2-3 sets of king deadlifts as outlined on day 2"

Errmmmm......

Do the feckin plan. How about that?

It was Poliquin who turned to one unfortunate sole in one of his internships and said 'if you gave you a recipe for apple pie and you replace the apple with rhubarb and the pie crust with crumble - you haven't got apple pie anymore!"

Seriously, I am a big believer in constancy of purpose when it comes to rugby fitness. Rain, wind or shine just get the workouts in. Don't worry about the intricate details. I have done that for you.

-----------------------------------------
John

p.s. if you want to avoid all guess work then I suggest you check out my manual www.getfitforrugby.com

Five Ways to Maximise Strongman Training for Rugby

They often say the simpler the better. The truth would certainly be the case with strongman training for rugby. Simple and cheap equipment that can implement in a group environment with minimal fuss has the thumbs up from rugby players from Super 14 to club amateurs.

However as with all rugby fitness tools they have their pluses and minuses and strongman training is no exception.

From coaching and using strongman equipment regularly here are a few key pointers:

1) Ensure that you choose equipment that allows you to progress the weight

Getting fit for rugby is based on the need to follow the simple principle of progressing. If you are not increasing the overload on your training then you are not progressing.

It is like settling for 100kg squat and staying on that for the rest of the season. Flipping tyres are great.

However, they are best for timed sets i.e. how many flips you can get in in a certain time frame. Weight cannot be added. Better options would be yokes and farmers walks and resisted sleds.

2) Make a circuit

The best way to improve your rugby fitness with strongman equipment is to use them in a circuit. Combine a circuit of farmers walks, sled dragging, and tyre flipping. Add the number of sets your perform each week.

3) Perform Timed Sets

We have found that 30 seconds of work followed by 60-90 seconds of recovery is the best. Say for instance you wish to improve your team’s rugby fitness. Assemble them in small groups and work in the circuit. Whilst one works the others rest. Flipping tyres over 40-50 yrds can work for this.

4) Perform Rep Sets

If you are more gym based then completing a pre-designated number of reps is also beneficial for improving rugby strength. Try 6 sets of 4-6 farmers walks over 40-50 yards or 5 sets of 3 heavy tyre flips with plenty of rest for more functional strength development.

5) Seek out Cheap Options

The beauty of this form of training is how cheap this is! Tyres can be recycled and usually carry no charge from the local tyre stop or friendly farmer. Rugby fitness can be cheaper with the hand of a good welder who can make up for you farmers walks and pulling sleds.

So there you have it! Rugby fitness the good old fashioned way.

John Lark M.A CSCS is author of Get Fit for Rugby. You can download his free email course covering all aspects of strongman, strength speed and fitness for rugby at http://www.getfitforrugby.com

Rugby Fitness Training

The Bionic Rugby Player

You have got to hand it to him.

Warren Gatland is aiming to bring Welsh Rugby into the Lime-Light.

And this is starting with the players - who he views as physically a few degrees away from the high eschelons of the Rugby World.

Having said this, they were not far away from it last week in beating England.

A monumuental rally, that was put down to rugby fitness in the last 1/4 saw the World Cup Runners Up, off rather cheaply.

I suppose it comes from his time at Wasps.

There he was at the coal face of some the games top-level athletes. Big, quick and powerful. The ideal modern day rugby player with rugby fitness to burn.

“The message has to be given to the regions that paying for three or four physios or fitness guys is going to cost less than paying £200,000-a-year for a player,” said Gatland.

“Having three or four fitness or physio guys is going to have much more impact over a season than having one expensive player.

“Let’s get the facilities and structures right. Let’s make sure we leave no stone unturned in all those things, like analysis. Let’s pay attention to those details.”

Gatland believes one of the golden rules of professional sport is that good medical staff, physios and fitness coaches, mean players don’t spend so much time sidelined with injuries.

If you are not doing some form of physcial preparation for the most confrontational and injury prone game in the world then you are officially delusional.

Wake up and smell the coffee before the Bionic Rugby Player runs over you.

JL
------------------------------------------
www.getfitforrugby.com

Rugby Fitness Lifting Speeds

My last email caused a bit of confusion :)

Tempo as it is written, 4010 for example, is shorthand for 4 seconds lowering, 0 pause in the time between the lowering and lifting phase, 1 second in the lift portion and 0 pause between the lift and the lower.

When you see this in my programmes - 120s or 60s this equates to the rest period inbetween sets of exercise.

Use these principles in your training and watch your rugby fitness improve.

--------------------------
p.s want more information on this format and how to use it, I suggest you look this
===> Click Here

Guest Trainer!

This weekend I had great pleasure in having John Brooks stay with us.

Apart from eating us out of house and home we had a great weekend.

What a guy.

I suppose one lesson I have learnt off Brooksie is constancy of purpose ( a bit of a motto of mine)

However, that didn't stop us cranking out a rugby fitness session at my training studio Sunday evening.

Our rugby fitness workout was 10 sets of 50 yrd famers walks with thickened grips then a cheeky superset of Squats (with Chains) for sets of 3-5 and a Push Press with a fat bar for sets of 8.

Yes getting stronger is crucial but being able to replicate this is equally as important.

Needless to say - my traps and upper back are in a hoop and my legs feel like they have been removed from the rest of my body.

He showed me a terrific exercise for scrummaging strength with a pulley. I will definitely add this to the rugby fitness side of the site soon.

I am off for a massage!

I must be mad!

Two sessions AM and PM?

I must be mad.

However, less chat and more do!

This AM I did a metabolic based workout - around 24 sets and 288 reps in total

A1) Peterson Step Up

A2) Seated Rows

B1) Leg Curl

B2) Bench Press

C1) Back Extension

C2) Calf Raise

D1) BB Curls

D2) Tricep Extension

The main aim of this is to spike Growth Hormone Levels to burn fat without looking like Paula Radcliffe.

In the evening (and feeling a little sluggish now) I did

Hang Clean 7 sets of 3 with 120s rest

Deadlift 7 sets of 3 with 120s rest

Strength and Power the name of the game here!

Monday's Workout

I suppose the Xmas break was a bit too good for me.

Couple of pounds up.

New Years 'Revolution'!

Today I (and for the next 12 weeks) I am going to perform 2 a -day training units. Just to see how I go.

AM - Metabolic (German Body Comp)- Fat Loss
PM - Strength (7 x 3) in two 'big' lifts

So this morning I did:

A1) Pulldown
A2) Leg Press
B1) Leg Curl
B2) L-Lateral Raise
C1) Hammer Curls
C2) Tricep Rope Pushdown
D1) Garhammer Curls
D2) Rope Upright Row

This evening I cranked out

7 sets of 3 Back Squat with Chains (10% of the weight of the bar)

Overall felt good so I will have a crack at this on Weds.