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We've had a number of threads on here asking how to get fit for rugby, and the cardio/weights needed to do so, so I thought I'd make a thread that we can all share our wisdom.
I'll put what I've gleamed from the net on here, and then everyone else can add what they know below, and this can be the first port of call for anyone looking to get info on fitness.
If you have any questions then just post up and I, or anyone else, will do our best to help out!
Cardio:
Rugby is knackering, anyone who's played (or watched) the sport can see how much CV fitness is needed to play. To get this you need a mixture of both base fitness and sport specific fitness.
Long runs on the treadmill will get you fit, but won't do a massive amount for your rugby game (imagine sticking a marathon runner in a rugby game – they'd flag).
You want to be mixing a mixture of long slow cardio (LSD) – so running, cycling, rowing, swimming, anything to get your heart rate up for an extended period of time, with shorter sharper work.
Sprints, intervals, fartlek training – this is the other part of the fitness. Sprinting is self-explanatory – going balls out for a certain distance or time. Intervals is doing that repeatedly, either with a break at the end or with slower pace in between, which is known as Fartlek training. An example of fartlek training would be to run 30m then sprint 10m, then run 30m then sprint 10m etc.etc. – this is fantastic for fitness work.
The ideal would be to do your cardio as running, as it's obviously closest related to your work on the rugby pitch, however you can easily do your intervals on a rowing machine, a bike or even a cross trainer, which would be easier on the joints/low impact if you're carrying any injuries etc.
There are a lot of simple fitness drills that many people will be familiar with from training sessions – one that I did at training recently involved setting up three cones in a line, about 10-15m apart. You lie in a press-up position in the middle cone, then get up and sprint to the one in front, drop to the press-up position, back up and run backwards to the middle, drop to the press-up position, up and sprint to the one behind you, drop down again, then back up and sprint to the middle. Repeat until you die.
Strength/Weights:
Free weights are your friends! You want to be using free weights for as much as possible – they allow a natural range of motion and engage more muscles/stabilisers etc.etc. and are just generally better than machines! You may still want to use machines like the leg press or the hamstring curl, but your main work should be done in the free weights section.
Your workouts should be built around "The Big Three" – Squats, Deadlifts, Benchpress. These are your bread and butter, and you could do just these three movements and get a decent full body workout – they're all compound movements which mean they utilise more than one muscle group. The deadlift, for example, uses pretty much everything in the movement. You can then add in rows, chin-ups/pull-ups etc. to meat it out a bit more.
Compound movements are always better to use, as they give you "functional strength". Isolation movements are all well and good for body builders/people who lift for looks/aesthetics, but if you're going for strength go for the compound. When's the last time you saw someone bicep curl someone off of a ruck? Ab exercises as well – avoid crunches and sit ups. Go for things like planks, dragon flags, weighted/hanging leg raises, dumbbell/plate side bends – work your core not your abs. A strong core is vital.
If you're new to weight lifting then the best (in my opinion) program to follow would be Stronglifts 5x5. It's a very simple program – there are two workouts, you train 3 times a week (A-B-A, B-A-B etc.) and only do a few movements each session. You start on very low weight and increase by 2.5kg each and every session. You squat twice a week, which is handy for rugby where leg strength is very important. You can download the e-book about the programme here: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/ (scroll down to "DOWNLOAD NOW") – it's well worth reading the e-book even if you decide not to follow through with it, as it has a lot of good information in there.
If you're more experienced with weights you can start adding in more complicated movements like power-cleans, snatches, clean and jerks etc. – though you'd want to be taught these, ideally, to avoid any chance of injury.
Agility/Speed:
Plyometrics is the name of the game for this. Fantastic for increasing speed and getting your body used to/better at explosive movements. It's hard to explain, so it's best to google sprinting plyometrics (or American football, as there's a lot of training programs for that out there too). In essence, though, it's jumping. Squat jumps, lunge jumps, hopping, bounding, etc.etc.etc.
This video will give you an idea of what you'll want to do:
If you wanted to go a bit more serious with your training you can implement extra equipment in to your training. Resistance parachutes to be used in sprinting, agility ladders, hurdles, prowlers (weights sleds).
Nutrition:
A lot of people seem to think that necking a protein shake is going to get you hench, but it's simply not true. They're called supplements for a reason: they supplement your diet. You want to betting as much of your protein etc. from real foods, then adding in a shake or two (plus whatever else you want to add) to supplement this. It's pretty simple to eat well, just eat whole, clean foods – fish, steak, chicken, eggs, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, loads of vegetables – avoid too many junk foods/sweets.
It's fairly easy to work out how much protein/carbs/fat you should be taking in (your macro-nutrients). Read through this blog post to get a basic understanding of macros and work out a basic rate to meet your goals.
This is just a starter post, so everyone else post up your tips and tricks, drills, programmes, anecdotes and experiences etc.
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