Athletes in Isolation - Rugby

Athletes in Isolation #1

.

(5min read)

.

As an athlete your priority should be to return to competition ready for the demands of the sport as soon as you start

.

With that said, let's look at how we can maintain fitness and ease back into competition with preparation

.

Both strength and fitness qualities need to be maintained. We are afforded the luxury during this "off-season" to train harder and generate more fatigue

.

General strength should be priority #1 during the next few months. General strength will build muscle to help protect joints from injury during collisions and also assist in the development of other qualities later on. This can be achieved through high volume, high intensity and low-moderate weight training. This involves 10-20 sets of 8-15reps and per muscle, per week (exercises to be performed for longer than 40secs). Choosing 2 compound movements and 1-2 isolation movements per muscle is good for ensuring adequate muscle development.

.

Power development can also be added but should be reserved primarily for 1 month out from comp. Power development for rugby specific training will involve 5-8 sets of <5 reps with a load of ~60% maximum weight. The idea of this phase is to focus on “speed" and moving the weight as quick as you can!

.

As for fitness qualities, it's important to maintain aerobic or "long distance" conditioning. Elite rugby players generally run for 4-6km during a match so this is ideally what you should be aiming for each running session. While JOGGING for 4-6km, add in anywhere from 5-10 bouts of "sprinting" for 20m. This might mean that every 400m of jogging you can sprint 20m

.

Depending on how untrained you are now, you might need to start with 1km runs, but as the competition approaches, this mode and intensity of training will be what you're aiming for

.

While doing this type of training you can also be developing your tactical skills on the field: passing a ball, changing direction, ladder drills and so on. As competition approach, make sure you implement some speed work. This can be achieved through short distance, high intensity runs (20 meters) utilising weighted instruments and/or sled drags.