Summer Endurance Conditioning

Endurance capacity is a vital part of many sports. If we want to use our training time to best effect it is important that we understand how we can develop our endurance capacity to improve our rugby performance.

To do this we need to look at what type of running we will have to do in a game. We know games will last 80 minutes and that you will have to perform lots of skills that are very tiring, like tackling, scrumming and sprinting. However we also have time to recover and a lot of time is spent walking, standing still and jogging. Every game if different and sometimes you will get more recovery than others. So rugby endurance is having the ability to work hard and recover fast so you can respond quickly to whatever happens next.

If these are the endurance demands of rugby then it doesn't make any sense to go on a long slow run to build endurance. All that happens is that you get used to running slowly and when you have to increase you speed in a match your body finds it difficult. So to help improve our ability to last the pace of a match we need to train at varying speeds for different lengths of time and with different types of recovery in between.

To achieve this there are two types of endurance training that can help to improve your endurance capacity in the build up to the season. They are Fartlek running and interval training.

Fartlek running

The word Fartlek is Swedish for speed play. It refers to a type of training that involves running at different speeds throughout the same session. During Fartlek running sessions all types of running will be performed from sprinting to walking. For example you might sprint for 10 seconds, walk for 20 seconds and then run for 30 seconds. That's one minutes exercise, and you would duplicate that a number of times to form your running session. Below is an outline of a fartlek running session and how you would progress it to make it more challenging:

Fartlek Session 1

15 seconds walking
5 seconds 80% running (percentage of your maximum running pace)
20 seconds jogging
20 seconds 70% running (percentage of your maximum running pace)

Perform this running pattern for 5 minutes (which will equal 1 set) then rest for 2 minutes. Start with 3 sets (15 minutes fartlek running in total).

Fartlek Session 2

20 seconds walking
7 seconds at 90% running (percentage of your maximum running pace)
23 seconds of jogging
10 seconds 70% running (percentage of your maximum running pace)

Again perform this running pattern for 5 minutes (1 set) and rest for 2 minutes. Start with 3 sets (15 minutes of running).

How to progress your Fartlek session?

Build up until you are completing 6 to 8 sets (30 to 40 minutes of fartlek running).
Increase the duration of each set from 5 minutes to 6 minutes and then 7 minutes.
However it is vital that you keep the quality in your running when you work hard. Only increase the number of sets or running time when you can keep the quality of the session.

Interval training

In interval training players are required to run at top pace with short recovery periods between runs. For example, sprinting for 100 metres followed by 40 seconds rest and then sprinting again. This type of training is very useful in adding quality to your endurance training. It is vital that we can work as near as possible to 100% when we play and also to have the ability to do this when we only have limited recoveries.

As you are running at a faster speed, you can't do as much running in interval training sessions as you can with fartlek training. However, as you have less running you will be able to train at a higher speed. Below are 2 interval running sessions you can try together with how the sessions can be progressed:

Interval running session 1

2 sets of 3 x 100meter sprints at 95% of top pace with 5 minutes recovery between sets (i.e. 6 runs in total).
Working off 1-minute repeats (Every minute you start running a 100meters, i.e. it should take you under 18 seconds to run a 100m and then you would have 42 seconds rest before you started again).
To progress this session gradually build up the number of sets from 2 to 5.

Interval running session 2

4 x 200meters sprints at 90% of top speed
Working off 2 ½ -minute repeats
To progress this session you can build the number of runs from 4 up to 8.

Although there is more to rugby endurance than just running, it is important to develop your running endurance at this time of year when you have no games. We will be working hard to develop endurance during the pre-season but if you are keen to maintain or develop your endurance capacity now try and complete 2 to 3 endurance sessions throughout June.