Resistance Training for Team Tykes

Resistance training involves training your body against some form of resistance to allow the muscles to become stronger and more powerful. Weight training is the most widely used method of resistance training in rugby and it is very important. However there is more to resistance training than just doing weights and below are a few other forms of resistance you can use to develop useful strength and power for rugby;

• Your own bodyweight
  
• Your opponents bodyweight
  
• Medicine balls
  
• Elastics
  
• Running sleds or tyres

As a rugby player it is important that you start on the right path so you can maximise the effectiveness of you resistance training. There needs to be variety and planning in what you do so you continually challenge your body to develop and you need to choose the most effective exercises for your position so training time is not wasted.

Below are some of the important things to consider when you plan your resistance training programme;

• Understand your reasons for doing resistance training. Do you want to want to become stronger and more powerful for rugby or do you want to look good on the beach!
  
• Weight lifting is a sport in its own right so some of the lifting techniques and exercises may not be relevant in helping us to improve our rugby performance.
  
• Rugby is a 'full-body' sport where all the muscles work together to produce a wide variety of movements in a constantly changing environment. We have to make sure our resistance training reflects the needs of our sport.
  
• Resistance training is a very technical aspect of conditioning and you should progress gradually.
  
• There are many 'experts' out there with loads of advice about what and what not to do. Make sure that whoever advises you understands rugby.

Technique

If you are new to resistance training it is very important that your spend time developing good lifting techniques and an appropriate work ethic in the gym. This work ethic include safety and consideration for yourself and others, the understanding that the gym is a place to come and train and is not a social club and also the importance of doing the exercises properly. For example, it is easy to do more pull ups by swinging your legs and bringing your knees up to your chest but this won't help to improve upper body strength which is the goal of the exercise.

Developing good lifting techniques is very important as our goal is to get you all to a level that you can use Olympic weight training to develop strength and power for rugby. To do this and to try and cater for lads at different levels we have included different levels of exercises below.

It is really important to get someone to assess your technique to make sure you are developing along the right lines. We will also post the resistance training sessions on the weekly schedule page for those of you who will be working on your own.

Body Weight Exercise

If you are new to resistance training I would suggest starting with body weight resistance exercises which are important regardless of whether you are a full-time professional rugby player or a 16 year-old new to the game. The exercises listed will help you progress towards Olympic weight training by:

• Developing an appropriate range of movement at your joints
  
• Help you develop full-body co-ordination and balance
  
• Strengthen your moving and stabilising muscles that are important in rugby
  
• Help you develop good movement posture
  
• Develop a sound technique so when you progress to heavy resistance training you will be technically able to do the exercises safely
  
• When you do them remember to keep your pelvis in the neutral position (see core stability section) to protect your spine and to strengthen your trunk muscles. There are different levels of exercise dependant on your level of experience or the equipment you have available. If you are worried about technique please ask.

Session 1 (No equipment required)

Select 6 of the following exercises and do 10 - 20 reps of each exercise then move on to the next exercise after 60 seconds recovery. Go through all exercises 3 times. It would be ideal to do this 2-3 times a week in the off-season to help you to develop towards Olympic weight lifting. The exercises are:

Standing squat, narrow press-up, walking lunge, oblique twist (lie on your back with one foot on a bent knee and curl up and in slowly), squat jump (from standing slide hands to knees then explode up), running arm actions (stand up tall, arms at 90 degrees and drive them fast and relaxed. Do 30-50 reps), wide press-up, running high knees on the spot, calf raise.

Session 2 (Equipment required)

If you have access to a gym or gym equipment then work on the following exercises. Focus on technique not the amount of weight on the bar. Look to complete 8-10 reps of each exercise and do 3 sets before moving on to the next exercise. The exercises are:

Squat with bar, chins (do as many as possible each set), step-up with bar, dips (do as many as possible each set), single arm dumbbell fly on swiss ball, oblique twist, squat jump with dumbbells, single arm dumbbell shoulder press, calf raise with bar.

Choose 6 exercises per session and complete 2-3 sessions per week in the off/pre-season period. Remember to focus on getting the technique right rather than how much weight you lift.

Introductory Olympic Weights programme

This programme is for those players who have access to Olympic weight lifting equipment and are ready to further develop their lifting techniques. Finish the number of sets of each exercise before you move on to the next:

High pull - 3 x 10 reps
Pulls ups - 4 x maximum reps
Back squat - 3 x 10 reps
Dips - 3 x maximum reps
Single leg ¼ squat - 3 x 5 each leg
Spine rotations - 3 x 10 each side

You will need to be shown these exercises but it is important that you have some experience of the session 1 and session 2 before this is programme is attempted. For those of you who are experienced in resistance training these are some examples of the exercises we would want to put into your programme:

• High pull
• Low snatch pull
• Hang snatch pull
• Hang snatch
• Hang clean
• Front and back squats
• Dead lift
• Bent over row
• Wide and narrow grip chins
• Medicine ball work
• Resisted running
• Skill specific elastic resistance