*** The 2013 Gym Rats Thread ***

That's waaaaaaaay too much lifting if you're also playing rugby AND football. I take it you are a back? Because as a forward, there's no way I could do that much running around in a week and get through 80 minutes in the front row :D

My personal tip would be to do a 3-day split as follows:

Monday:
Lower body - do your heavy stuff here. Squats, deads, lots of single leg, posterior chain, core, etc.

Wednesday:
Upper body - compound movements only - no curls! Bench press, overhead press, push-ups, LOTS of rowing movements.

Thursday:
Full body - I start my third session of the week with a fast movement (you said you wanted to work on speed). You could do anything here - sprints for technique (i.e. short distance/moderate rest so you are not getting tired), jumps, agility ladders, etc. Then fill in with whatever you are weak on. I spend this day doing extra push-ups/upper body pulling along with some extra LIGHT lower body stuff.

I rest my ass on Friday (day before match) and Sunday (day after), because I'm fat & old and I sure as heck need to.
 
I train in the same gym as a rugby team and they don't do anything like you've posted (matt not gazareth). As stated, that looks like a bodybuilding program.

From what I have seen they do things like:

squats
BB jump squats
BB step ups
deads
RDL
cleans
hip thrusts
box jumps
push press
standing press
bench press
BB row
DB row
pullups (hands coming off bar at top)
pushups (hands coming off floor)
kettlebell swings
and I've even seen them doing BB curls! :D
 
gazareth said:
That's waaaaaaaay too much lifting if you're also playing rugby AND football. I take it you are a back? Because as a forward, there's no way I could do that much running around in a week and get through 80 minutes in the front row :D

My personal tip would be to do a 3-day split as follows:

Monday:
Lower body - do your heavy stuff here. Squats, deads, lots of single leg, posterior chain, core, etc.

Wednesday:
Upper body - compound movements only - no curls! Bench press, overhead press, push-ups, LOTS of rowing movements.

Thursday:
Full body - I start my third session of the week with a fast movement (you said you wanted to work on speed). You could do anything here - sprints for technique (i.e. short distance/moderate rest so you are not getting tired), jumps, agility ladders, etc. Then fill in with whatever you are weak on. I spend this day doing extra push-ups/upper body pulling along with some extra LIGHT lower body stuff.

I rest my ass on Friday (day before match) and Sunday (day after), because I'm fat & old and I sure as heck need to.
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Yes I play as inside centre or on the wing. I think I will probably drop the 5 a side on Friday evenings, so I get a bit more rest.

I recognize some of those exercise movements, but how many reps / sets should I do?

do we have any other Rugby Union players here?
 
duvet77 said:
I train in the same gym as a rugby team and they don't do anything like you've posted (matt not gazareth). As stated, that looks like a bodybuilding program.

From what I have seen they do things like:

squats
BB jump squats
BB step ups
deads
RDL
cleans
hip thrusts
box jumps
push press
standing press
bench press
BB row
DB row
pullups (hands coming off bar at top)
pushups (hands coming off floor)
kettlebell swings
and I've even seen them doing BB curls! :D
Click to expand...

That sounds good, would you mind helping me lay that out the same as I did? I would struggle to group them into sets/reps and what days to do what!
 
Matt-Page said:
That sounds good, would you mind helping me lay that out the same as I did? I would struggle to group them into sets/reps and what days to do what!
Click to expand...

I honeslty wouldnt have a clue; thats not the sort of thing I do. I train more like the routine you posted originally. Those are just things I've seen them doing on various occasions.

There's so many off them in the gym doing different things it's hard to see what the structure is, unless I picked a player and stalked him for a week! :D
 
duvet77 said:
I honeslty wouldnt have a clue; thats not the sort of thing I do. I train more like the routine you posted originally. Those are just things I've seen them doing on various occasions.

There's so many off them in the gym doing different things it's hard to see what the structure is, unless I picked a player and stalked him for a week! :D
Click to expand...

Do it! They will love the banter!
 
Matt-Page said:
Yes I play as inside centre or on the wing. I think I will probably drop the 5 a side on Friday evenings, so I get a bit more rest.

I recognize some of those exercise movements, but how many reps / sets should I do?

do we have any other Rugby Union players here?
Click to expand...

I used to (club level) - too old and too many old injuries I just don't want to revive which would get in the way of lifting and a my lifestyle.

I'm surprised you haven't heard of those exercises as they are the bread and butter of most rugby players. Rugby is about power, and explosiveness as well as strength.
 
It all sounds good, and I want to improve my game doing as much as I can. I have a decent gym where I work and free access to it so can spend a decent amount of time there in the mornings or evenings.

I need the gym work to be purely for Rugby and need to know how to plan it into days and how many reps/sets to do.

We do a lot of sprint training at Rugby so I can work on that there.
 
Look up the 5/3/1 program and start with that. Or Bill Starr's 5x5. That will give you a good foundation.

To tell the truth there isn't a huge problem with doing bodybuilding stuff for rugby - after all more mass/size will make you harder to tackle by virtue of being bigger and it will also protect you against injury. But you will get way more by focusing on strength/speed stuff.
 
Listen to to gazareth, this is pretty much exactly what he's doing right now. He's also had programming done for him by a good coach, and also just generally knows his stuff.

Also, Bill Starr over 5/3/1 as it is.
duvet77 said:
I train in the same gym as a rugby team and they don't do anything like you've posted (matt not gazareth). As stated, that looks like a bodybuilding program.

From what I have seen they do things like:

squats
BB jump squats
BB step ups
deads
RDL
cleans
hip thrusts
box jumps
push press
standing press
bench press
BB row
DB row
pullups (hands coming off bar at top)
pushups (hands coming off floor)
kettlebell swings
and I've even seen them doing BB curls! :D
Click to expand...
I'd actually completely disregard what most people see rugby players do. If it's not some middle of the road bodybuilding programme it's a terrible strength programme with some random and generally terrible functional/explosive/"plyometric"* exercises thrown in.

*it's pretty obvious that most coaches don't even know what plyometric means.
 
Ok, I don't mean to sound like a dick here, I honestly couldn't care less what a rugby team does, but are you suggesting coaches of professional rugby teams, or any sport for that matter, don't know how to program strength training?

I'm editing in a smiley to show my question is meant with the best of intention! I'm not into interweb arguing!

:D
 
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duvet77 said:
Ok, I don't mean to sound like a dick here, I honestly couldn't care less what a rugby team does, but are you suggesting coaches of professional rugby teams, or any sport for that matter, don't know how to program strength training?

I'm editing in a smiley to show my question is meant with the best of intention! I'm not into interweb arguing!

:D
Click to expand...
:)
Delvis said:
Im guessing he means more local based teams over national ones / country's
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Mostly this, but actually you'd be surprised at the the criticisms that I've heard of coaching even up to national level. Some of it is just variation, but certainly not what I would call optimal.

(remember that I'm an S&C coach in my spare time, and not just spouting spurious opinions)
 
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