Training Tips

Tim Robbins

Just thought this might be an interesting idea for a thread - what are you training tips?

Last week in the gym, I put the tread mill on maxium slope and ran on it for 5 - 10 minutes intervals. Then did a huge amont of leg weights and I was flying around last night.

Fastest I have been all season.

Other than that I usually do 30 minute jog once / twice a week and then if I am at home it's just stretching, press ups and sit ups.

Kalashnikov_Kid

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Just thought this might be an interesting idea for a thread - what are you training tips?

Last week in the gym, I put the tread mill on maxium slope and ran on it for 5 - 10 minutes intervals. Then did a huge amont of leg weights and I was flying around last night.

Fastest I have been all season.

Other than that I usually do 30 minute jog once / twice a week and then if I am at home it's just stretching, press ups and sit ups.

I am by no means a fitness guru, but your increased pace could well be by virtue of the running on slopes - great for the calf muscles - increasing acceleration. You can improvise and find a suitable grassy incline and do 30m uphill sprint shuttles with 1 min breaks - I find that to be great for my fitness and pace. Maybe try that if you find the jogging a bit of a bore...

I personally find cycling to be the best for improving my speed (speaking as a back here) - naturally tones the legs - I often found that even commuting short distances by bike helped my pace and would piss through gaps in the aul' tag games

irishbucsfan

Running on sand is similarly beneficial, if there's a sandy area available to you.

Tim Robbins

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Running on sand is similarly beneficial, if there's a sandy area available to you.

I used to do that but I found it demanding on the joints. Uphill is far better.

conneem-TT

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I used to do that but I found it demanding on the joints. Uphill is far better.

Yes, I think keeping the surface similar to that you would be playing on is better. I would imagine your ankles would be flexing more on a soft surface.

For developing off the mark acceleration I find lying face down on the ground, then bursting up into a sprint for 20m meters quite good.

eroo

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Last week in the gym, I put the tread mill on maxium slope and ran on it for 5 - 10 minutes intervals. Then did a huge amont of leg weights and I was flying around last night.

Fastest I have been all season.

Other than that I usually do 30 minute jog once / twice a week and then if I am at home it's just stretching, press ups and sit ups.

The reason for your perceived increase in speed is due to the 'leg weights'. Heavy barbell squats are a proven of improving speed.

30 minute jogs and push ups/sit ups have no use in modern rugby!

Only in pre season should you engage in any steady state endurance training, even then it must be minimal and be done just to build a baseline of fitness.

Forget press ups and sit ups. Power and strength training are key.

My top tips would be:

1. Focus on anaerobic fitness training once-twice a week depending on demands i.e. intervals, fartlek, hillwork
2. Do 1 heavy weights session a week. The strength and power gains made in pre season can be maintained with just 1 session, as muscular strength does not deminish very fast.
3. Fuel your body with good food.. leave out the booze!!

Jemo

sit ups have no use in modern rugby!

Surely core strenght is one of the main factors still. Although its importance would vary positionally, I believe it is still a big factor. As a forward when i started doing large core session I felt I was able to make and break tackles easier and it helped keep the back straight when scrummaging.