Great rugby player workout mini-doc

sweetthing

Great mini-documentary here on Brad Thorn, the former All Black. The 2nd video closely follows his intense workout.Thought if might be of interest here!

themandan6611

if there was a link it might be

Hanley

themandan6611 wrote: »

if there was a link it might be

I can see the link fine?

Barry.Oglesby

Yeah, good video. Interesting stuff.

jugger0

Surprisingly weak for a pro athlete.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Can somebody repost the link?

cant see it at all.

Hanley

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Can somebody repost the link?

cant see it at all.

Should be able to get it if you click "quote" and look at the URL from there??

SteelyDanJalapeno

Nope, no sign of it, might be a firefox or linux issue

Sasquatch76

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Nope, no sign of it, might be a firefox or linux issue

Using both here, and no problem

TimeToShine

no link?

paulmclaughlin

I can't see it?

Maybe I should open my eyes...

Hanley

WTF??

Try this

















.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Are people taking the piss or something ?

Hanley

Must be firefox. I'm running chrome on my mac and it's fine.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Hanley wrote: »

WTF??

Try this

















.

what i see

[IMG][/img]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Im on my own mac now too, with chrome......

eilo1

no link on chrome?!?!

TimeToShine

Hanley wrote: »

WTF??

Try this

















.

troll/10

Rezident

No link here either. And isn't he still an all black? I think he scored for them last week.

Hanley

TiltedBrain wrote: »

what i see

[IMG][/img]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Im on my own mac now too, with chrome......

What version are you running? Plug ins up to date etc etc?

jugger0

Just watch it on rugbydump.com

http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/10/2192/brad-thorn-building-blocks-parts-1-2

Hanley

jugger0 wrote: »

Just watch it on rugbydump.com

http://www.rugbydump.com/2011/10/2192/brad-thorn-building-blocks-parts-1-2

I think that's working cos it's not embedded.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Nice vid,

no idea why the embedded link doesnt work.

Sasquatch76

I got it working now. Enjoy.

sweetthing

Sorry lads, completely forgot to include a link...which explains why many of you couldn't see one! Thanks Sasquatch for providing one!

Also Rezident, you are right, he was playing against the Argies AND in try-scoring form! He will be retiring from the AB's after the WC though, so I'll be correct in a couple weeks.That doesn't make me any less wrong in the present however!

Anyway, absolute post-failure by me last night! I'm blaming the wine

So what do people think of his workout? I know some of you that have seen it are pretty unimpressed with the weight he's lifting, but as Keiran Reid comments,the amount of core work he does looks pretty rough, amounting to 10 intense core exercises! Also, his squatting weight is similar to his bench. Does this not suggest an equal amount of strength around his body? Anyone that has seen the guy in action has to admit that he's an extremely strong individual. So maybe real functional strength doesn't come from just how much weight we lift, but rather how well balanced our strength is throughout our body? Just a thought, I'm FAR from an expert. Which is why I'd like to know what the rest of you think. Thoughts?

Inspector Coptoor

sweetthing wrote: »

So what do people think of his workout?

I think its pretty ok to be honest.

sweetthing wrote: »

I know some of you that have seen it are pretty unimpressed with the weight he's lifting

I think 140kg x 3 on the bench and 140kg x 3 on the squat (with pretty damn good form) is impressive especially when you consider how tall he is and how long his levers are.

sweetthing wrote: »

So maybe real functional strength doesn't come from just how much weight we lift Thoughts?

what do you mean by real functional strength?
The word functional is now up there with the word "core" and
"tone" as words that people throw around without really knowing what they mean by them.

The one thing in his workout that really stuck out was the excessively long bridging. He did 3 mins 5 seconds and said he had done up to 5 mins previously.
At no point ina game of rugby would he have to hold a braced position like a bridge for 2, 3 or 5 minutes.

My own view on bridging would be that once you;re comfortable doing 3 sets of 30 seconds, you should start doing weighted bridging.
There is very little point in bridging over a minute at a time.

Hanley

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

I think 140kg x 3 on the bench and 140kg x 3 on the squat (with pretty damn good form) is impressive especially when you consider how tall he is and how long his levers are.

How heavy is this punter?

THere's no way ones limit strength when it comes to their legs should match that of their bench.

what do you mean by real functional strength?

Probably the ability to display strength gained in the weight room on the rugby field.

The one thing in his workout that really stuck out was the excessively long bridging. He did 3 mins 5 seconds and said he had done up to 5 mins previously.
At no point ina game of rugby would he have to hold a braced position like a bridge for 2, 3 or 5 minutes.

...

There is very little point in bridging over a minute at a time.

You don't "bridge" at ANY point in a rugby game... But that doesn't me it wouldnt' have its uses?

As for time - doesn't McGill state that endurance rather than strength is a better predictor of low back health?

I haven't even watched the video so I dunno what he said, but it looks like you're in danger of swinging to the far side on that pendulum.

Killme00

I want to functionally tone my core without giving up caca millis.

Inspector Coptoor

Hanley wrote: »

How heavy is this punter?

he's 6'5" and 116kg

Hanley wrote: »

How heavy is this punter?
THere's no way ones limit strength when it comes to their legs should match that of their bench.

the 140kg x 3 on the bench looked like he maybe one more in the tank, 140kg x 3 on the squat looked there was quite a few left

Hanley wrote: »

You don't "bridge" at ANY point in a rugby game

I believe the phrase I used was braced position, as in, a scrum.

Hanley wrote: »

But that doesn't me it wouldnt' have its uses?

At no point did I say bridging doesnt have its uses, It does.

Hanley wrote: »

As for time - doesn't McGill state that endurance rather than strength is a better predictor of low back health?

I dont know if he says that or not tbh, I'll take your word for it.

define endurance in this context.

Hanley wrote: »

I haven't even watched the video so I dunno what he said, but it looks like you're in danger of swinging to the far side on that pendulum.

You'll have to explain your pendulum comment there for me.

In the video, Thorn talks about the long bridging as being more about mental toughness than anything else and that he always goes for 5 seconds longer than the time he says he's gonna do, and that it's a way of showing he wants it more than they next guy.

Hanley

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

he's 6'5" and 116kg



the 140kg x 3 on the bench looked like he maybe one more in the tank, 140kg x 3 on the squat looked there was quite a few left

Cool. I don’t like those vids cos you never REALLY know where he is in a training cycle, how tired he is, etc etc. Very hard to judge off them.

I believe the phrase I used was braced position, as in, a scrum.

But you were talking about bridging, its effectiveness and the amount of time he was doing it for?

I dont know if he says that or not tbh, I'll take your word for it.

He does!

define endurance in this context.

Is this a real question? The ability to do something for a long period of time. The usual way endurance is defined?

You'll have to explain your pendulum comment there for me.

Fitness trends and how they swing from one extreme to the other… it was everyone needs to be super strong from powerlifting, and then it was“functional” strength… the whole “everything should be sport specific” versus “everything should be general” argumenets…? When the answser probably lies somewhere in the middle, and after a few years when all the dust settles, that is usually what happens?

Inspector Coptoor

Hanley wrote: »

Cool. I don’t like those vids cos you never REALLY know where he is in a training cycle, how tired he is, etc etc. Very hard to judge off them.

Yeah, they didnt appear to be full max effort lifts and he was doing his squatting towards the end of the workout and he appeared to be taking very little rest, as in he did a core exercises in between each set of bench, chins, rows, squats etc

Hanley wrote: »

But you were talking about bridging, its effectiveness and the amount of time he was doing it for?

yeah, I was talking about bridging, I then called it a braced position and was referring to a scrum as another braced position.
My take on it would be that for rugby, when you are in a braced position, albeit not a birdge, that it would be better to be stronger at it for a short period of time (BW + 60kg for 30-45 seconds) than to be really good at it in terms of bodyweight endurance (BW for 3-5 mins).

Hanley wrote: »

the ability to do something for a long period of time. The usual way endurance is defined?

What i meant by that was, at what point would you call bridging endurance?
45 seconds, 1 minute, 2,3,5?

Hanley wrote: »

Fitness trends and how they swing from one extreme to the other… it was everyone needs to be super strong from powerlifting, and then it was“functional” strength… the whole “everything should be sport specific” versus “everything should be general” argumenets…? When the answser probably lies somewhere in the middle, and after a few years when all the dust settles, that is usually what happens?

Im a strong believer in the middle ground.
As someone who isn't, has never been and probably never will be extremely strong or fast or athletic, Im finding a more middle ground and common sense approach works best.

I didnt mean to come across as swinging more to one side than the other

Thud

Killme00 wrote: »

I want to functionally tone my core without giving up caca millis.

be careful though, you might get too big

sweetthing

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

what do you mean by real functional strength?

My understanding of the term is strength that can be used for uses other than merely shifting weights. Rugby is a good example. Now as I said, I now very little about strength and muscle building, but from what I've read about these subjects, most experts seem to agree that strength and size building goals are quite different (although achieving increased strength goal will come with certain size gains and vice-verse). As someone who first got into weight lifting in order to change my appearance but am now more interested in building strength as well as flexibility and fitness (and hopefully get a bit bigger too), the workouts that rugby players go through seem to fit my personal goals. Brad Thorn, who has been one eight of the best rugby pack in the world as well as playing league, which is a particularly cardio-demanding sport, would be as good a model as any, imo.

d'Oracle

sweetthing wrote: »

My understanding of the term is strength that can be used for uses other than merely shifting weights. Rugby is a good example. Now as I said, I now very little about strength and muscle building, but from what I've read about these subjects, most experts seem to agree that strength and size building goals are quite different (although achieving increased strength goal will come with certain size gains and vice-verse). As someone who first got into weight lifting in order to change my appearance but am now more interested in building strength as well as flexibility and fitness (and hopefully get a bit bigger too), the workouts that rugby players go through seem to fit my personal goals. Brad Thorn, who has been one eight of the best rugby pack in the world as well as playing league, which is a particularly cardio-demanding sport, would be as good a model as any, imo.

Yeah but this is one workout from what he does now.
Not what he did before. He is a certain size and strength now. But you probably need to get stronger and bigger if you want to be where he is.

Also, when did he play for south africa?

TimeToShine

Thud wrote: »

be careful though, you might get too big

dont train your legs or you wont fit into your jeans the next day.