Former World's Strongest Man to Play Rugby

Irlandczyk

Banbridgeman2 wrote: »

pudzianowski would have to drop most of his muscle in order to be effective or he would gas after 15mins. Too much oxygen required for that sort of muscle mass. Pudzianowski finished most his MMA fights in the first round. Whenever it went beyond that he'd gas and lose. I think in one fight he went purple and just gave up because he was gassed. I actually met him once and he is extremely intelligent funnily enough. Hopefully this gives more coverage to rugby in Poland. They could be a powerhouse if it took off in my opinion. Lots of natural rugby bulk on Polish men. I've worked with a few who didn't even go to the gym but were the size of backrowers. Think Georgia but with a MUCH bigger potential playing population

Funny, I've thought exactly the same thing for a long, long time now! Pity the country as a whole tends to prefer soccer... even though they're not particularly great at it. Think they could do so much more with Rugby, to be honest!

Higher

Deano7788 wrote: »

No, just say he's going for 3 sets of 3 or whatever, he might do:
60x5
80x5
100x4
120x3
130x2
Work weight x 3x3

That's just an example. He might have also been working up to a max, or maybe that is what he's able to bench. We don't know.

P.S. I'm pretty confident I do know what I'm talking about here.

If you can do 3 sets of your normal weight after doing 5 sets beforehand then you're not doing it right.

Deano7788

Higher wrote: »

Oh I think I get you now but I would disagree its common. In fact I've never seen it and I am a bit of a gym-rat.

It would defeat the purpose of warming up to try lift heavy right away and then lowering it until you reach the weight that you do sets with.

It depends what you're goal is. If it's purely strength, like if you're a powerlifter, you'd do less reps as you get closer to your worksets as they would only tire you out for the important sets if you did higher reps. If you're going more for hypertrophy, then maybe you wouldn't want to lower the reps as you go.

Deano7788

Higher wrote: »

If you can do 3 sets of your normal weight after doing 5 sets beforehand then you're not doing it right.

Look at the logs of any of the powerlifters in the Health & Fitness or Strength and Strength Sports forums and see the number of warmups they do before they're worksets. They're only warm ups, they shouldn't be challenging or take much out of you.

Higher

Deano7788 wrote: »

Look at the logs of any of the powerlifters in the Health & Fitness or Strength and Strength Sports forums and see the number of warmups they do before they're worksets. They're only warm ups, they shouldn't be challenging or take much out of you.

So Flannery is now doing powerlifting? I doubt it to be honest.

Clareman

I really think the Strength and Strength Sports would be a better place to be having this discussion folks, everyone here has their opinion but I don't know if any of us could be considered subject matter experts.

Higher

Slightly O/T but didnt Stewart Maguire used to bench something ridiculous like 175kg at 18? Monster.

Deano7788

Higher wrote: »

So Flannery is now doing powerlifting? I doubt it to be honest.

No, I didn't mean it that way, I'm just saying it is pretty common, especially in strength training. I would do it regularly enough, and I'm not a powerlifter, and I'd see it a lot in the gym.

Just to clarify, I'm talking about when you're doing straight sets, like 80x5x5. It's the sets before these I'm talking about, just getting you're body warmed up and used to the movement pattern. If you're doing ramped sets, like 60, 65,70,75,80 x5, then yeah you wouldn't decrease reps during these sets.

ChesneyHawkes

Higher wrote: »

Correct. Squats are king for rugby players

Who can bench press the most would almost be irrelevant to what actually matters on the rugby pitch?

I might be being pedantic and irrelevant to the conversation at hand..sorry haha

Deano7788

ChesneyHawkes wrote: »

Who can bench press the most would almost be irrelevant to what actually matters on the rugby pitch?

I might be being pedantic and irrelevant to the conversation at hand..sorry haha

Their bench press wouldn't be completely irrelevant, it would come into handoffs and stuff but it would be far below squats, deadlifts and power exercises in importance.

It's also important so your body isn't unbalanced.

peterako

RoundBox11 wrote: »

I remember seeing an interview in the gym with one of the Irish players and they were asked who could bench the most. They weren't sure but they reckoned it might be Tom Court! Wouldn't be surprised. Bench press is all chest and triceps

And Genetics - Limb length, tendon attachment etc.

I've always had a decent squat/deadlift but relatively weak bench and overhead press.

As a measure of pure strength Deadlift is probably the fairest as the other lifts are either too 'narrow' in total muscle recruitment or technical.

Blut2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DJ33q8zHUM&feature=player_detailpage#t=41s

Theres a 20 year old Manu Tuilagi saying he benches 190KG. Admittedly though he is built a lot more like a forward (he weighs 110KG!) than most backs.

the baby bull elephant

Blut2 wrote: »

A Saffer friend of mine gave me the below a while ago:

Super 14 Standards -

Backs
. Beep Test Level 13
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 11.40 min
. Standing 10m 1.68 sec
. Standing 40m 5.10 sec
. Rolling 40m 4.50 sec
. Bench Press 120 kg (265lb)
. Prone Row 100 kg (220lb)
. Squat 180 kg (400lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times

Forwards
. Beep Test Level 12
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 12.30 min
. Standing 10m 1.9 sec
. Standing 40m 5.50 sec
. Rolling 40m 5.00 sec
. Bench Press 150 kg (330lb)
. Prone Row 125 kg (275lb)
. Squat 225 kg (500lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times


Given Flannerys relative bulk I'd say he'd probably be hitting the 150kg bench mark at least, or would have been while still playing anyway.

I highly doubt someone like Coenie Oosthuizen can do 12 chinups.

Aiden7

mfceiling wrote: »

Pfffffft....I was in the gym last night and I says to the trainer.."throw on more weights". He says "there are no more"!!

Has anyone checked has this polish lad any Irish grandparents!! If he did get a spot on an Irish team it would be gas listening to Joe duffy...I'm telling you Joe, they're taking all the jobs Joe, Tony Buckley can't get a place because of this foreigner Joe!!

Mariusz Pudzianowski may not have Irish grandparents, but Vytautas Lalas who finished 2nd in the 2012 WSM, does live in Dublin, and even has a slight Irish accent, maybe he could be called up! The only problem that it would bring up is the whole project player issue again! Other than that it would be fine lol

RoundBox11

Blut2 wrote: »

A Saffer friend of mine gave me the below a while ago:

Super 14 Standards -

Backs
. Beep Test Level 13
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 11.40 min
. Standing 10m 1.68 sec
. Standing 40m 5.10 sec
. Rolling 40m 4.50 sec
. Bench Press 120 kg (265lb)
. Prone Row 100 kg (220lb)
. Squat 180 kg (400lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times

Forwards
. Beep Test Level 12
. 3,000m (1.8 Miles) 12.30 min
. Standing 10m 1.9 sec
. Standing 40m 5.50 sec
. Rolling 40m 5.00 sec
. Bench Press 150 kg (330lb)
. Prone Row 125 kg (275lb)
. Squat 225 kg (500lb)
. Chin Ups 12 times


Given Flannerys relative bulk I'd say he'd probably be hitting the 150kg bench mark at least, or would have been while still playing anyway.

I highly doubt a lot of this. I can't see the average scrum half and lot of other backs being able to squat a minimum of 180 and bench a minimum of 120.

Also as baby bull said, props would have serious trouble doing 12 chin ups. Let alone level 12 on the beep test and 3km in 12.30 minutes

Blut2

RoundBox11 wrote: »

I highly doubt a lot of this. I can't see the average scrum half and lot of other backs being able to squat a minimum of 180 and bench a minimum of 120.

Also as baby bull said, props would have serious trouble doing 12 chin ups. Let alone level 12 on the beep test and 3km in 12.30 minutes

A quick googling shows up a number of corroborating links, ie: http://www.health24.com/fitness/Rugby_Player_Profiles/16-2040-2049,29985.asp

Pierre Spies does pullups with a 50kg weight attached ( http://keo.co.za/2009/05/15/spiess-cognitive-evolution/ ). I'd be fairly confident in anyone with decent upper body strength being able to do 12 bodyweight pullups.

A lot of casual gym users seem shocked at professional athletes putting up such big numbers, I dont know why. I'd wager even the Blackrock, Clongowes or Belvo Senior Cup team front rows would be moving serious weight too. Proper training, proper diet and serious dedication do wonders.