Muscle Building For Rugby

Ted15

I stared playing rugby this season at U15 and fell in love.We're near the end of the season and as it goes if we loose our next match we're out of the cup and it's all over.But because of the way my birthday goes next year I'll be playin u17 but a majority of the team will be stayin.Makin the cut for U17s is going to be a whole different story.At the moment I'm about 5'11 13 stone hope to be 6'1 by the time the next season starts and 11 stone.The weight isn't a problem as I'm controlling it and have lost a bit.Its muscle I really need to gain atm but I'm not sure how to go about it.The gym won't let me in till I'm 16 and it's my core I want to concentrate on now but I'm not sure can I gain muscle there or do I have to loose all the wait there first.Any advice or help would be appreciated on the matter.No trolling please

castlebarian

Ted15 wrote: »

I stared playing rugby this season at U15 and fell in love.We're near the end of the season and as it goes if we loose our next match we're out of the cup and it's all over.But because of the way my birthday goes next year I'll be playin u17 but a majority of the team will be stayin.Makin the cut for U17s is going to be a whole different story.At the moment I'm about 5'11 13 stone hope to be 6'1 by the time the next season starts and 11 stone.The weight isn't a problem as I'm controlling it and have lost a bit.Its muscle I really need to gain atm but I'm not sure how to go about it.The gym won't let me in till I'm 16 and it's my core I want to concentrate on now but I'm not sure can I gain muscle there or do I have to loose all the wait there first.Any advice or help would be appreciated on the matter.No trolling please

Work on your fitness and speed for another year or two first you have plenty of time no need for weights yet.

19543261

As you're aware yourself, diet is probably the most crucial. If you have the self discipline to get the good habits down now you're going to be way ahead of the game. Cut out the crap 5 days a week and let your parent(s) in on your goals so they can help and encourage you.

I wouldnt get bogged down on the particulars if I were you. Like castebarian says, your overall fitness should be your focus, you want to be well rounded before you even hit the gym. You can start bodyweight exercises right now, you dont need to lose weight first.

Resource: http://exrx.net/

(Probably a bit overwhelming, but its there anyway)

blackdog1

Ted15 wrote: »

I stared playing rugby this season at U15 and fell in love.We're near the end of the season and as it goes if we loose our next match we're out of the cup and it's all over.But because of the way my birthday goes next year I'll be playin u17 but a majority of the team will be stayin.Makin the cut for U17s is going to be a whole different story.At the moment I'm about 5'11 13 stone hope to be 6'1 by the time the next season starts and 11 stone.The weight isn't a problem as I'm controlling it and have lost a bit.Its muscle I really need to gain atm but I'm not sure how to go about it.The gym won't let me in till I'm 16 and it's my core I want to concentrate on now but I'm not sure can I gain muscle there or do I have to loose all the wait there first.Any advice or help would be appreciated on the matter.No trolling please

Get a pull up bar and get going. Start with close grip and work your way to wide grip. Make sure you do them properly non of this quick jerk stuff. For legs hill sprints. And do plenty of sit ups. Off you go.

The Lost Sheep

To be honest I wouldn't worry so much about your physical size. At 6' and between 11 and 13 stone you will be fine playing under 17s.
More important for you stepping up the levels are your skills. What position do you play? What is your passing like? Whats your technique in tackling, rucking etc like?

davegrohl48

If you want to improve in fitness for rugby at your age try and join an athletics club. Any distance from 100 - 400 metres will seriously improve your leg strength/core strength/running technique.
If thats not feasible, find a local sprint athlete. Doing random core exercises/weights at your age won't do much for you. Highly developed running mechanics will.

awec

Are you in a club or a school? Do they not have a coach you can talk to about these things?

I'd imagine your coach would know what you should focus on at your age grade.

Inspector Coptoor

castlebarian wrote: »

Work on your fitness and speed for another year or two first you have plenty of time no need for weights yet.

Weight training, including body weight resistance training like lunges, squats, RDLs, push ups, pull ups and inverted rows should be part of any young lads exercise regime, even more so if he is playing rugby.

If he gets stronger (notice I didn't necessarily say bigger), he will get faster.

Fitness is NOT something to work on In the off season.
This is where you work on strength and skills.

Fitness can be brought up v quickly nearer to the first match

It's 80% diet, 20% training.

Do some Body weight training, do some sprints and core work, Id avoid sit ups, do planks of all descriptions and Russian Twists, do some loaded carries (look up farmers carries on YouTube)

If you have access to a gym and a proper S&C coach, start lifting light weights and build from there and ALWAYS eat more on training days than mon training days.

CatFromHue

The IRFU have guidelines for training for young players

http://www.irishrugby.ie/playingthegame/fitness/theyoungplayer

Also remember the 3 things you need to know about training

1. Technique
2. Technique
3. Technique

kingofthekong

You most certainly can begin weight training, but this also depends on your base level of strength and how competent you are at the body weight movements first. There are videos on YouTube which can show you the correct technique for lifting, I'm actually a qualified personal trainer and younger athletes lifting weights is something I've studied. If you can increase your strength in your lower body (squats+lunges) this will help with your speed and injury prevention so I wouldn't be to worried about what your weight is , focus on being strong , fast , flexible and fit and you can't go wrong.

Dravokivich

Ted15 wrote: »

it's my core I want to concentrate on now but I'm not sure can I gain muscle there or do I have to loose all the wait there first.Any advice or help would be appreciated on the matter.No trolling please

I didn't see it mentioned in any of the other replies, but seeing as you're looking for info, there's something incorrect about the above line you may not be aware of.

You can target area's to develope muscles, because you need to use them in order to get them to grow more. It doesn't matter how much weight you have around there. All that means is you won't be able to see the development of the muscle as you work on it.

Another thing to note though, you can't target area's to reduce weight or lose fat, such as around the stomach. It's a marketing gimmick.

Sangre

Lots of misinformation in this thread. Head over to the Health and Fitness forum and the guys over there will put you on the right path.

As with any sport, the key area of focus should always be on your skills and technique in that sport. The strength and fitness are tools that can help you get to next level.

Inspector Coptoor

Lots of misinformation is correct, with the exception of my post and maybe one or two more.

Lots of rugby armchair players and not many coaches have posted.

irishbucsfan

You should absolutely be looking to start working out properly but I'd meniton a couple of things to keep in mind.

Firstly at u17 and u19 level you are going to get far more benefit from aerobic fitness than muscle mass. Make sure you're running regularly. Incorporate it into your gym sessions.

Secondly, look into finding a semesterised work out schedule. This is a plan that focuses on building muscle during weeks where you don't have a game (There's a lot of these weeks at 17s level iirc) and focuses on retention on game weeks. Your sets on game weeks will become something like 3 x 95% of 1RM. I know the IRFU used to circulate an example to some clubs. You'll want to make sure that your gym work isn't interfering with your performances on the weekend! Always keep in mind that traditional weights programs don't often account for playing rugby matches on a Saturday morning.

Finally, don't even worry about the step up to 17s. In my experience if you can run 5 miles comfortably then you're going to have an upper hand over most of your competitors at that age level. You'll see how small the difference between the opponents is as soon as you start hitting them.

I'm no S&C coach by the way, the best thing you can do is find one and talk to them directly. If your club has one then he should be the first person you talk to.

Best of luck with the rest of this season, hopefully it's not over too soon.

S12b

What I'm going to say is the optimal approach for a young guy, it may not be feasible, but if you're serious about things, spend a few pound and start the process properly. Far too many young guys start lifting and adding strength before they can actually move properly, priming themselves for injury.

1) Get a functional movement screen done with a physio or a S&C coach - they will assess how you move and identify your issues, give you a programme to assess these issues and then you can go and start lifting heavy. Lifting heavy without being able to move well is akin to building a house with no foundations.....it will all fall apart. A very quick and easy test is the overhead squat....if you can do a full one, then you move fairly well and have no major issues. A full overhead squat means you can hit full depth i.e your hips below your knees with no major rounding of your lower back whilst keeping your torso upright. Most fellas can't stay upright and will end up leaning forward, with the bar coming in front of their head and their lower back rounding.

2) Assess bodyfat levels - this will depend on the position you play but there's no point trying to build muscle if you're carrying too much fat. Muscle building involves fat gain so you should be fairly lean before you start focusing on gaining size. At 15 or 16, and unless you're a front row forward, you should probably have visible abs or be very close to that level. If not, the primary focus should be dropping the excess fat.

3) Start to educate yourself around food and nutrition - you need to understand energy surplus/deficits to understand how muscle gain/fat loss works. The Eric Helms video series below explains all of this brilliantly. Then you need to start learning about food, eating the right foods, learning to cook etc...Your diet should include protein sources like meat, fish, eggs, dairy, plenty veg and fruit and nutritious carb sources like potato, rice, porridge

4) Get lifting - at your age, the focus should be on getting stronger rather than bigger. Focus on the big lifts like the bench press, shoulder press, chin up, rows, deadlift, squat, plank and just focus on getting stronger on all those. A programme like this is as good a starting point as any.
http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

.ak

+1 for the 5x5 routine, great way of learning compound lifts at a steady pace.

Kev_2012

I'm 27 now, started playing at 20.

If I could go back in time, I'd tell myself to worry most about fitness (upper body, core, endurance) and definitely diet.

I found that after training for and doing a half marathon, I became a much better player due to my skill not deteriorating with fatigue and being more alert. Diet helps with that too.

I play at J1 level now, and play wing, and Flanker at J2 level. I weigh about 13-13.5 stone at 6 foot and it's more than enough. I do some weights but it's not the be all and end all. I'd worry more on fitness!

CatFromHue

^^^^

That's McCaw's mantra too

Inspector Coptoor

I agree with that post Kev, if the player is in season.

If he is In the off season, I would suggest more anaerobic work, ie repeat sprint efforts, sled dragging, prowler pushing, hill sprints, coupled with a but of resistance training, core work and eating well.

As the season approaches, the aerobic capacity can be built up in a few weeks

The_Captain

Correct form is far far more important than the actual weight of the plates.

You see younger guys in the gym going for the absolute upper limit of what they can lift, wobbling all over the place, trying to jerk or bounce the weights up any way they can.

You'll get more gains by dropping weights until you can do the sets smoothly with the right posture

You aren't competing with the guy across from you to see who can lift the most, you're looking to develop strength and build mass over the long term

tastyt

What position do you play op??

if you are hoping to be a front 5 forward well then your training and diet will be different to a scrum half or outhalf and that's just a fact.

Losty Dublin

tastyt wrote: »

What position do you play op??

if you are hoping to be a front 5 forward well then you won't ever be training and your diet will be a scrum half or outhalf

Fixed your post :pac: