James River RFC Fitness

Phone: 804-467-9744

Fax: 804-222-4994

Fitness

Importance of Fitness for rugby performance

Most people understand the physical reasons fitness impacts rugby performance. However, the most important impact comes in the mental aspects of the game. When two evenly matched sides meet, both are likely to be strong enough to win, fast enough to win, and committed enough to win. The difference in who wins and who loses comes down to which side makes the best decision and takes advantage as situations arise.

The problem, it's nearly impossible to make smart decisions when all your effort is going into being able to breath and simply get to the breakdown. Opportunities can be lost, and points given away because players are too tired to see the entire field and spot the advantage.

If you can breath at the end of the game, you can think,
If you can think at the end of the game you're much more likely to win.

Discussions on fitness and training

The following I have taken from my personal experiences in rugby, some great lessons I've learned from former coaches, and in my mind, some ground breaking fitness books like Jim Blair's Rugby Fitness, and Alan Pearson's book on SAQ for Rugby.

Rugby is a long game with 80 minutes of play. However, what many forget, is rugby is much more of an anaerobic exercise than an aerobic exercise. That means it's full of short periods of heavy, high intensity activity followed by active rest. Training that relies solely on long aerobic endurance training will not suit the modern game. Also, there are positional differences that need to be acknowledged. Even the fittest Lock can not be expected to run the same distances and times as a Wing. It's unlikely a Scrumhalf will ever be able to lift the same amounts as a Prop. Rugby takes different types, and needs to train at different speeds. You'll notice I did not say different intensity. All rugby players must bring the same intensity to their performance.

When training for rugby, time and intensity are the only measures that matter. The distances covered will vary with each player, but the intensity must be the same. Intensity is measured by heart rate, time is measured by your watch. The build up to peak performance is an 18 week affair which uses different time and intensity through each stage to bring the player to their best before an important game or tournament.

James River has some very important dates coming up this April. We will start preparing now so we are ready. A solid fitness training falls into four main categories, Foundation, Preseason, Peaking, Rest & Maintenance.

Foundation Stage: This is the baseline of any success you hope to have. In this stage players establish and build their endurance that will be the foundation of their success in the upcoming season. This stage last for 8 weeks with all players needing to put in 40 minutes of endurance work 3 days a week. There are a number of ways players can improve their endurance. Running, swimming, biking or any kind of exercise that keeps the heart rate up in the target range for 40 minutes. Strength training is also important in this stage and needs to include workouts 3 days a week. At this point, the workout schedule is the same regardless of player position. Also important is address flexibility and stretching, especially after exercise

Still not sure what to do, check out a list of rugby specific workouts.

Preseason Stage: After the Foundation Stage, the fitness schedule moves into the 6 week Preseason Stage where the endurance activities grow in intensity, but the time spent decreases to 30 minutes, 3 days a week. Also, in the Preseason Stage, we start to see positional differences with players grouped by position.

· Props and Locks

· Hookers, Flankers & Scrumhalf

· Backline players

Props and Locks continue to hone their general endurance with 3 x 30 minute endurance sessions a week at a higher intensity. On the strength training these players need to continue lifting for the upper body with an emphasis on explosiveness. They need to transition to building leg power through ply metrics or jumping, bounding, and SAQ type drills.

Hookers, Flankers & Scrumhalf also follow similar 3 x 30 minute endurance sessions at the higher intensity. However, should include at least one session of interval work on a track. Intervals are continuous running, but at different pace. One example would be to run 3 miles on a standard 400 meter track (12 laps) while alternating half a lap fast and half a lap slow throughout. Strength training is the same as the Props and Locks with lifting for explosiveness in the upper body and leg power through ply metrics and SAQ type drills.

Backline players need to follow a somewhat different schedule in the Preseason Stage. They will need to run 2 x 30 minute endurance sessions a week at the increased intensity. The third day will be taken up by a Speed Work session with 16 x 20 meters. Sprint 20 meters, walk back to the mark and Sprint again. Ply metrics take an even greater importance for backline players and in addition to 2 days of upper body lifting, need to include 2 days of heavy ply metric exercises.

Peaking Stage: This stage is about sharpening the edge ahead of the big match. All forwards and the scrumhalf need to cutback endurance work to 2 x a week. Backs also should cut back the endurance work to 2 x a week. While the frequency is cutback, the intensity will not be. Strength training and plyomentrics should be curtailed during the Peaking stage. Game relevant speed work will be emphasised during training.

Rest & Maintainance Stage: Once the peak has been reached it's a delicate balance to keep that edge, but to also guard against overwork and overuse. The best way to do this is by use of cycles of heavy weeks and light weeks in training. This depends on the season's requirements, but ideally, it's in 7 to 14 day cycles to keep players fit, but not over worked. Fitness can be maintained with 2 x 30 minute sessions per week. Stregth training needs to resume in this stage, but only 2 x week. Flexibility and Speed work needs to continue throughout.

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