Fitness for Rugby

Fitness for Rugby Fitness for Rugby TRA draws upon the combined effort of professional coaches to deliver results driven, long term programmes.

The Rugby Academy delivers a monthly programme of coaching, education and development to youth and amateur level rugby players from 15-20 and 21-35.

Off to a smashing start John, keep up the good work 🔥
18/09/2021

Off to a smashing start John, keep up the good work 🔥

Consistency is key, excellent work Grainne 🤟
17/09/2021

Consistency is key, excellent work Grainne 🤟

Well done Mick, every session counts, keep building 💪
16/09/2021

Well done Mick, every session counts, keep building 💪

Clocking up the kms, super stuff Sean 🏃‍♂️👊
15/09/2021

Clocking up the kms, super stuff Sean 🏃‍♂️👊

Awesome work Rasa, keep it going, well done 👏
14/09/2021

Awesome work Rasa, keep it going, well done 👏

One pace paul? Plodding along? Not really what you think of when it comes to getting fit for rugby.What do you think it ...
28/01/2021

One pace paul? Plodding along? Not really what you think of when it comes to getting fit for rugby.

What do you think it looks like? Pretty much explosive, short bursts of power repeated over and over again mixed in with a healthy dose of collisions. Pretty draining even typing this....

There are many ways to tick the box but lets look one method I use heavily with all team sport athletes, to be honest. I like it. It works and you can tweak and change it to suit anything - tempo running.

During the season (both in and off-season) I do a good bit of tempo running, borrowed from Charlie Francis and Phil Richards for building a general base of fitness. The benefits are:

✅ Enhanced recovery from demanding activities (not a HIIT circuit at your gym but stuff like contact, heavy arse weights, sprints, jumps etc)
✅ Building resiliance and technique at submaximal qualities. You know that feeling when you do lots of MAS runs and shuttle sprints and run like a drunken sailor? We don't want that here
✅ Improved aerobic function - gets your circulatory system going on hyper-drive

It used to be longer runs at 70% with a typcial session at 4-8 x 200-400m.
20 years ago I use small sided games of 7 vs 7 by removing all the stoppages and playing with the ball for a set duration (2-3 minutes) before moving into Combat Conditioning that I learnt from Craig White. This was above and beyond what most teams could hold the ball for.

Now I would incorporate more rugby specific running distances and also elements of contact such as breakdown agility (see earlier posts) and pummelling but done at much lower intensities than that. Its hard to think that less is more

😀 Try telling a forward to go at 'about 70%' in grappling. It just doesn't work (one of the down sides to tempo work is that team sports athletes don't work at low enough intensities for it to be sub maximal so it is really important you give them the focus of 'technique' to help them dial it down a bit. Otherwise it turns into a lactate infused brawl)

Typical session is 5 minute blocks of tempo running, pummelling, bodyweight circuits with 3-5 minutes of active rest where we work on technical elements of things like catch pass and tackle positions.

You could move into tip, or small sided games where you can condition the game to avoid stoppages or 5 phases and transfer possession for a period of time.

Simple effective and seems to develop a robust system that can handle repeat efforts. Heart rate monitoring ensures you keep the effort levels in the aerobic zone and use that as a means to monitor.

MAS runs are fine and can be used around competitive phases if and when needed.

The thing is they are not general, they are specific, can induce the wrong type of fatigue in the athlete (think about your running form when performing them) and are anaerobic in adapation.

This interupts recovery too and with amateur athletes who train at night, some have poor sleep, family and diet you don't have much time to recover come weekends.

Let the games and a well stuctured training sessions keep the team sharp, fresh and fit!

---

Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass #

Do you have whiteboard fever?Seriously when did a 200kg squat correlate to someone who can catch pass? There is a point ...
25/01/2021

Do you have whiteboard fever?

Seriously when did a 200kg squat correlate to someone who can catch pass? There is a point reached of sufficient returns in terms of strength levels and time invested.

Athletic preparation is more than gym. You also have to look at the technical, tactical, mental, nutritional aspects too.

✅We have all experienced Slinky Dave on the wing whose last visit to the gym resulted in him fainting after the stretching warm up. Yet the guy holds the league record for tries scored.

✅Or Brawler McCall in the front row whose 19 inch biceps hold the scrum up, but please, stay out of open play. He couldn't catch a cold.

You have to work with the individual. Where are you needing attention?

Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass #

Yoga and Pilates for athletes?Not a fan to be honest. For the general population in terms of improving health and well-b...
21/01/2021

Yoga and Pilates for athletes?

Not a fan to be honest.

For the general population in terms of improving health and well-being - great! What a way to calm the mind and 'motion is lotion'!

But for an athlete?
You can do much better than a generic 1 size fits all stretching and core programme.

Any standard muscle length / strength test will determine WHERE you need to stretch and where you need to strengthen. With that approach you can then be SPECIFIC to the needs of the athlete rather than a ‘throw enough sh*t' at the wall and hope some sticks.
-
Let's take the hamstrings for example. A muscle length tests shows that the athlete can get right to 90 degrees. Yet they pull up. Tear it or it feels chronically tight.

A quik test for you is to lay on the ground and lift your leg up straight. One leg may fly up, the other not so. There may be many reasons for this. My point is - you are not the same left to right.

An examination of their pelvis position both in a static and dynamic position (side on running) shows an ‘excessive' tilt. Suddenly we have reason to believe that maybe they shouldn't be stretching the hamstrings - in fact this would do more harm than good by adding even more length to an excessively lengthened position.

Maybe they need to be working on their hip flexors and lower abdominal control /strength. Or maybe it is there back that is causing neurological issues down the chain?


➡️Be specific! Your athletes deserve more!
---
Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass #

Volume or Intensity? Is there a sweet spot? Rugby players a great at being able to perform tonnes of work and being comf...
20/01/2021

Volume or Intensity? Is there a sweet spot? Rugby players a great at being able to perform tonnes of work and being comfortable uncomfortable. But is it making you any better? Probably not. Its the Danger Zone

When I think Intensity I think a % of your maximum effort across measurable parameters to physical preparation. Think your fastest sprint time and you think of that as 100%. Everything else could be a % of that. Your best lift for 1 repetition could equate to 100% intensity.

How many of us equate that though to effort? They aren't the same.

A demanding circuit that is performed in H.I.I.T could be mentally and physically demanding and serve some purpose. But if you look at your intensity it may only be working at 75-80% of your capacity. So whilst it may feel like you are giving 100% intensity, you are nowhere near the mark. In fact you may be performing volume and work for volume and work sake. Not actually getting better..

How do we come over this and make sure we are working in the sweet spot?

You need some tangible makers that you turn to. A 1km time trial will give you max effort aerobic effort and allow you to work off a %. A max effort lift will give you a 100% score and allow you to work off that. Time trials over 10m, 20m and 40m will give you a best time and allow to work off that. Jump measures, ground contact times. These are tangible markers and allow for monitoring.

Getting better in the middle zone? Probably not.

🚀Golden rule - you never get faster, stronger or more powerful in a fatigued state all the time

▶️ Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass #

10/01/2021

Infinity walks are an exercise developed by Dr Sunbeck and learnt in a performance capacity from Dan Fichter

I use them in rehab and youth athletes. Why? They train the brain! There is a large brain element to injuries and performance in general.

You don’t consciously tear an ACL, reflexes and co ordination pattern don’t quite get their message in TIME to protect the joint and if the force loaded EXCEEDS what it is capable of then we know the outcome!

That is how strength AND coordination for performance is needed.

Infinity walks are a drill to develop co ordination by targeting the vestibular system and visual system (you have to keep an eye on a target). The possibilities are endless. I have folks challenged by holding a unilateral weight or carrying an aqua bag, jogging, crawling, backwards running

Good as a warm up drill for all levels

Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass #

This one ended in tears 🤣Good luck today
09/01/2021

This one ended in tears 🤣

Good luck today

Are you winging your training? Or not getting anywhere despite ‘working hard?’Going through results of some of my online...
08/01/2021

Are you winging your training? Or not getting anywhere despite ‘working hard?’

Going through results of some of my online athletes. It is surprising what you can achieve with a flexible plan

I don’t get how some folks don’t test or even worse don’t use the data to drive decisions. Testing should happen every time you set foot in a gym (even subjective markers) and if you don’t use a diary AND want performance then the mind boggles 🤷‍♂️

It’s true I like my data and merge this with hard, consistent work.

And yes you can test online these days to give you direction in your training. I use a good battery to begin with based off your position to direct specific programming.

Wandering around the gym? Second guessing what to do? Get targeted pin-point training both pitch and gym based to take your game to the next level. 2 ways I can help you:

1) Online Coaching

2) In-Person Strength / Coaching at my Maynooth Location

DM for details

# rugbypass

Address

Unit G10 Maynooth Business Campus
Maynooth
CO.KILDARE

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 3pm - 9pm
Wednesday 8pm - 9pm
Thursday 3pm - 9pm
Friday 7am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm
Sunday 10am - 12pm

Telephone

+35315052131

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Fitness for Rugby posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Fitness for Rugby:

Shortcuts

Share

Category