Rugby Coaching :: Free Rugby Training Drills » Fitness

Rugby Fitness Training

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:31:29 +0000

Rugby is a hard physical sport, and for players to be successful they will need to have a high level of fitness. In this article I will look at some different methods players can use to prepare themselves for a season of rugby. I will focus on fitness work during three different phases of the year: Off Season, Pre Season, and During the Season.

Off Season

This is the period starting from the end of the previous season. It is important for any athlete to have rest, however, it is also key to keep fitness levels at a good level, so the player doesn’t have to start from scratch again at the start of the season. Players need to work on a range of areas including muscle building, endurance, and to use interval training to emulate the rapid bursts of energy used in a game of rugby.

Rugby Fitness Training Schedule

Monday – Weight Training – Gym work, Builds player strength. Exercises could include: Triceps Extensions, Pull Downs, Butterflies Leg Curls, Military Presses, Deltoid Lifts, Biceps Curls, and Leg Extensions.

Tuesday – Interval Training – Emulates game fitness. Short sharp burst of energy, with intervals of rest. Sprint, rowing , swimming or cycling can be used for variety.

Wednesday – Weight Training

Thursday – Interval Training

Friday – Rest

Saturday – Any Sports Activity – An off season sport such as touch rugby is helpful here. It’s important to remember always that sport should be fun.

Sunday – Long Slow Distance – A nice long jog or cycle will help with overall endurance levels.

Pre Season

In the period leading up to a season the Saturday session needs to be replaced with more rugby specific exercise. Most teams will form during this period. As Saturday is the most likely day you will be playing during the season, it is good practice, to get a players body into the habit of dealing with higher levels of activity on this day. So a high intensity anaerobic workout is necessary. A good way to monitor player fitness pre-season is to use a beep test. We have a free rugby beep test available to download if you are in need of one.

During Season

During the season Tuesday and Thursday sessions will be replaced with team training. If you have a roll in running team trainings it is important to remember that most player injuries occur during direct player to player contact. So although it’s important to get players used to physical activity involved in rugby, it is a matter of finding a medium someone between hard out bone crunching sessions…and sessions where players only use hit shields and pads.

Fitness and Ball Skills Drill

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:32:45 +0000

Another great video from RugbyIQ: Fitness and Ball Skills Drill

Aim: To develop rugby specific fitness and ball skills.
Description:

Place 1 tackle bag on each corner of the channel and a contact shield 10m down the channel in the middle. Place a ball at the top of the channel in the middle. 4 players working in pairs start at the top of channel. The rest of the players are split into 2 groups on either side of the channel 10m down. Drill starts with the 2 players at the top making a tackle on the bags and getting up picking up the ball and attacking down the channel. At the same time this happens 1 player from the side drives the shield out of the channel and defends the 2 coming down in a 2v1. Once he has been beaten he turns to join the other 2 attacking down. Simultaneously another 2 players have run down the side of the channel,tackled the bags and are coming up the channel to defend in a 3v2.

Coaching Tips:

Support from depth and keep the ball in the middle to create left and right attacking options.

Rugby Bleep Test

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:10:36 +0000

Category: Fitness
Objective: To assess fitness levels of players
Gear: Audio file (free download) Or Tape Or Cd + Cones
Players: Whole team

The Bleep Test or Multi Stage Fitness Test is a test that is a commonly used to assess aerobic fitness. It is also known as the 20 meter shuttle run test, beep test or bleep test. The test involves running continuously between two points that are 20 m apart. These runs are synchronized with a pre-recorded audio tape or CD, which plays beeps at set intervals – (Download). As the test proceeds, the interval between each bleep reduces, forcing the participants to increase velocity over the course of the test, at the point in which the participant cannot keep up they must drop out – and their score is recorded using the level table below.

Shuttle Set Up

The recording is typically structured into 23 ‘levels’, each of which lasts around 63 seconds. Usually, the interval of beeps is calculated as requiring a speed at the start of 8.0 km/h, increasing by 0.5 km/h with each level. The progression from one level to the next is signaled by 3 rapid beeps.

Level	Shuttles	Speed (km/h)	Seconds per shuttle	Total level time (s)	Distance (m)	Cumulative Distance (m)	Cumulative Time (min and seconds)
1	7	8.0	9.0	63	140	140	1:03
2	8	8.5	8.47	67.8	160	300	2:11
3	8	9.0	8	64	160	460	3:15
4	8	9.5	7.58	60.64	160	620	4:15
5	9	10.0	7.2	64.8	180	800	5:20
6	9	10.5	6.86	61.74	180	980	6:22
7	10	11.0	6.55	65.5	200	1180	7:27
8	10	11.5	6.26	62.6	200	1380	8:30
9	11	12.0	6.0	66.0	220	1600	9:36
10	11	12.5	5.76	63.36	220	1820	10:39
11	11	13.0	5.54	60.94	220	2040	11:40
12	12	13.5	5.33	63.96	240	2280	12:44
13	12	14.0	5.14	61.68	240	2520	13:46
14	13	14.5	4.97	64.61	260	2780	14:51
15	13	15.0	4.8	62.4	260	3040	15:53
16	13	15.5	4.65	60.45	260	3300	16:53
17	14	16.0	4.5	63.0	280	3580	17:56
18	14	16.5	4.36	61.04	280	3860	18:57
19	15	17.0	4.24	63.6	300	4160	20:00
20	15	17.5	4.11	61.65	300	4460	21:02
21	16	18.0	4.0	64	320	4780	22:06

Bleep Test Video:

Advantages: Large teams can perform this test all at the same time – using the free audio file provided the costs are little to none.

Disadvantages: Practice and motivation levels can influence the score participants attain. As the test is often conducted outside, the environmental conditions can also affect the results.

What results are good for a Rugby Player?

To give you a guide as to where you are compared to the pros – At their prime:

Neil Back – 16+
Martin Johnson – 14
Jonah Lomu – 10
Graeme Bachop – 19

To play in the US Rugby team you need at least 13.

Download Free Bleep Test Audio File: