Universal Nutrition Forum

I've been having a look through the 'programmes' some of the guys here are doing and some of them are awful. So I'm gonna post a few pointers on how you should go about training for rugby.

First of all, even if you want to get bigger, DO NOT TRAIN LIKE A BODY BUILDER!

This will only get you injured and make you weaker.

Secondly more does not mean better, but some times it does :)

More exercises - not good

More sets - Very good

The key for any athletic sport, as I have been taught, is to follow this simple rule.

When weak, get strong. When strong, get fast/powerful.

This simply means that if you can't squat heavy, as to floor, then don't bother with olympic lifting

If you can't deadlift heavy then don't bother with speed training.

The simple reason is that when you get stronger you will automatically get faster and more powerful.

However if you are strong (and not just in the Bench) then by all means get as powerful as humanly possible.

Remember that power is a CNS (central nervous system) action. You need multiple sets and lots of rest between each set in order to progress.

So in a professional rugby players programme it's not uncommon to see 10-12 sets of squats, cleans etc

They'll usually only have 2/3 other exercises in that same day too. Focus on getting your big lifts up and develop a strong posterior chain - Deadlifts, Good mornings, Box Squats, Hypers, reverse hypers are all great exercises especially for getting fast and staying injury free.

Here's a list of some great exercises you can use:

Clean
Front Squat
Box Squat
Incline Press
Good mornings
Deadlifts
BB Lunge
Russian Step Up
Lunge & reach
Rack bench press
DB Row
T-Bar Row
BB Row
Mixed grip Chins/pulls
Sled external rotations
Farmers walks
Tyre Flips
Hanging Knee raises / incline rev crunches
Hypers/ reverse Hypers
Overhead presses- Push press, SA Shoulder Press, Military Press

Not an exhausted list but it should get you started.

Great post man.

Ye great post man, pitty a lot of lads will ignore this and still think they know best, well I guess injury and rehab will teach lessons..