After a long, hot summer in England, the realization is that winter will soon be upon us quicker than we expect. Many rugby clubs have been in their pre-season training for a month and the first game of the season will arrive faster than you know. If you’re not quite up to match fitness, don’t worry, there is still time to get you in shape before the start of the season. Follow these tips to up your rugby game performance and make this season the best.
Move well and be progressive
We often hear rugby players say, “I’m not a powerlifter, I don’t need to go any further”. Squatting and squeezing the full bench may not be entirely specific to rugby but building a foundation of strength in a variety of movements is very important before exploring more specific work. You may not be able to lift as much weight as you could before, in bad shape but again, you are not a powerlifter so why is that important? Rugby is a very disciplined sport. You might find yourself having to produce strength in all types of compromised positions so building strength and stability in a variety of movements is very necessary if you want to prevent yourself from injury and do your best. Try some new Rugby Drills from https://www.sportplan.net/drills/Rugby/Passing/practiceIndex.jsp
If you use high loads in a limited but specific range, as soon as your limbs cross that specific range, it will become unstable and more vulnerable to injury. Be progressive with your loading but still at full reach. It takes time to build strength.
To be fast, you have to practice fast
Rugby is a field-based sport, so it makes sense if you need to practice on the field too. When you do acceleration, speed, and dexterity exercises, make sure you do it with the highest intensity. Spend the first 5 minutes of each exercise working on skills and perfecting footwork. When you feel comfortable, it’s time to turn up the heat. Attack each rep with full intensity to make the neural adaptations you need to increase your speed. Make sure that you rest between sets and fully rest before completing the next rep. In this way you can maintain high intensity and fast speed. Remember that your session speed is not to improve your conditioning and energy system but to develop your speed.
If you have 6 weeks before the first game of the season, you can make some great speed increases over this time. Spend the first two weeks working on your acceleration and deceleration before moving to more directional and agility jobs. Three weeks and four weeks must be spent improving your acceleration and deceleration and then add cuts and turns in different directions in different combinations. The last 2 weeks, work with a partner and practice all your work with agility-based tasks and some small side game practices that will make you sharp on your toes and ready to step on the field.
