Conditioning
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Conditioning
Introduction
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This Article written by Nick Tatalias,  |
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Conditioning for Contact
Conditioning Training for full contact rugby revolves around a number of factors that you try and develop over time in a concurrent training system. The work involves Weight Training, heavy squatting, power cleans, dead lifts and overhead squats as your basic lifts. The goal of this training is to develop strength and muscular hypertrophy (growing muscle). You want to improve the players strength to weight ratio. You must also develop neck strength for all players as it is key to injury prevention. We use Helmets and Pads to prevent Injury.
Rugby is a game of semi continuous action connecting a series of high intensity events into an 80 minute match. These events include sprinting, tackling, rucking, mauling, jumping, scrumming. The training needs to develop the body to be able to repeatedly perform high intensity exersizes. We use specially designed Tackling Bags. The sport unlike athletics for example requires the players not only to overcome their own body weight but also beat an opponent physically.
Basic components
The basic components of conditioning for rugby require an improvement in 1. Strength 2. Muscle mass 3. Power 4. Explosiveness 5. Contact readiness 6. Speed 7. Improved glycolic readiness
No one of these factors is really more important than the others, although the first two, strength and muscle mass, are a prerequisite for the power, explosiveness and contact readiness. Strength and muscle mass do not directly impact on the glycolic system, but they do influence that system.
Typically the conditioning coaches of the various teams will look at players standing around rucks and muals with their hands on their knees and believe that more aerobic type conditioning is needed because the players are out of breath, and focus on a style of conditioning which further exacerbates the problem. When in truth the issue is that greater levels of strength are needed, better anaerobic conditioning and lastly sprint endurance.
Strength
The players seen standing on the fringes of the rucks and mauls with hands on knees breathing hard are tired because they are recruiting a much higher percentage of their muscles in each encounter than the opposition players. By way of example - if a person can squat 120kg and as a consequence can exert 110kg of force in a scrum he is using close to all his strength to push the opposition (who's average scrum weight is in the order of 110kg). On the other hand if a person could squat 200kg and thus exert say 185kg in a scrum then he is only using around 60% of his strength (to push the average weight of 110kg) with 40% in reserve. In a match that goes on for 80 minutes the player with strength reserve will be stronger at the end of the game and still have energy to exert on physically over powering the opposition as well as energy to marshal troops maintain discipline and minimise mental errors.
In my experience conditioning coaches should have in season training that is high intensity (upto 90% of one rep max) low volume 45 minute heavy work-outs. Out of season volume is increased by increasing the number of Workouts. These then use multiple high intensity low volume work outs used to improve muscular strength gains and muscular hypertrophy. (intensity defined as % of one rep maximum)
Muscle Mass
As you go through this programme you will notice that I want people to gain weight through muscular hypertophy. Appologies if you thought you may supersize your way to weight gain. I believe that rugby is a lot like wrestling in nature, but different in that rugby isn't played in weight divisions. I believe that given equal skill then the big man always wins in a physical confrontation - heavy weight boxers don't fight light weight boxers (the ligt weights would get hammered). Added muscle mass also helps the body deal with impact better, protecting bones and internal organs. You will also notice that I expect an increase in relative strength (strength to body weight), so that the players do not become big slow guys, so having heavier players is not a concern as they will be faster and stronger relative to their own body weight as well as in absolute term.
Power
Strength alone is not enough for rugby. A players also needs to develop power in other words you need to improve the ability to develop the strength over a short period of time, for example a power lifter may be able to squat phenomenal weights but the weight takes say 5 seconds to squat. Most situations in rugby will not allow for a 5 second time frame to bring maximal force to bear so the rate of force development needs to increase. Force is work done per unit time. The shorter the time period the higher the force e.g squatting 200kg over a range of motion of 1 meter in five seconds will result in a power 200/5=40 power units where as squatting the same weight over the same distance in 1 second will result in 200/1 = 200 power units.
Power can be developed by increasing the speed of lifting for a given weight. Some trainers prefer to use light weights at higher speed to achieve power. However in my mind this is not as applicable to rugby as it may be to other non contact sports (such as sprinting) as players have to produce the power in overcoming an opponents weight and counter force. Using less than maximal lifts is a necessity but lifts aimed at around 75% of the players single repetition maximum (1RM). According to Verkhoshansky in his book Special Strength Training: A Manual for Coaches he suggest a load in the range of 60 to 80% of maximum to develop explosive strength and reactive ability and between 30 and 70% to produce explosive high speed strength. But he further comments that the higher the load to be overcome in competition the heavier the weight in those ranges. Given that the load is a moving 100kg plus opponent the upper end of the range is most suitable. Improving the speed of of the lift increases the internal or intra muscle co-ordinaton allowing improved recruitment of muscle fibres. Rate coding is improved as well the number of fibre being recruited.
Use of "balistic" lifts like the modified Olympic style lifts, namely the power clean and the power snatch must be part of the in season and out of season training.
To develop power I do not believe that lifts like the Olympic lifts which are explosive lifts should be done with light weights, I don't believe that moving light weights fast is not creating the right kind of explosive force, it needs to be heavy weight explosively. The analogy of dynamite comes to mind in that if you want to move a small rock you don't need much TNT but to move a massive rock you need a big explosion. Elite level Olympic lifters use low percentage of 1RM max as speed work but then 50% of an enormous weight is still more than most mortals can lift. In my belief rugby players are more likely to add weight to force power equation to increase power rather than more speed. There is a maximum speed that a player can move a limb and that is when the limb is unloaded. Some improvement in speed is possible as co-ordination improves and as rate coding (the speed at which muscle fibres are stimulated)improves but this improvement is small in comparison to the increase in weight that can be trained. Thus the law of diminishing returns will apply to speed of movement training much sooner than it will to weight training. Again this is not an either or situation but a both and situation, but given the need to move opposition players on the field the more sport specific routine requires the player to move heavier loads.
Explosion
Making players more explosive is usually done using shock training or so called plyometric drills. These drills use the stretch shortening cycle to increase the response of muscle to exert force explosively. The stretch shortening cycle uses a pre exercise movement to wind the muscles up like a spring and then deploying this elastic stretch to create an explosive movement. Think how you bend your knees to jump. This winds the leg muscles up to release explosive strength. Drills including bounding, drop jumps and counter movement jumps are included in this form of training.
Teaching and training the breakdown not only provides better balance and control but also helps to develop the player’s ability to use the stretch shortening reflex, which will help them unload extreme muscle speed in contact situations. When training plyometrics, low rep high explosion drills are used infrequently, a maximum of twice a week. Emphasis for the jump drills will be on reducing the time of contact with the floor.
In the weight room emphasis on rhythmic push press, push press and jerks help to develop the reactive leg drive, whole body coordination and shoulder strength. The linking between leg strength and shoulder strength requires a very strong core region of the body and these exercises help to develop this strength.
The on the field drills included drills that teach the break down and hit, line out jumping and the three man weave which teaches upper body explosion.
Contact Conditioning
All of the conditioning components above must be in place to allow the player to develop contact condition. These drills start by developing the proper mechanics for contact with bags first and moving on to live people drills. All the drills must teach the double extension the knees and hips must extend in the movements as the objects are lifted and hit. These drills condition the player to understand the on field mechanics of collisions as well as conditioning the muscles in a way specific to the sport. The boundary of conditioning and game simulation is crossed in these drills helping to convert conditioning into on field specificity.
In the weight room the Olympic lifts contribute to this development as the player learns to coordinate the double extension of hip and legs, helps to develop a rapid force development as the pull off the floor cannot use the stretch shortening cycle but teaches the muscle s to recruit more fibres faster (called increased rate coding) which helped the player to recruit more muscle in the hit. Finally the Olympic lifts help a player learn to catch a heavy moving object, which helps to condition the body to get used to impact and prepares the tendons for this type of loading. In addition the use of Romanian dead lifts help to teach the hip extension movement that is essential for contact in both defence and in cleaning out, develops the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, back extensors, spine erectors). Use of the ScrumTruck® in the gym also helps to prepare the body for rugby by teaching the body to react in the correct plane of movement for rugby, increasing load on the calves and helps the player to achieve good scrum, maul and ball contact posture, with loads that are far higher than those on the field and more measurable.
The on field drills will include running under netting to teach low body position, drills on the bags to hit lift and throw and twist, and will include drills that teach hitting position on a moving bag. The drills will be done with both kit on (to enable players to learn with out fear) and also with kit off to simulate on field conditions. Other drills that will be run are the tunnel drills where one on one live tackle drills are conducted in limited space environments with both kit on and off. These drills teach intensity, teach good collision mechanics and prepare the body for high impact.
Speed
Although phenomenal speed is a genetic trait good speed is a requirement for all players. Although top end speed is really only required in the back three (wings and full back) good speed is required by all backs and the back rowers (lose forwards). All players must have excellent acceleration and burst all players should work on their maximum speed.
Speed work in the form of developing maximum sprint speed must form part of the training. The burst is trained by repeated short sprints 10 to 40 meters. Top speed is trained by teaching acceleration run through, rhythmic running, and 60 to 120m sprints at varying intensity from 75% to 100% of maximal speed. Speed days will typically use low volume high intensity training aimed at developing speed (remember sprint endurance is trained in a different session). Over speed running using bungee chords and slight decline sprints will develop the neuromuscular abilities of speed for the player and will be utilised from time to time.
Cariovascular and glycolic energy system development
All the energy for exercise in the muscle comes from the conversion of a chemical ATP to ADP. How the body recovers by converting the ADP formed in exercise back into ATP is key.
Training will need to develop the primary energy system of the body, the high energy phosphate system, which uses the break down of creatine-phosphate as the main source of energy. This system is used for example during lineout jumping, or making hits or breaking tackles.
Exercise of short to medium term duration uses the glycolic (breakdown of glycogen) energy system. This happens when repeat bouts of high intensity work occur at a frequency that does not let the body fully recover. Example of this are goal line defence with repeated tackles, mauling the ball, repeat sprints followed immediately by a ruck. Lactates (sometimes referred to as lactic acid) are a by-product of this form of energy use. Lactates are removed from the muscles and taken to the liver and converted back to glycogen. Developing the primary energy system and developing the bodies ability toe deal with and work under high lactate conditions is key to this type of training.
To recover from long duration exercise uses the aerobic system. Rugby players will use the aerobic system to help the glycolic system recover and turn lactates back into glycogen for the muscles to use.
According to research by McArdle et all 1996 about 10% of the time the Phosphate – creatine phosphate system is used, about 70% of the time the glycolic system is used and 20% of the time the aerobic system is used. Although these figures give an indication of the type of training to use, these figures are based on players who were trained to use these system with an emphasis on aerobic training. By developing all three of these traits in rugby specific high contact drill both on the field and in the gym, players will begin to deal with the phases of a real game.
Training the phosphate power system will include short power bursts. On the field short 10m to 15m burst, hit and lift drills with more than 2 minutes rest. In the weight room the Olympic lifts, heavy dead lifts, medium to heavy squats, bench and shoulder press and the plyometrics will help develop this energy system.
Training that will improve the glycolic system will include training repeated high energy events with less than ideal rest. For example repeated tackle bag drills with five or more individual reps with less than two minutes rest between sets. Longer sprints at about 85% of maximum speed (say 150m sprints at 400m pace) will be run with 60 to 120 second intervals. Repeated 40m sprints will also be used to convert the 10, 15 and 20m sprints done in the previous energy system to glycolic work. Gym work that utilises shorter rest intervals and moderate reps for example five sets of five reps at 75% of 1RM with one minute rest interval will drive the glycolic system into action
No - one will run more than 150m in a single sprint ever and no one will run or jog for distance as these training skills are not required in rugby, the effect of developing sprint endurance and aerobic capacity/lactate threshold capacity will be done through Tabata style workouts. Tabata workouts in the gym along with the use of exercises like the bear will help build the glycolic and aerobic capacity. On field wrestling drills will be used to develop both the glycolic and aerobic systems in a system that also simulates game time. 5 rounds of three minute wrestling drills, fireman carries and strong man type events will be used as alternatives.
Concurrent Periodisation
Converting the general strength, power and explosiveness into rugby specific exercises and contact specific conditioning, needs to be carefully organised in the correct sequence, called perioddisation, to ensure the maximum carryover of one phase of training to the next and to minimise losses in one aspect of conditionong at the expense of a new condition.
Each phase of training used, as you go through the season, must maintain the other muscular and endurance abilities of the player developed in previous phases. This is done through by carefull design of the programme periodisation. As opposed to more traditional linear periodisation where one phase of training gives way to another type of training,we emphisise the development of all the phases concurrently. This concurrent approach avoids the pitfall of loosing muscle mass or strength as you move into rugby specific training. The programme has overall emphisis on certain aspects of the training at different times in the season but other skills are also trained in a maintanance approach.
The Exersises
The Squat
The Vertical Squat
The Deadlift
Summary
Gym work-outs are there to make you strong, powerful and explosive; they are not there to duplicate how you feel after a rugby game that should be done on the rugby field at practice. If you want pain go do 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. On field practice (and I mean practice not training) is formed around perfect practice makes perfect. Players repeat skill and moves 'till the whole team is literally running in step. Hitting the bag until your reflexes drive your motion into the correct posture, exploding into contact until you feel like a crash test dummy, exploding into space like a rocket, scrumming against load till you feel like dropping. Sprinting repeat sprints with short breaks until your legs feel like bursting, but in gym you get strong and explosive. Contact conditioning on the field or in gym requires players to get tough, strong and capable of enduring repeated high intensity collisions. The gym work gets you strong, the contact work gets you used to contact and teaches better contact mechanics giving players the confidence to offload in contact, drive the opponent back in a head on head tackle and hit the space as it opens. It will toughen the body and the mind.
A good conditioning programme benefits the player in on field performance as well as in injury prevention. I will refer you to an article at http://myoquip.blogspot.com/2006/03/does-intensive-pre-season-strength.html written by Bruce Ross who is associated with Sydney University and the Waratah rugby side amongst others.
