Weight Training for rugby

[sam031196]

Okay so I'm just starting doing rugby for the first time other than in pe. Although my friends and one of the adults thinks ill be fine, I'm kind of nervous because everyone else will have been playing for allot longer than me and because of the situation of the team ill be playing with guys up to two years older than me. I'm 16 and about 12 stone, I've been lifting in my school gym ( where the equipment is pretty poor) but I am going to a proper gym over summer. My main goal is to gain as much strength and some size as possible, I'm thinking of following the stronglifts 5x5 (at least the layout) but I'm not sure of the rep range I should use, 5x5, 3x5 or 3x3 5x2 6x1 deload, for the best progress.
Also any other advice would be appreciated, i also started running/sprinting a few times a week to try and improve my fitness
Thanks

Sorry I don't know why it put the sad face, I don't know how to remove it

[wereireland]

You'll be alright. I played a few games of rugby and not many looked like they lifted. It was either fast skinny people or fat and strong but slow people. There was rarely fast and strong people. Get the starting strength book and read it all. It will be valuable.


Start light. DONT make the same mistake i did. I wasted months of lifting by starting too heavy and then constantly stalling.

[sam031196]

You'll be alright. I played a few games of rugby and not many looked like they lifted. It was either fast skinny people or fat and strong but slow people. There was rarely fast and strong people. Get the starting strength book and read it all. It will be valuable.


Start light. DONT make the same mistake i did. I wasted months of lifting by starting too heavy and then constantly stalling.

Thnks for the advice, where can i get the book? and how long should I lift light for, bearing in mind I've been lifting pretty solidly with diet for about 4/5 months, I know that's not very long at all but surely it's enough to be prepared for going a bit heavier?

[krakkerz]

You'll be alright. I played a few games of rugby and not many looked like they lifted. It was either fast skinny people or fat and strong but slow people. There was rarely fast and strong people.

There was good advice in this response - brought down by the incredibly uninformed sweeping generalisation in the quote.

[krakkerz]

Thnks for the advice, where can i get the book? and how long should I lift light for, bearing in mind I've been lifting pretty solidly with diet for about 4/5 months, I know that's not very long at all but surely it's enough to be prepared for going a bit heavier?

Search for Starting Strength on this forum or the web. It's everywhere. Follow the instructions well. The book/articles will guide how light you should lift and for how long.

Although, if you've been lifting solidly for that time, you might want to take a look at the program to decide whether you'd get bored. If that's the case, look into another 3 day, full-body routine like the Bill Starr 5x5.

[sam031196]

Search for Starting Strength on this forum or the web. It's everywhere. Follow the instructions well. The book/articles will guide how light you should lift and for how long.

Although, if you've been lifting solidly for that time, you might want to take a look at the program to decide whether you'd get bored. If that's the case, look into another 3 day, full-body routine like the Bill Starr 5x5.

Is bill Starr 5x5 madcow? I was thinking of doing that but then I heard stronglifts is better for beginners, then move onto mad cow, then I heard ss is better, but they're pretty much the same but ones 3x5 and the others 5x5, and finally I've heard Elliott hules reccomending 3x3, 5x2, 6x1, deload. There's away too muc information lol. Ill take you advice and look up starting strength properly, which one out of these do you think you would be able to progressively load on dor the longest without hitting a plateaue? I just want to get real strong, there's a few big lads ill be training with and I want to stand a chance lol

[Just4shits]

played rugby for 8 years crew.

the only muscle that matters is your BALLS and how brave you are to tackle the big guys and stuff.

but bench and squat are probably the best 2 exercises for rugby, also do some core and sprints

[LegitSalsa]

Is bill Starr 5x5 madcow? I was thinking of doing that but then I heard stronglifts is better for beginners, then move onto mad cow, then I heard ss is better, but they're pretty much the same but ones 3x5 and the others 5x5, and finally I've heard Elliott hules reccomending 3x3, 5x2, 6x1, deload. There's away too muc information lol. Ill take you advice and look up starting strength properly, which one out of these do you think you would be able to progressively load on dor the longest without hitting a plateaue? I just want to get real strong, there's a few big lads ill be training with and I want to stand a chance lol

Madcow is a variation of Bill Starr's.

SS will give you the best gains, but 5x5 is arguably superior because while it'll give you slower gains, it's more flexible and gives you more time to practice form. Honestly, it comes down to opinion.

I'd not recommend Stronglifts just because it's pretty much any other 5x5 program hyped up more, e.g., Bill Starr's.

[krakkerz]

Is bill Starr 5x5 madcow? I was thinking of doing that but then I heard stronglifts is better for beginners, then move onto mad cow, then I heard ss is better, but they're pretty much the same but ones 3x5 and the others 5x5, and finally I've heard Elliott hules reccomending 3x3, 5x2, 6x1, deload. There's away too muc information lol. Ill take you advice and look up starting strength properly, which one out of these do you think you would be able to progressively load on dor the longest without hitting a plateaue? I just want to get real strong, there's a few big lads ill be training with and I want to stand a chance lol

You're correct. Way too much information. And most of it is the same stuff reheated. Madcow is based on Bill Starr's routine and LegitSalsa says.

No routine gives you "better gains" - otherwise there would be only one routine, right? The best routine is the one you'll stick with. You can spend a long time on Starting Strength and be quite happy. Some get bored with it or need higher volume. That's where a 5x5 routine comes into its own.

Like LegitSalsa, I don't recommend Stronglifts unless you're already sold on it. It's a good program, but it is much the same as Bill Starr's stuff.

[Mevl23]

I guess another thing to consider is if this is in season training? Between lifting heavy 3 times per week, rugby training 2-4 times a week and game day it will be hard to maintain any sort of intensity without something suffering

The match is what you want to make sure your physically ready for

[Bignik92]

Most important thing strength wise in rugby is our Core mate. Get a strong core, youll be able to take all the hits better and tackle better. Also having a strong core translates to better fitness.


Then just get some body armour on your upper body, and get strong in your legs. Its best to periodize, Mass, then Strength then Power. 4 weeks each. Our teams split is Chest/arms, Back/shoulders, Legs/core. Then more important than strenght is fitness. Smash intervals so like get on rower and do 10 x 40 second max effort, 40 rest. go on bike 30sec sprint, 30 rest, as many as you can

[JoeLytham]

A lot depends on the position you will be playing at. I played rugby for over 20 years, and at the adult level I was destined to always be in the backs as I was under 13 stone. Over the years I got the occasional rib injury, so a focus for me was benching in the off-season. Endurance is key in all positions, and speed more so in the backs, with strength in the forwards. As we're now in the off-season, you should be good for a few months of weights, but keep up the running. Focus will then need to change when September comes, and how frequent your matches and organised training are.

[SAADHOST9]

Most important thing according to me is stamina and hard traning to make bones strong

[krakkerz]

I guess another thing to consider is if this is in season training? Between lifting heavy 3 times per week, rugby training 2-4 times a week and game day it will be hard to maintain any sort of intensity without something suffering

The match is what you want to make sure your physically ready for

You don't lift heavy three times a week in season. Generally only two weight room workouts and only one is heavy. Sometimes neither is.

[sam031196]

Thanks for all the replies, from what I've read I think I'm pretty settled on the ss, although like krakkerz said I might get bored so I might swap over to 5x5. Do you think the lifts in ss will be sufficient for core strength or should I add something in? I was thinking maybe swapping power cleans for one arm rowing where you just have your hand on the end of a bench because I've found this hits my core quite well when going heavy, or should I just stick to cleans. Finally what do you guys think would be a good weight to shoot for, I weigh between 166 and 172lbs (depending on how much I've eaten) at 5'11, I've pretty much got all summer to get as big and strong as I can before we start contact.

[krakkerz]

SS will help your core. However, I think it's important enough to add some work. A plank (progressively more difficult ones) or the ab wheel and either Russian Twists or Full Contact Twists are very good.

Don't worry about shooting for a weight. You don't know how you'll feel at a higher weight. So just keep gaining until you're satisfied or you feel like you're getting fat.

[sam031196]

SS will help your core. However, I think it's important enough to add some work. A plank (progressively more difficult ones) or the ab wheel and either Russian Twists or Full Contact Twists are very good.

Don't worry about shooting for a weight. You don't know how you'll feel at a higher weight. So just keep gaining until you're satisfied or you feel like you're getting fat.

Thanks for all your help mate, last question (I think) what sort of weight should I be using for the movements, so much that I can only do five reps or light enough to do five reps moving fast to build power? Or do a similar thing to what bignik said and do say 4 weeks strength four weeks power?

[JoeLytham]

June's 'Muscle & Fitness'. Has an article on the weight training done by the England under-20 rugby squad. Worth a read...

[krakkerz]

Thanks for all your help mate, last question (I think) what sort of weight should I be using for the movements, so much that I can only do five reps or light enough to do five reps moving fast to build power? Or do a similar thing to what bignik said and do say 4 weeks strength four weeks power?

If you're doing SS, it doesn't really lend itself that well to periodisation (Strength block, power block). It's a linear program designed purely for strength training. If you want to do that, though, you can easily design a program to account for that.

So if you want to run SS, just work for strength in the weight room at first. When you feel you're ready for a power block, change your routine to accommodate it.

[sam031196]

If you're doing SS, it doesn't really lend itself that well to periodisation (Strength block, power block). It's a linear program designed purely for strength training. If you want to do that, though, you can easily design a program to account for that.

So if you want to run SS, just work for strength in the weight room at first. When you feel you're ready for a power block, change your routine to accommodate it.

Yeah that sounds fair enough actually, right now strength is probably the most important of the two

[LegitSalsa]

Remember, start light with SS. Plan it so you'll hit your 5 rep max two-three weeks after you started it. You'll stall out otherwise.

[Mevl23]

You don't lift heavy three times a week in season. Generally only two weight room workouts and only one is heavy. Sometimes neither is.

Yeah thats what I was getting at

[sam031196]

Remember, start light with SS. Plan it so you'll hit your 5 rep max two-three weeks after you started it. You'll stall out otherwise.

So do like it says on the ss FAQ in the teens section and begin with a weight that doesn't force you to slow down when lifting?

[LegitSalsa]

That works great. When I've done SS, I think i started literally at 50% of my one rep max.