Rugby Lock 3 day/week routine- New to the gym, looking for help

[daltondoepping]

Hey there, so I am 6'3" 215lbs, 23 years old. I'm kinda skinny fat.

Anyway, I played my first season of Rugby this year as a Lock. It was only third division, so it was very casual, so I did well enough, but I wasn't happy with my overall performance. It is off-season now and I am looking to start hitting the gym to get ready for next season. My hope is to get a 3 day per week routine that will help me in a few areas of the game.

I've learned where I am lacking most and want to focus on improving those areas. A full 80 minute game wasn't really do-able, and I expected that, so I know I need to incorporate a decent bit of cardio into my routine. I was lacking in my rucking as well, along with my scrummaging, and I've come to understand I'm going to become friends with the squat rack. Tackling I did well, but I attribute that to aggression/size alone, not strength or technique really. I'm not sure what a guy could do in the gym to help with tackling. My line-out lifting was fine, so I figure I don't need to put too much focus into that, but I'm not sure.

I have never really hit the gym in my entire life, I went once in a while with buddies in high school, but very very casually. So I know nothing about making a workout plan, at all. I'm fairly sure you're supposed to put muscle groups on the same day and such, but again. I know nothing about number of reps and sets. This is all foreign to me. I am ok with my food and nutrition. Calories, carbs, vitamins, and such I am familiar with and I eat fairly well as it is.

So I'm here looking for help, especially from fellow Rugby player in assembling a 3 day routine that will do as much as possible for me as a lock. Even if somebody could explain the reasoning behind why you put what workouts when, and how to decide reps and sets that would help immensely.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: I've read through the "Year Round Training for Rugby" post already, and I am, totally lost in 90% of it. Like I said I'm new to all this and that post may as well be written in Chinese.

Edit 2: Reading some of the stickies here I have noticed that I would rather focus on Rate of Force development (from the first sticky) Rugby is all about being explosive.

[jamalfudge]

Get on a linear progression program like starting strength. Stick with it. Most important thing about beginning a strength program is to be consistent. Squat deep. Playing rugby, especially in the tight 5 is an amazing experience. As you get stronger you'll notice your performance improve. Good luck!

[beertank23]

Most people will say to start with something simple, but I love Joe Defranco's westside for skinny boys, it's my favourite athlete building program, but anyway keep searching this forum dude there's over 9000 threads on this.