In many countries the sport rugby is growing in popularity. With lots of appeal to men, rugby requires great strength and conditioning to play. Strength and conditioning coordinator for the Japan Rugby Union, John Pryor is considered one of the best at preparing athletes for this sport. John has created a training program that produces the highest possible gains for his teams. His tips for training are a must do for new members to the sport. Here is a list of his top 5 training tips.
Strength is Priority
Every player is different and rugby playing styles vary. That being said there’s no shortage of strong, well-trained players in even the lowest levels of the game. What separates the top-level pros? Pure strength and power is necessary to be successful according to Pryor.
Build Agility
While strength is key, long rugby careers need much more. After you’ve built enough muscle memory, complement it by adding agility to the mix. This will make it much easier and less risky later in a player’s career.
Prevent Overtraining
A solid foundation for training is key for rugby players. Pryor suggests a 4-8 week training block in the earlier parts of the pre-season, during which the player should exclusively use weightlifting to add mass. Afterwards and throughout the season the focus should be on high reps and aerobic activities to increase speed and maintain power.
Build Core Strength
Twenty five percent of rugby players get injured during the season. Injuries are part of the game. While injuries are not totally avoidable, Pryor suggests building core strength to limit muscles strains, fractures, dislocations, and other injuries associated with the core.
Build Durability
During the rugby season about 30% of the injuries will be sprains followed by fracture ans dislocations. Building Durability can be a key in avoiding such injuries. It is important, in the game of Rugby, to have overwhelmingly adequate strength combined with training speed to help avoid some of these injuries.
For more information on John Pryor see the following:
https://au.linkedin.com/in/john-pryor-603975a