Your original pictures look good, especially for your age. If you’re going to be playing rugby, definitely bulk for it. As long as you’re fast and heavy, you have an advantage. Do your cardio or pay for it in the first couple weeks of practices. May I ask why you’re trying it rather than playing collegiate football or tennis?
Do weighted chinups and face pulls every workout, as well as some external rotation work twice a week. That would fix your imbalance I believe.
[quote]eraserhead wrote:
Do weighted chinups and face pulls every workout, as well as some external rotation work twice a week. That would fix your imbalance I believe.[/quote]
If you take this advice, you should lower the volume for everything but back movements, and give yourself time off after 3-4 weeks.
(just a thought)
[quote]ftballfreak880 wrote:
i don’t do any cardio, but i play sports all the time so i’m not worried about being in shape when the season starts, cuz i already am. and the reason i’m playing rugby in college is because I’m going to BU which doesn’t have a football team and the tennis is Divison 1 so I’m not good enough to play for them.
[/quote]
Haha cool. I played there too, from 1997 to 2001. Go to http://www.burugby.com and http://www.nerfu.org if you haven’t already. Feel free to PM me with questions, etc. See how you feel after the first few practices and add cardio as necessary.
To the guy suggesting chins, no, that can actually aggravate an already internally-rotated shoulder joint.
Sample selection from my personal toolbox would be…
Day 1
Power snatch Whateverx3
Neutral-grip face pull
Day 2
Resistance-added push-ups with pause at top, emphasizing scapular movement, Whateverx6-20
Supinated-grip rows 3xAMAP
Day 3
Dumbbell Cuban presses
Overhead shrugs, rack pulls, or deadlifts
Emphasis is on scapular stability, external rotation, and strength. Also easily progressible.
Posted early, oops…
Anyway this combines a “function” oriented approach with a prehab one…these exercises performed correctly will help your strength a lot too. Just focus on squeezing the scapula together where applicable, or extending them where applicable (push-ups).
Credit goes to Mike Robertson’s article on the push-up too.