A Rugby Winger and His Workouts

Training Training Logs
81

Oct 14

Track Work

Drills

2 x 20m, 2 x 30m

8 x 60m (20m IL) 7.80, 7.79, 7.73, 7.53, 7.63, 7.62, 7.56, 7.51

2 x 90m (30 secs) 10.9, 11.2

Took a few reps to get into it with the hamstring, I think I set the acceleration limit a bit sooner than before so I moved it after the first three runs. I was particularly happy with my first 90m as last time was 11.1. It was chucking it down with rain so I did half the runs in a big hoodie and walk back recovery. Can feel my legs are faster than they have been in previous months, I can get to 20m and feel like there’s another 10m or more of acceleration in them.

82

Oct 16

OHP 3 x 8 x 55kg

Bench Press 4 x 6 x 92.5kg

DB Rows 4 x 10 x 27.5kg

Hip Raise 3 x 12 - put these first as a sort of muscle activation warm up

Power Clean 3 x 3 x 85kg

Single Leg Deadlift 4 x 8 x 60kg - ooohhhhh shit are these sickly

Back Squat 3 x 11 x 90kg - pushed it more than last week, was dry heaving for a few reps

Swiss Ball Jackknives 3 x 10 - legs couldn’t move for ab ripper, this was good though

Had an all day shift on Tuesday so did upper and lower today. Not sure whether to do my 200m runs before the weekend, but i’ll do the light power cleans before rugby and front squat after. Upper body was fine, took out press ups. Hamstrings felt better today, some smoother SL deadlift and I could probably go up in weight but this if the first time doing 4 sets at that weight. Squats were horrific, I distracted myself and busted out as many quick reps before they became breathing squats, and ended up on the floor after all three sets as I couldn’t stand up unsupported. I used to like the dumbbell version of the exercise but using a barbell gives you that extra weight and takes it to a whole new level. Think it’s got to be my favourite exercise along with 20 rep squats for wrecking myself.

83

Oct 17

Track Work (on grass)

10 laps of rugby pitch (run length, width & length - walk width) about 60 secs per run

Legs were non-operational today, didn’t even try the 200s as it wasn’t happening. I kept it relaxed while still working my breathing, wanted to make it more of an active recovery session as we’re facing a slightly worse team on Saturday so we might be able to run some tries in.

84

Hope you don’t mind my asking but have you tried sticking to 1-5 reps on olympic lifts/compound movements to focus on strength and power and doing more reps on supplementary/isolation work if you want hypertrophy?

85

I’m not after much hypertrophy, but yes i’ve tried that set up back in 2006. I’m probably only doing about 60% of the volume I could handle, if that, so I should really add sessions but the focus at the moment is getting a good speed session in and being fresh for rugby. I’ve kind of sidelined my desire to get bigger but i’ll probably pick it up when i’m not working so much.

Oct 19

Rugby Match

3rd Team (Lost 61-0)

We were playing bottom of the league, which after the game is now where we sit. One of the forwards was getting married so most of the team had been invited to that, leaving the 4th team to make up the spaces. We had a winger at Flanker, a winger at full back (me), a full back at 10, and a winger at 12. More gutted about us not getting a single point than anything else. I didn’t do too well at bossing the team to cover overlaps and what turned out to be the centres from their 2nd team were running riot for their 3rds. We played really well in the final 20 and got about five yards from their line before someone knocked it on. Our best phase was the last play where we passed it all the way to the winger and I looped on the end and was so close to beating the last man and when i passed it inside it was fumbled forward.

Damaged my bicep in the first half, thought it was impact injury but no bruise is showing so I think it’s a minor pull from absorbing the impact in tackles, it hurts to tense it so i’ll have to miss a lot of weights this week. I reckon I can still do rows or tricep extensions as it’s a bit better today but really tender to the touch, we shall see.

86

Fair enough. Stuart Yule is a great strength and conditioning coach to look into for rugby IMO. Also some interesting material in optimizing strength training: non-linear periodization (fleck and kraemer) is a useful read for flexible/effective on/off season training etc.

87

Subscribed.
Thanks for keeping a log, I’m a flanker and will be keeping an off-season log this upcoming winter. Cheers

88

@Charlietr Cheers man, i’ll check both of those out!

@missinglink Good to have you on board, even with that Gloucester badge…

Quick update: Pulled my bicep on Saturday playing rugby, it’s still tender if I poke it towards the middle but it’s healed up a lot in the last few days. I got a new tattoo on my torso which has meant I couldn’t do any other exercise without damaging that, so the injury has come at a convenient time. I’ll probably change my training slightly, I want a third upper body day and could probably do legs after rugby unless it’s a really tough game.

I’m doing the One Day Arm Cure with my friend on Tuesday, it’s for a web site promotion rather than for personal gains. Didn’t want do go into it off 10 days rest so I did a few sets of the exercises today which also helped me see what kind of weights I should be using.

Oct 26

All of these were on a 501 tempo so 5 second eccentric, and with 90 secs rest.

A1 Zottman Curl 2 x 7 x 7.5kg

A2 Pronated DB Extensions 2 x 8 x 10kg

B1 Incline DB Curls 2 x 7 x 12.5kg

B2 California Press 8 x 30kg, 8 x 40kg

A1 Zottman Curl 2 x 7 x 7.5kg

A2 Pronated DB Extensions 2 x 8 x 10kg

That was ok. 12 sets total, Tuesday will be 64 sets. I felt it a lot more in my forearms than anywhere else. Had to put gloves on as my sweat was making gripping the bar difficult. Much lighter weights than I expected to handle, the tempo is a real killer. I’m probably at 80% of the weight I could handle, but with fatigue it’ll be harder each set. We’ll be measuring biceps and forearms on the day and in the following fortnight to see if we can hold any gains, i’m not fussed either way as it’s only a days effort.

89

64 sets? Ouch!

Re upper body I like compound movements, maybe some pre-exhaustion, change up the grip/angles, pauses, barbell and/or dumbbell - maybe some heavy sack/Bulgarian bag (?) work etc.

See prilepin/siff re reps/sets etc - t nation have done a couple of good articles on prilepin’s table.

Some great articles on elitefts re rugby s&c:

strength-and-conditioning-for-rugby-must-haves

in-season-vs-off-season-considerations-and-programming-for-rugby

back-three-program-for-rugby

90

Yeh man I started this log doing Ashley Jones back three program, think I respond to a higher volume of work.

Oct 29 - ONE DAY ARM CURE

Food is pretty much what was in the article, had turkey breast instead of chicken and steak, missed out Power Drive and had a few BCAA’s and creatine dotted around rather than a mass amount at the end.

8am-11am Totals (501 tempo)

Zottman curls - 6 x 7 x 7.5kg

Pronated DB Extensions - 6 x 8 x 10kg

Incline Curls - 6 x 7 x 12.5kg

California Press - 7 x 40kg, 5 x 8 x 37.5kg

Had no appetite for lunch but forced it down. I found zottman curls the easiest but I wasn’t very ambitious on the weight. Incline curls and california press was the harder superset but compared to the rest of the session this was pretty good, maybe struggling on the last 3-4 reps of the final sets.

12.30pm-2pm Totals (302 tempo)

Zottman curls - 4 x 10 x 7.5kg

Pronated DB Extensions - 4 x 12 x 10kg

Incline Curls - 3 x 10 x 12.5kg, 9 x 12.5kg

California Press - 4 x 12 x 35kg

Missed a rep on curls but these were a lot harder and I think every set was a struggle.

2.30pm-4pm Totals (201 tempo)

Zottman curls - 4 x 15 x 7.5kg

Pronated DB Extensions - 2 x 20 x 10kg*, 2 x 20 x 7.5kg*

Incline Curls - 12 x 12.5kg*, 12 x 10kg*, 2 x 15 x 7.5kg

California Press - 14 x 35kg & 6 x 30kg*, 15 x 30kg*, 2 x 20 x 25kg

*sets I had at least one rest (3-5 secs) midway through

These were brutal. The 20 rep was too hard with the same weight and I went to failure on most exercises first time round, then dropped the weight down for the second round. Triceps were hit the hardest as I could push it further whereas the concentric phase of curls was harder to do.

Mega Set 4.30pm

Zott 15 x 7.5kg, DB Ext 20 x 7.5kg, Curls 15 x 7.5kg, Cali Press 14 x 25kg & 6 x 20kg

(120 secs)

Zott 10 x 7.5kg, 5 x 5kg, DB Ext 14 x 5kg, 6 x 4kg, Curls 15 x 4kg, Cali Press 20 x 20kg

Instead of pausing for rest I just dropped the weight when I became sluggish. The first four exercises were done with no rest, luckily my strength losses meant I had the same weight for the three DB exercises, then the BB was ambitiously kept at 25kg but quickly dropped to 20kg by my training partner. On the first set of California Press I felt a twinge in my left arm above the elbow joint round by the tricep and didn’t want to risk injury so close to the end.

If anyone’s unfamiliar with the One Day Arm Cure session the article is here on T-Nation, it claims that you can keep gains of up to 5/8 inch on each arm permanently, obviously after some fluctuation during the recovery process. I measured my forearms, biceps relaxed and biceps tensed before the session and will probably re-measure after 24hrs, 48hrs, 96hrs, one week, two weeks and a month. I’m meant to avoid arm weights for up to a week but I think I can train legs as normal.

Says it suppresses appetite so I will be sure to eat regardless of whether i’m hungry. Any questions about the O-D-A-C experience or more info about me feel free to ask. I read the bulk of a 49 page bb.com thread and after about 32 pages of ‘bullshit’ ‘OP is an idiot’ ‘physiologically impossible’ etc. the OP posted pics of his arms a month after the workout, where he went from 16.2 to 16.9 inches. I hadn’t read that thread before I did the workout, I was just curious and I enjoy a challenge.

91

Oct 30 - no DOMS from One Day Arm Cure
Oct 31 - no DOMS
Nov 1 - …no DOMS.

I think my body may have adapted during the workout itself, meaning i’m left with this need for closure in the form of soreness. I was really weak in the two days after the workout, as in struggle-to-scratch-my-head kind of weak. My CrossFit friend said I should get checked out for rhabdo (excess muscle breakdown) as my triceps seemed swollen, Doc said I did have really high levels of Creatine Kinase but kidney function was normal so I just had to drink lots of water and i’d be fine. As for lack of DOMS, potentially adapted to the movements during the session and the soreness I felt that evening could be all the discomfort I get. I felt sick whenever I moved my arms the day after, took lots of BCAA’s and today my strength is 75% returned.

Nov 1

Back Squat 10 x 10 x 70kg - 60 secs rest and slow eccentric, so GVT

SL Eccentric Calf Lowers - 12 per leg

A token workout for my lower body. I can’t hold the bar for RDL’s due to my arms recovering and I have a sick love of high volume training now so German Volume Training seemed the way to go. Definitely could’ve gone heavier but i’m still mentally drained and didn’t want to push it 100% today.

I’m going to wait until my arms feel normal then train the day after that.

92

Nov 3

Bench Press 8 x 75kg, 5 x 85kg, 3 x 90kg, 3 x 1 x 100kg, 5 x 87.5kg - “power matrix” from my old sprint sessions

Incline DB Hammer Rows 5 x 10 x 20kg

Pendlay Rows 4 x 10 x 50kg - I like these. Was meant to do them over summer but never got round to it.

Towel Pull ups, Eccentric Lower 3 x 8

Forearm Curls (5kg) and Reverse Forearm Curls (2.5kg) 3 x 15

Abs 3.5 mins

Good session. Didn’t know where my bench would be at so I aimed low. Lots of lat work and hit my forearms too. Want to start introducing more volume to my week and see what happens.

Oh and legs are massively sore from GVT, could barely walk yesterday

93

Nov 5

Bench Press 5 x 77.5kg, 5 x 87.5kg, 5 x 100kg - first 5/3/1 in a while, did the minimum although it was about as many as I could do

Hang Power Clean & Jerk 5 x 10 x 40kg - focus on pushing the weight ‘behind my ears’

Snatch (single) to OH Squat (reps) 7 x 20kg, 3 x 10 x 20kg - flexibility a huge issue here, can’t even get to parallel but I am sore from GVT

Inverted Rows 4 x 10 - Slow descent, increasing time under tension in a lot of my assistance work

3 Way Raise 4 x 10 x 5kg - so much harder with a controlled lowering phase

Rotator Cuff, 2 movements 2 x 10 x 5kg

Abs 3.5 mins

Good session, lots of new exercises as well as new approaches to old ones. I like the TUT stuff, takes out any kind of cheating and doing 4 sets slow feels like 6 sets at normal speed so i’ve increased volume without adding sets. My muscles will probably struggle through this week as I haven’t exercised consistently since my rugby injury on the 19th.

94

Nov 6

Vert. Jump 3 x 5

SLRDL 3 x 10 x 60kg

RLESS 7 x 60kg, 2 x 8 x 60kg - rear leg elevated split squat.

Step Ups 8 x 60kg

Abs 3.5 mins

Intended to do these after sprinting but I found out I didn’t get a job I had my heart set on and that just killed my motivation for the day. I struggled through it but didn’t want to push it at all. Intention was 4-5 sets of each but SLRDL is such a killer and it’s my first week back so I cut a lot of it. Enjoying doing abs a little and often rather than blitzing ab ripper x, I can feel improvements compared to Sunday.

95

Nov 7

Close Grip Bench Press 3 x 8 x 80kg, 6 x 80kg

Dips 4 x 20

California Press 4 x 10 x 30kg

BB Curls 4 x 9 x 30kg

DB Curls 3 x 10 x 10kg

Abs 3.5 mins

New approach to training arms, more conditioning than max. strength. Close grip was normal speed but shorter (90 sec) rest, and the other exercises were with 60-90 secs rest and a slow eccentric phase. I think I needed to redefine a hard session and put the rest of my training into perspective, the rugby lifting I did over summer was a mental challenge to keep pushing myself each set and today was similar.

96

Settled on a program now. Spent a few days selecting one and I like Blending Size and Strength V2.0. Two heavy low rep days and two lighter high volume days.

I’ll have to change some exercises as I don’t have leg curl or leg press, probably GHR and Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat for those. Will have some light Olympic lifts thrown in and 1-2 sprint sessions.

Nov 8

Aerobic work - 10 mins low intensity running.

Wanted to get blood flowing as i’m still quite sore from weights and I have a game tomorrow. Hamstrings and biceps feel tender to the touch. Got my diet under control at long last. I’m keeping a food log and changed the macros to allow for more fats, about P200 C150 F110 on rest days, and about P200 C250-300 F80-90 on workout days. My stomach is looking very undefined right now and it’s winding me up so that’s all the motivation I need.

97

Hey I am also a rugby player!

I’ll be watching your log, I play normally as a flanker but depending on the injuries in the team I sometimes play as a winger as well.

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Cool man, good to have you.

Nov 9

Snatch (1) to OH Squat 4 x 10 x 30kg - used this as a little warm up to rugby and to improve flexibility

Rugby Match

3rd Team (Lost ~57 - 5)

Started the game with 14 men, missing the full back so the blindside winger had to drop back for kicks. One of the absentees was our fly half, so I volunteered to play 10 as my handling is pretty good. Our opponents were the easiest we’ve faced, which is a shame we had a player missing. They scored a lot of their tries in the back line, with our missing full back counting against us as they always had an overlap. Our 12 put in some good hits and our 9 was making excellent runs. I had an average game, pleased to report my hamstring and bicep held up but my calf got trodden on in the first half and the swelling was making it hard to run on.

I probably needed soft ground boots today, was getting sidestepped a few times after chasing down kicks as my footing was lost. I wasn’t happy with my tackling, I need to get lower and stop trying to rip the ball off everyone. Left my gum shield in the changing room so that was in the back of my mind going into contact, already got a crooked tooth from an elbow a few years back. If we have the same 9 and 12 from now on it will be a much better back line to be part of. In terms of fitness that’s the hardest i’ve had to work in a game and a few times I was down to walking pace when my team needed me to get back, I was blaming my calf but in truth I just needed to dig in and push on.

Edit:

Weight 162lbs - haven’t weighed myself since the end of August, 3 lbs in 12 weeks is pretty poor so i’m going to push on now my nutrition is sorted.

Nov 10

Hang Power Clean & Jerk 5 x 10 x 40kg

Abs 3.5 mins

Worked on speed of movement. The weight is light enough that it works my breathing more than my muscles. I think my technique is pretty solid but I want to work on proper cleans with a drop of my body to catch it in the low position. Was meant to do some runs at the track today but my calf & shin are pretty banged up and wouldn’t hold up to the stresses of running.

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Nov 11

ISO Res. Band 3 x 3 x 15 secs

Back Squat 4 x 100kg, 4 x 110kg, 2 x 4 x 115kg, 4 x 120kg (shaky!), 4 x 110kg

Deadlift 8 x 110kg, 6 x 115kg, 4 x 120kg, 2 x 125kg

SL Hip Raises 5 x 8

Calf Raises N/A Injury

First day of Blending Size and Strength 2.0. Squats were deep, I felt 115kg was within me but regretted 120kg on the way down for the first rep. My back was feeling it a bit in the squats so I took it relatively easy on the deadlifts, working on the valsalva technique to brace my abs. Hip raises were instead of leg curl I think, pretty tough. My calf is swollen and I can’t fire the muscle properly so I missed calf raises.

Nov 12

Bench Power Matrix 8 x 77.5kg, 5 x 87.5kg, 3 x 95kg, 3 x 1 x 105kg, 5 x 90kg

Pendlay Rows 3 x 3 x 65kg, 3 x 3 x 70kg

A1 OHP 5 x 5 x 55kg

A2 Pullups 5 x 5

B1 Skull Crusher 3 x 5 x 40kg

B2 Barbell Curl 3 x 5 x 40kg

Abs 4 mins

I kept my power matrix as it isn’t too distant from 6 x 3 bench. I liked this session too, the shorter rest (2-3 mins between same exercise) meant I was done in the same amount of time but with more sets. Surprised by how powerful I feel in Pendlay rows, it’s hard work holding the position but when I brace everything I can launch the weight to my chest.

100

Nov 13

Res Band ISO 3 x 3 x 15 secs

SLRDL 2 x 12 x 55kg, 1 x 9 x 55kg - too heavy for the rest period

RLESS 25 x 40kg, 20 x 42.5kg, 15 x 45kg - brutal

DB Walking Lunge 2 x 30 x 15kg - quite brutal

SL Calf Raise 3 x 20

Tibialis Anterior Raise 3 x 20 - added these in after reading the recent article on calf training

Crunches 3 x 20 x 5kg

Supine Leg Raises 3 x 20

WOW. Hard session. Really pushed it in a few exercises and my muscles were tired for a few hours afterwards. I did the prescribed abs as I wasn’t in the mood for my standard stuff. I’m not used to high rep stuff and my breathing was really affected, particularly in the split squats. I do like a challenge and that was the hardest i’ve worked (along with GVT squats) for lower body in a while.