Rugby and 531 Schedule

Training
1

Hi everybody,

I’m a new face at this place and before posting a log I’ve got a question.

I play rugby (1st row) and in this off-season I fell in love with 531 (4/week simplest strength template). The problem is the time management: rugby practice is Tuesday and Thursday and a game on Sunday. Which way of fitting in 531 gives me the most bang for buck?

Possibility 1: 5-week cycle (3 a week)
mon - 531 1
tue - practice
wed - 531 2
thu - practice
fri - 531 3
sat - rest
sun - game

Possibility 2: 2 a week
mon - 531 1
tue - practice
wed - Conditioning or accessory work (arms/traps/abs)
thu - practice
fri - 531 2
sat - rest
sun - game

For both possibilities, I will stick to my book (2nd edition): the simplest strength template. My goals this season:

Military 154 to 200
Squat 297 to 400
Bench 222 to 275
Dead 352 to 440
Weight 207 to 207
Bf% 19 to 15

Any thoughts or even better ideas?

2

[quote]Rob W wrote:
Hi everybody,

I’m a new face at this place and before posting a log I’ve got a question.

I play rugby (1st row) and in this off-season I fell in love with 531 (4/week simplest strength template). The problem is the time management: rugby practice is Tuesday and Thursday and a game on Sunday. Which way of fitting in 531 gives me the most bang for buck?

Possibility 1: 5-week cycle (3 a week)
mon - 531 1
tue - practice
wed - 531 2
thu - practice
fri - 531 3
sat - rest
sun - game

Possibility 2: 2 a week
mon - 531 1
tue - practice
wed - Conditioning or accessory work (arms/traps/abs)
thu - practice
fri - 531 2
sat - rest
sun - game

For both possibilities, I will stick to my book (2nd edition): the simplest strength template. My goals this season:

Military 70 to 95
Squat 135 to 180
Bench 101 to 125
Dead 160 to 200
Weight 94 to 94
Bf% 19 to 15

Any thoughts or even better ideas? [/quote]

I play in college, and I’ve had to play around with this for a while until I figured out a good schedule.

The way I see it, you have 3 good options:

1- Train on mondays and wednesdays, each day is the same as a normal training day.

So week 1: monday-bench and assistance, wednesday-squat and assistance
week 2: monday-press and assistance, wednesday-deads and assistance

2- Same thing, except with 2 main lifts each day

Monday- Deadlift/Press and assistance
Wednesday- Squat/Bench and assistance

3- Use a full body template

Monday- day 1 of full body template
Wednesday- day 2 of full body template
Next monday- day 3 of full body template
etc.

I would recommend using option 2 or 3. The reason being, it’s hard trying to have a quality practice after a full lower body session.

Also, don’t go for extra reps, just get the required.

Don’t do any additional conditioning work outside of practice, and don’t train more than 2 days/week. It’s just not worth the extra work.

3

I’m guessing those lifts are in kg, not Ibs - otherwise you’ll be getting crushed in the scrum :wink:

4

[quote]Chris87 wrote:

2- Same thing, except with 2 main lifts each day

Monday- Deadlift/Press and assistance
Wednesday- Squat/Bench and assistance

[/quote]

Thanks! Great advice in my first reply here! I think I’ll be going for option two: mainly because Wendler’s full-body looks grueling. But first I’m going to wait to see what others are going to post here. The more the merrier right?

5

[quote]Grumpig Hunt wrote:
I’m guessing those lifts are in kg, not Ibs - otherwise you’ll be getting crushed in the scrum ;)[/quote]

Yeah… would be fun to see though :wink:

But if everybody here uses/likes lbs, I will convert them.

6

Hey Rob W,

I also play front row in Holland and I have been looking for a new strength training template for in season training, where 531 caught my eye as well.

From previous seasons I experienced that going to the gym 3 times a week besides practice and games is too much. Stick with a maximum of two. For me this means:

Monday: rest/training
Tuesday: practice
Wednesday: rest/training
Thursday: practice
Friday: rest/training
Saturday: rest
Sunday: game

I planned my weeks training based on how hard the game was on Sunday, or how much muscle fatigue I had from training so many consecutive days in a row.
So if the game was hard I went to the gym on Wednesday and Friday, so my body could rest for a day.

There is also another option but it depends on the facilities at your club. If your club has a weight room, you can also come to practice early and do your workout before practice. Do not do it afterwards, strength training should be done before conditioning.

7


Sup Lads?!
great to to find some Rugby guys on T-Nation,
I play Centre (both 12 and 13) -depending who we’re playing, lol…!

height >> 1.80m (don’t know how to convert to feet/inches)
weight >> 97kg / 213.8 lbs

It’s almost Off-Season rightnow in South Africa, with Provincial (or State) season about to kick-off around September, so it’s a race to make Provincial.

Started playing in 2001, I started off @Prop (because of size), only problem is -I was the second fastest player in the team:-)

moved to Flank (6/7) in 2002, I loved nailing the flyhalf…!
Moved to Centre 2005, after my exchange program in Northern Ireland
-guess I was tired of teams scoring tries through the Midfield!
…due to either the Centres being too small, or Afraid to tackle…!

8

[quote]jfarts wrote:
…
[/quote]
Ah! Nice. Where do you play?

I’m going with Monday/Wednesday.
I’ve got everything summed up in mijn new training log.