Hi, Im just starting to play rugby this year for a local club team in the openweight division, we start playing in a week or two. I’ve been reading this mag for a long time now and I read that athletes should do functional strength and speed training instead (ala renegade training article). my question is hwoever, I am quite small (161 pounds, 5’11" at 8% bf level). should i be doing a routine to pack on some mass before i go into something with more functional strength? i was thinking of doing something like ian king’s limping/super strength series followed by great guns (cuz my arm development are somewhat lagging behind my legs). does this sound like a good idea?
Stick with basic strength movements that will add both size and functional strength, just make sure you are progressive and that the training does not interfere with your skill practices or games. As for adding size, what position are you going to play, if your in the forwards then maybe if your wing etc then just worry about your speed and tackling technique - dont add size for the sake of adding size, only add it if aids your performance, unless its because you just want to look good as someones dump tackling you I personally wouldnt worry about my arm size. good luck with your season (p.s what code of rugby are you playing? and what the hell is an openweight division _ is it some american thing?
why not train like a strongman or thrower for a while, you will gain size, then after that go for the speed training.
I’m in the same position. I’m 170, flanker, outweighed by about 20 pounds. If you’re worried about tackling and getting tackled, hitting is easier than you’ld think and breaking out of tackles is much harder than you’ld think.
Another 10-20 pounds probably won’t prevent someone from taking you down. Strength and technique is more important IMO. Doing the bigger lifts will get you bigger and stronger, bench/squats/deadlifts/cleans. From my experience push press and upright row are pretty sport-specific too.
Running is essential before size/strength. As soon as you get tired and put your head down you WILL get trucked 
Intervals (sprinting then jogging) seem to work best. I’d give you my email if you wanted more ideas, but I’m not sure I can post it.
What is that open weight division thing? I played in high school and here in college and have never heard of that.
Go for the speed first. It will be much easier to maintain the speed while putting on the bulk than the other way around.
thanks for the replies. my speed and endurance is already quite good. but i’m just looking at the weight lifting part of training, i already do a lot of endurance and sprinting plus skills work when i train with the rest of my team, so speed and endurance won’t be a problem. i’m playing fullback at the moment, but i’m getting smashed in contact situations for my lack of size. some of you think i should do basic strength movements (just squats, bench, deadlift, etc) but what does everyone think of doing some of ian king’s 12 week programs instead? i’ve already been doing something like a basic strength program recently (squat, bench, deadlift, powerclean) but i want to try something different. will ian king’s programs be as good for strength/size? and provided that time won’t be a problem (i plan to just do a twice a week split probably using super strength or great guns and then followed by limping) will training for size be beneficial to me duringf the season? open weight is just the open division here, a lot of people play in weight restricted grades.
Having reread those articles, it looks like the 12 week program would be geared a little more toward mass gain than strength, in terms of sets and reps. Overall I’ve had the best results with renegade and westside-style training for rugby, but I’m much more focused on strength and speed. But for your goals, yea the King program would work well.
If your season is just beginning, don’t worry about trying to add mass right now…it will be very hard especially since most of your energy will be taken up via recovering from matches and practices. Now is the time to really “up” your power and agility. In a position like fullback, you don’t have to be huge…you just have to make the opponents miss. Outright speed and quick feet are vital. I would alternate 4 week cycles of relative strength training (using compensatory acceleration), with fast-power training (emphasizing light to moderate weight, and moving it very quickly). In addition, do some specific agility and quickness drills outside of your normal club practices (you can do these as a warm-up prior to your weight sessions). Use the offseason as time to bulk up…right now, focus on performance.
Ive been playing for 6 years now, and i agree with John P, Endurence is the most important thing, not pussy ass jogging endurance either, but the ability to run and hit hard 50mins into a game. I trained Davies style this past year, and altough grossly undersized at 180 as a hooker, Im kicking ass. Ive always loved to hit, but when fatigue gets you your anger fades. By training renegade style I’m really MUCH, MUCH better. If you follow ren training your diet will detemine your weight, so eat up clean carbs and tons protein.
I train for explosive power. I didn’t see you post your position (or did I miss it…) but I’m a ‘utility player’ so I have to be ready for anything. I toally agree with the other posts, endurance is the #1 priority. If you are not still running at minute 75 you should get off the pitch (sorry, that’s the back in me talking) Long fartlek(sp?) runs are great for adding speed. That said, if your season starts in two weeks it’s a bit late to change your workout for this season… What is the ‘openweight division’? I’ve never heard of weight divisions in rugby.
I don’t know what open weight division is, but I’ll assume you think it means you need bulk up. I don’t think so.
You could probably use a few pounds, but I’d stick with the workouts posted by Coach Davies last year. Just break the weights portion out of it and train it separately. It worked for me. 306lb at kickoff, today. Still getting to the rucks and supporting well from depth.
BTW: TGoday, one of our wingers took the ball and cleaned out like a forward to take the pressure off the big guys and managed to score twice. Once outpacing his opposite number, the other time coming infield off the blind and mixing it with the pack.
He weighs 60kg (132lb). Doesn’t bother him none. And he plays first grade in the QRU competition in Australia, a hard competition.
I stick with training for Power and speed at first do lifts like benching, cleans, snatch, deadlifts… Explosive movements… Even do some poylmetric movements check out DR.Chu’s websites and books on poylmetrics… When you get more and more close to the season at play focus on functional aspect of the sport…