Strength Training For High School Rugby Players

It blows my mind how many kids play rugby without physically preparing the months leading up to the season. Rugby is an extremely physical sport! It's a lot easier, and a lot more fun, when you're fit. On the other hand... I get it. I didn't start going to the weight room until I graduated high school (look at me now). Maybe it's because I'm a girl, or because I didn't have access to coaching, or I was just lazy, but I missed out on four years of foundation building. If I could go back, I would've started organized strength training as a freshman and I never would've stopped! Since I can't go back, I take responsibility to help those who are in the same spot I was. A kid who loved sports and wanted to get better. It's as simple as that. All that being said, below is the exact template I use for my high school athletes just starting out.

Pillars:

• Speed - as a former slow person, I take this one personally. But in all seriousness, a fast athlete is a major threat, no matter what sport. Even if they don't sprint or sprint far in their sport, the neuromuscular benefits of getting fast can't be underestimated.

• Range of Motion (ROM) - bigggg priority for creating a well-rounded athlete. Most kids struggle in this department, just because it's not something they think about when it comes to sports performance. And it gets worse the older they get and the more they ignore it. And we all know the guy that "used to squat 315 as a freshman" but it's barely a 1/4 squat. NOT UP IN HERE.

• Strength - finally the fun part. At first, getting stronger will solve a lot of problems and put a kid way above their competition. It's important not to rush this, which requires a lot of discipline. It's easy to keep adding weight at the sake of less ROM, but this is were most kids fail. It's robbing them of progress later down the line.

• Conditioning - with the amount of conditioning high school athletes do in their sport, they don't need extra (there are exceptions). This is least on my mind, and with the types of games we're playing in the warmups, they get enough. The only time I'm really foncused on conditioning is if they're not currently playing a sport and they need the stimulus.

Now that we've got the pillars, we can get into the actual layout of the training. High schoolers should be sprinting and lifting AT LEAST twice a week, and 4-5x on the higher end. If the athlete is just starting out with no experience, they're gonna be sore, so it's a good idea to start on the lower end and build up.

2x/Week: full body lifts.

• 10m warmup - none of this boring dynamic stretching. Play a game! Start of chill and gradually increase intensity. Day 1 is small sided, lots of change of direction. Day 2 is a bigger playing area, building speeds.

• Sprint - day 1 is acceleration focus (3-10 reps for 10-15m) and day 2 is max velocity focused (3-10 reps for 20-60m). If you can race someone, do it. One of the best ways to get max intent. P.S. make sure you walk back between reps so it doesn't turn into conditioning. the goal is not to be tired, but to be fast.

• Jump - spend about 5-10 minutes jumping. On to things, over things, holding weight, double leg, single leg, etc. The variations are endless.

• Lift - pick one lower body exercise (squat variation day 1, deadlift variation day 2) and two upper body exercises (a push and a pull). 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps. They don't need to be super sets, but they can be. The athlete just needs to be able to give max intent at a 7-8/10 difficulty. They should be making a funny face because it's challenging, not collapsing under it because it's too heavy.

• Core/Spine/Arms - spend the last 5-10 minutes "armor building". It never hurts to target these areas. Same concepts as our major movements. Needs to be difficult, not just going until it burns.

4-5x/Week: upper/lower split with an optional armor building day. Same structure as above with some minor tweaks.

• Upper 1

  • Warmup 5-10 minutes. Start with some animal crawls or a movement challenge.

  • Lift - a push and a pull for 3-5 sets and 5-10 reps. This is to get strong strong.

  • Lift More - another push/pull exercise but in a different direction. 2-4 sets f0r 10-20 reps.

  • Core/Spine/Arms - exactly as above.

• Lower 1 - acceleration base

  • Warmup, sprint, and jump like a full body day.

  • Lift - pick a main movement (squat or deadlift variation) for 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps.

  • Lift More - hit the opposite of what the main movement was and do 2-4 sets for 10-20 reps.

• Upper 2 - same as day 1 but pick different exercises.

• Lower 2 - same as day 1 but pick different exercises.

• Bonus Day: if they want a fifth day, it's a good opportunity to hit extra armor building and/or conditioning depending on the athlete.

There you have it! The exact template I use with my high school rugby athletes. Like I said in the beginning, rugby is pretty crazy. It's important that athlete's bodies are prepared for what it entails. Not only will it make the game more fun for them, but it will dramatically reduce their risk of injury. If you like this but aren't sure where to go from here, or if you just want a professional, send an email to jenni.laferriere@mainegainz.com to set up a free consult call to chat about the path path for you or your athlete.