Rugby Training

With the Rugby World Cup now in full steam I thought I’d write a quick blog on styles of training for a rugby player.

A rugby players requires the following components of fitness:

• Skill
• Speed
• Power 
• Agility
• Endurance. 

This shows the sheer amount of talent and hard work which is required to be a top end rugby player. Specific training is therefore required with rather a lot of focus on weight training and speed training when off of the playing field. 

Weight Training

Weight training in rugby is very position dependent, but below i’m going to give you an insight as to what I would use for players of all positions. Weight training would be used more in the off season, looking to develop power and sheer strength of individuals, with a shift to more speed related and  less volume throughout the season. 

Squats: Back and front squat both to be used. Chains preferred as weight will increase during the movement, more similar to powering into a tackle. Work up in a pyramid fashion to 1-2 rep max. 

Deadlifts: This is a stable in everyones routine but crucial in rugby as will retain power and speed through moving the weight. Focusing on the core, back and hamstrings. Attention paid to explosive power out of the movement. 

Power Cleans: This is the ultimate whole body power move. Once the technique has been mastered, then start upping the weight. Low reps, explosive power.

Bench Press: Upper body power is always required and this is the king for that. Again working in a pyramid fashion to heavy, low rep sets. 

Overhead Press : Power and strength in the shoulders is required in rucks, mauls and lifts in rugby, this being the exercise for the job. Work up to your 6 rep max with these, focus on fatiguing the muscle. 

Speed Training

Speed is also an essential when it comes to rugby training. Areas such as:

Hill Sprints: 6-8 flat out sprints, with high, power leg turn over speed. 

Deadmill Sprints: Don’t set the treadmill to anything, just start sprinting holding onto the sides. 10 to 15 seconds. 10 sets.

Flat Sprints: Just 60m flat sprints but use different starting positions. Flat on stomach, running backwards and turning, moving laterally and from a basic jog are all to simulate what would happen in a match. 

Rowing sprints: The king of the cardio machines in the gym, the rower. A compound exercise recruiting muscles which you didn't know you had. 10x250m to finish off a weights sessions will be perfect. 

So there you have it, a short introduction to rugby training. Apply these principles and you certainly look and feel more the part when it comes to playing on a Sunday for your local club. 

Come on England

Jack

What do you do when you have no gym?

I’m away again from the gym for the the next few weeks, might be able to get a through sessions in but won’t be able to stick to my normal routine. So if you’re in the same position what do you do? Well here are a few tips which will hopefully help you out. 

1. Make sure you keep your diet on track. I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs but this is crucial. Just because you can’t train efficiently does’t mean your diet should go down the pan. 
2. Your body is your gym!! There are so many things which you can do with your own bodyweight and this is all functional movement as oppose to hitting the dumbbell rack. Press ups, squats, pull ups (If you can find a bar) crab walks, planks are all your friends when it comes to you having no gym. 
3. Tempo of exercises is crucial in any part of your training but even more important when it comes to bodyweight. This will recruit more muscle fibres, furthermore everyone knows that time under tension is the way forward when it comes to building lean muscle mass. 
4. Quick high intense circuits. When you’re away you don’t have loads of time to dedicate to the gym, so get you’re workout done hard and fast. Early mornings are always great for this, wake up 30 minutes earlier. Then you have no excuse. 

HIIT Circuit

10 press ups 5010 tempo

20 squats

10 Hindu Press ups 5010

20 v sits

10 press ups 2250 tempo

20m crab walk.

Repeat 5 times 

Meal Prep, the easy way!!!

Now nutrition is the largest contributing factor to get in shape and more importantly stay in shape. If any of you follow me on Instagram you'll know I prep meals a lot! There are three reasons I do this.

1) I am very busy at work and I like to eat around every 3 hours so I prep them all and carry them with me everywhere I go. It also saves so much time slaving away in the kitchen!!!

2) Keeps you on track. This is the most important. As your meals are prepared you don't fall into the trap of having to buy something, risking the temptation of having a cheat meal. 

3) You can prepare the exact nutritional requirements you need. Everyone has a macro goal, meal prep makes this so easy. Just cook all the food you need to meet those requirements and then split that into the meals throughout the day. 

Tips for meal prep:

- Prep meals in two day blocks. This means you can cook in bulk, making the process so much faster. Also means you can buy in bulk. 

- Prep food you will eat cold!!! There is a wide spread of protein options, I like to stick to sweet potato and brown rice for my carb options, including veggies. Fats are through nuts, eggs and avocado. 

- Grab a sauce low in salt and sodium. Carry this with you everywhere you go, just to add a little flavour to boring food. 

- If you haven't got a fridge to store your food in then get a 6 pack bag!! These are amazing. They are totally worth there weight in gold. A must buy if you're serious about staying on track with your nutrition!!! Link below. 

So there you have it, meal prep made easy, now get gaining!!!!!!!

Jack

Keeping on Track, even whilst travelling.

This weekend was one of recovery, despite a quick arm circuit on Saturday morning, which for a change I decided to do fasted. I was in and out in under 30 minutes with some MyProteins BCCA pre and during I had a great workout. I felt great both during and post workout, mind you, when don't you training arms. For me its just that muscle group I always love to train. 

This weeks training is back to Week A, which is my heavy week. Focus on the compound exercises along with more isolated exercises to finish off the muscle group. The three weeks following I’m away for work so am going to get very little training in, however, i am determined to still keep my nutrition on track. Little tips for this:

1. Buy a SmartShaker!!!! When you're out and about and in need of a quick shake or even a snack then you can just pack your smart shaker with you. With all the little containers which you attach to the shaker you can take anything with you. Plus it saves taking extra containers around with you, meaning you don't need such a big bag. The ideal world.
2. Buy a George Foreman Grill!! No matter where you are staying there will always be a supermarket close by which means you can grab pre cut chicken, a bag of salad and some microwave rice (the healthy kind). Cook the chicken fresh on the Grill and there you have it, a great macro based meal. This means you can prep your meals even if you're away, staying on track to your goal. 
3. Protein Bars/Cookies. Now in my eyes these should never replace real food. But they can be used as a high protein snack if you're really lacking some in the day. The ones that I would recommend are MyProteins HighPro Bars or their Cookies. Both a high in protein, low in sugar, great tasting and really not as expensive as other brands. Definitely a brand I always highly recommend to clients. 
4. Lastly CONSISTENCY. Just because you're out of your normal environment it doesn't mean you can binge on food and forget about it or have cheat meals that turn into cheat days. Stay on track!! Yes by all means have the occasional cheat or not so healthy meal but try to stay on track. Good things come to those who wait and through time this consistency will give you the reward you've always wanted.

So any of you who travel a lot for work, just follow the few steps above and you'll stay on track. Have a great week of training!!!

Jack

Training at Reebok Sports Club!!!

I'm only just recovering from what was a crazy day yesterday! I had a pretty free day so decided to go and train with a old friend who lives in East London. She is a beast!! We decided we were going to do two sessions, one involving some high intense cardio followed by a weights session in the afternoon, with a trip to Nandos obviously in between!!!!

Now she called on me as she really wants to get her speed up when it comes to running. She has great speed over long distances but is lacking that quick turn of speed. Things we worked on:

1) Find gears when it comes to running. This is a must in any type of training but especially when running. It gets to the point where you can just turn it on and off, similar to a tap.

2) Stride. She's got a great long stride from distance running but over short distances, especially hills this doesn't bat in her favour. With bringing knees higher, weight shifted to the toes and a quicker drive from the calves we shredded 4 seconds off a 80m hill sprint over 5 attempts!!!! 

3) Leg Power. Over the short distances this is what you need so I took her to a hill with steps. Practiced running up the hill every other step and with the incline focused on the driving motion forward. This in turn will help with the short distance sprint work. 

After stuffing our faces in Nandos and grabbing a well needed coffee we headed to Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf. All I can say is wow!!!! This place is amazing, for anyone that's into their fitness it's like you're little again and you parents have just taken you into a sweet shop and said 'choose what you want'. There is just so much equipment for all different types of training. But when you have Ulisses training there and is one of the PT's what can you expect. We again focused on leg power through Deadlifts and Front Squats.

1) Deadlifts, we a focus on the power from the legs. This is the initial phase and where a majority of the momentum comes from for the lift. Really use this and not too much back. 

2) Taking the tension out of the bar. Make sure the bar is tight along with the rest of your body prior to lifting, it will reduce any jerking motion. She managed 5x5 at 105kg which I was impressed at considering she weights only 55kg. 

3) Front Squat, make sure you keep elbow high. If these drop then it will cause you to bend forward to catch the weight and therefore your form becomes compromised. 

We finished off with a few leg extensions, but after going into double figures with sets on deadlifts were pretty fatigued. 

So for any of you fitness freaks out there living in London get over to Reebok Sports Club. I cannot recommend it more!! You will never need to go anywhere else, plus the PT's are great even if you can't get Ulisses. Also there are so many people in great shape around you it motivates even more. The electronic locker system is also a huge plus!!! 

Have a great weekend 

Jack

Building bigger shoulders!!!!

Building bigger shoulders!!

Shoulders have always been a weakness of mine when it comes to size and strength. So many of the top guys in the industry have huge shoulders and it makes you look so much more imposing. Big shoulders also means a stronger bench press and will allow for more growth on your arms. This is therefore my new goal. Below are a few steps are going to follow to help me with this.

1) Breaking up my shoulder routine into two workouts on different days. Working front and lateral heads together, then rear and traps in the next workout. A pressing workout and a pulling workout in its simplistic form. 

2) Training them both for strength and hypertrophy. Currently I'm training in a 2 week split of strength week A and hypertrophy week B. This applies to all workouts, just keeps the body guessing. Week A my rep range is 5-8 with week B bumping the range up to 8-15. 

3) Compound exercises!! I know this might sound simple but shoulders are recruited in all upper body exercises. Bench press for example works the anterior delt, don't however let your elbows come out at 90 degrees, this will put added unwanted pressure on the shoulders. Elbows pulled tight in will prevent this. Deadlifts are also great for the posterior chain hitting the rear delts and traps. Include these are the start of your workout and your shoulders will be getting an additional workout. 

4) Don't go to heavy on isolation exercises!!! Frontal, lateral and rear delt flies is where you always see this. They're an isolation exercise, therefore focus on the concentration of the muscle. Add a few heavy sets, but always make sure you're feeling a concentration. Drop sets are always great to add in as well.

So if you're really looking to add size and strength then follow the steps above. Always focus on the muscle with compound exercises then isolation exercises to exhaust the target area. I'll keep you updated of my progress.

Jack