Rugby Workout

[HealthyJay]

Hi all,

I am looking forward to joining a rugby league once i move to Cali, sometime in Dec of this year probably... So i have about a full year till my first game would be. I am looking for help in designing a workout routine i (or anyone wanting to play rugby) could do Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri every week to build strength, size, and overall athletic fitness and cardio endurance. I do have a gym i can go to, but need help making a workout routine, in terms of exercises, number of sets/reps, what days to do what muscles, when to lift heavy/light, what order to do my lifts in, etc... Just assume i know next to nothing about creating a workout plan...

Consider this a challenge to all in these forums who like to come up with specialized workout routines!

Thank you to all!

[ephs]

wendler on sports specific training: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... d_athletes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HealthyJay]

Awesome, good article! Thanks!

[HealthyJay]

Now, i've tried the 5-3-1 type workout in the past, and even now, i feel more tired (and my muscles feel like they got a better workout) doing more than 6 reps. 3 sets of 6 reps seems to go too quick for my muscles to get a real good workout. Am i doing it wrong somehow? I struggle to put up the last few reps every time, but then after i am done i don't feel very tired. Any thoughts anyone?

[Stephen Johnson]

@HealthyJay:

The measures of a successful weight training program are increases in muscle strength and/or muscle size, NOT whether or not that you feel tired at the end of the workout.

Don't be concerned about it unless you aren't making progress.

If you can do more reps, you probably aren't using enough weight.

[HealthyJay]

@HealthyJay:

The measures of a successful weight training program are increases in muscle strength and/or muscle size, NOT whether or not that you feel tired at the end of the workout.

Don't be concerned about it unless you aren't making progress.

If you can do more reps, you probably aren't using enough weight.

Just so i have it right; So as long as i do the right amount of weight, it doesn't matter if my muscles FEEL tired or not right after a workout?

[Jungledoc]

Not the "right" amount of weight. Progress over time. Can you lift more weight today than you could last time? Can you lift the same weight for more reps than last time? Can you lift the same weight for the same reps but with less rest? Can you lift the same in a shorter time? Etc. It's all about progress. THAT's the only true measure of whether you're doing the "right" things in the gym. Oh, I should have stuck in something about progressing without injury.

You should feel like you're being challenged by the weight and reps you're lifting, but "muscles feeling tired" isn't a good measure. If on your last set you feel like you couldn't have gotten more than one or at most 2 more reps, you're probably bout right. If on your last set you fail to lift all the reps you are trying, you are trying to do too much.

[Stephen Johnson]

Just so i have it right; So as long as i do the right amount of weight, it doesn't matter if my muscles FEEL tired or not right after a workout?

No. Focus on the results of your workouts, not how you feel after you've finished one.

If you're getting bigger and/or stronger as a result of your workouts, your training program is working. If you aren't, it isn't. How you feel after any individual workout isn't a good measure of how well your training is going.

EDIT: Doc beat me to the punch, and stated the issue more clearly:

You should feel like you're being challenged by the weight and reps you're lifting, but "muscles feeling tired" isn't a good measure. If on your last set you feel like you couldn't have gotten more than one or at most 2 more reps, you're probably bout right. If on your last set you fail to lift all the reps you are trying, you are trying to do too much.

As Wendler noted in his article, people training to gain strength for sports activities shouldn't spend more time in the weight room than they have to. If you're getting bigger and stronger while spending a reasonable amount of time lifting, you're on the way to becoming a better rugby player.

[HealthyJay]

Ok maybe yall can clear something up for me... I've always associated feeling tired with a good workout. A friend told me how Arnold Schwarzenegger used to have to be carried out if the gym because he worked his muscles to exhaustion. So it always seemed to me that a workout where you feel tired at the end is better than a workout where you don't...

I know that my thinking about this issue may be TOTALLY wrong or out of context, but i still needed to ask...

Thanks in advance!

[Stephen Johnson]

Ok maybe yall can clear something up for me... I've always associated feeling tired with a good workout. A friend told me how Arnold Schwarzenegger used to have to be carried out if the gym because he worked his muscles to exhaustion. So it always seemed to me that a workout where you feel tired at the end is better than a workout where you don't...

The notion that you have to be carried out of the gym to make progress is preposterous. More likely, Schwarzenegger was trying to psyche out his opponents by letting it all hang out in the gym. Schwarzenegger spent hours in the gym six days a week doing his workouts. If you have the time, go ahead.

Working out like a bodybuilder won't do much to prepare you for rugby, though.

Most Olympic lifters and Powerlifters are stronger than Schwarzenegger pound for pound - and they don't spend nearly as much time in the gym as he did.

You should train like them

[HealthyJay]

Schwarzenegger spent hours in the gym six days a week doing his workouts. If you have the time, go ahead.

Working out like a bodybuilder won't do much to prepare you for rugby, though.

Most Olympic lifters and Powerlifters are stronger than Schwarzenegger pound for pound - and they don't spend nearly as much time in the gym as he did.

Yea that is where my mind was heading, but i wanted to make sure my mind was working right haha

I'll take strength and somewhat increased size over Schwarzenneger's size only!

If i'm doing max 6 reps, how long should i rest inbetween sets? Till i'm recovered somewhat? A strict 30 - 60 seconds? Etc?

[Stephen Johnson]

If i'm doing max 6 reps, how long should i rest inbetween sets? Till i'm recovered somewhat? A strict 30 - 60 seconds? Etc?

Use your own judgement.

It's your workout, after all. Don't be afraid to take ownership of it. You're the one who has to live with the results.

[Jungledoc]

The new version of this is the CFers wanting to puke. Boy, if you throw up after your workout, it must be a great one.

[ephs]

all said above, is right.

you want to be strong and look rather like sebastien chabal than like arnold schwarzenegger.



schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder and he for sure sucked at playing rugby, cause he was too weak for his total weight and you can't have a good movement with huge muscles like he had. but it was not his goal to be a good rugby player, but to look as huge as possible and i think he did his job well.

[stuward]

...
schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder and he for sure sucked at playing rugby, cause he was too weak for his total weight and you can't have a good movement with huge muscles like he had. ...

I don't know if Arnold ever aspired to play rugby but the rest of this is wrong. Arnold was a powerlifter first and very strong. Also movement and size are not mutually exclusive. Proper strength training will increase flexibility and mobility. You're repeating myths.