Rugby is one of the most physically demanding sports around and good players display a very high level of fitness. The sport involves many different actions during the 80 minutes which is spent on the pitch, from running to scrummaging, from passing the ball to tackling, from kicking the ball to rucking and mauling. It's this variety that makes it such a great game to watch but this variety also makes the game very difficult to play if you are not fit enough!

Below the professional/semi-professional level, there aren't many players who will have their pre-season training laid on for them by their club. This leads to players up and down the country starting the first game of the season completely unprepared which detracts from the enjoyment of the game and increases the likelihood of injury.

But how do you train for such a multidimensional sport? Gone are the days when the forwards tackled and the backs ran - nowadays every player needs to display the full range of fitness attributes including;

• cardiovascular fitness
• acceleration
• speed
• speed endurance
• balanced muscular strength
• muscular power
• muscular endurance
• co-ordination
• agility and flexibility.

The pre-season period is essential for building a base level of fitness which will then be developed into sport specific fitness throughout the first few months of the season during club based sessions

8 Week Fitness Programme
To get fit for the next season download this 8 week programme specifically for Rugby players. You can pick up a 4 week programme in Hillsborough Leisure Centres Fitness Unlimited gym next time your there.

Printer friendly