For years it was your genetic capacity that entitled you to pure speed, which was one of the ultimate components of success on the field. Now there is agility training, that is the ability to change direction whilst maintaining good body mechanics and coordination, and this has a large part to play in increasing your reaction speed and quickness. Ultimately the practise of Strength and Conditioning in rugby is growing more and more popular, do you have the necessary resources in place to keep up?
Periodised linear training (the organisation of training into blocks or units of time that focus on specific skills. In the linear style, training is broken into hypertrophy, strength, power, and transition phases) is great if you engage in a sport that doesn’t require you to change direction. However, this aspect of Strength and Conditioning in rugby can be used in modern practises.
Adapting your training with quick changes in lateral, multi-directional, reaction and deceleration drills increases your overall reaction speed and quickness. It also helps with balance and coordination – two other massive components for the sports field or court. Believe it or not, agility training can also potentially prevent serious injury by correctly loading the outside foot when turning fast, which over time – with adaption – will reduce knee injuries.
Studies have shown that if you put two similar athletes together to race over a 40m distance, the winner will be the one that reacts faster to the starters gun. Controlled speed and agility training will improve your reaction time and is another important part of strength and conditioning in rugby.
Hamstring strains and tears are the bane of most athletes that have bursts of acceleration in their chosen sports. Hamstrings are a braking mechanism, so conditioning them through deceleration drills is a great component of agility training.
SAQ (speed, agility and quickness) drills are a fun way to improve our strength and conditioning in rugby. They target our overall fitness, condition our joints and add variety to our training loads. Warm up is important to ensure you can move quickly with minimal effort. Take note, these are not just for elite athletes, it is a great tool for overall strength and conditioning in rugby, so put it all into a circuit and have some fun for all ages.
We are currently working to produce some high quality Strength and Conditioning in Rugby resources to accompany this article and they will be available shortly in our Video Library –
In the meantime, please visit our affiliates here if you wish to procure any additional information.
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Expert advice by Jose Thomas, Director of Fast, Fit & Functional.