What position do you play and what exercises do you use to i

Chadwick891

What position do you play and what exercises do you use to increase strength*

So I'll start

I play rugby union for an amateur rugby club

I am a 2nd row Lock and can also play no. 8

I have been playing for approx 6 months (since mid season last year) and have loved it ever since I joined!

I am still learning all the techniques to powerful scrums and we're currently in pre-season training to cover all the basics that I need a lot of help with.

Due to my recent successes with weight-loss I am now getting thrown into jumping too (instead of just being a lifter for the light guys)

What about you guys?

coll18

I play for a club team in Massachusetts. I play 8 but also prop and flank when needed. I've played for 4 years.

CookieRehab

I have played for an highschool team in Cali. for 2 1/2 years (had to quit mid season). I was a prop and played flanker in nationals.
Right now I play for another local women's team. I play prop still but the coach was flirting with the idea of me being hooker.

My older team we seemed to do squats for ever as the forward pack.
I used to lift weights since I lifted in the game but haven't had any weights for a while now.
My current team we seem to do lots of push ups. But we are still just starting.
Lots of conditioning either way.

carlwhitley

I play hooker.

My maintstay of weightlifting exercises are...

Powerclean and press
Deadlift
Bench press
Squat
Seated overhead press

I also do

Dips
Close grip pulldown
Leg press
Hamstring curl
Biceps curl
Spider curl
DB shoulder press
Incline bench press

I find that the powerclean and press is a very good dynamic exercise and is one that really gets me working - it seems to work almost everything.

Powerclean and press...

Load plates onto bar
Shoulder width, stand in deadlift position
Go from deadlift, through hang-clean to front-squat with the bar
With minimal dip, press the bar overhead
Lower the bar

shar140

I am a prop, and also do the lineout throws. Usually TH prop, but have also played LH. I occasionally lift in practice, but I don't think I ever have in a game. I've also been flanker once or twice (when I was heavier, ha!). I've played for 2 years. I play for an amateur women's team in the US.

Upper body:
pushups (flat, incline, decline)
pullups (assisted)
lat pulldowns
seated, upright, bent over rows
shoulder press
tricep dips or extensions

Lower body:
Squats (regular, sumo, split, w/ exercise ball against wall)
Lunges (usually walking, sometimes w/ med ball twists)
bridges
deadlifts (stiff leg, 1 leg, regular)
wall sits

Core:
crunches
leg lifts
double crunches
torso twists
supermans
back extension
wood chops

For power:
burpees w/ pushup and jump
jump squats
star jumps
medicine ball throws

In practice, we did a lot of star jumps, burpees, pushups, planks, crunches - between suicides.

We are in our off-season now, won't be starting up again until March. :frown: It's really hard for me to stay in shape in the off-season, as I have no motivation. But since there's only 2 months until our spring season, I'm getting pumped up!! :bigsmile:

squid116

I am a Prop
Played a handful of games at hooker (which I enjoy, easiest position in the scrum )
And one on the wing (at 17 I toured with the university and they thought I was too young to play in the front row in seniors. Second game I was back up front where I belong!)

Played since I was 13, now 32.
I played Junior rep footy for the ACT (Brumbies) but didn't really get too far with seniors (I concentrated on my degree and then rugby)

Played 199 senior club games - injured my knee in the 199th which resulted in surgery 1/7/2011.

Getting much fitter and hope to be on deck for the start of the season late march/early april.

I don't do any specific rugby training at the moment, I train to be healthy - I am well past the age where I should think about changing my body for the game.

shar140

I don't do any specific rugby training at the moment, I train to be healthy - I am well past the age where I should think about changing my body for the game.

I'd tend to disagree, as I am 32. However, I've only been playing for 2 years. But I know I can still lose quite a bit of weight and work on my power and quickness, to improve myself for the game.

We start practice this Saturday...I'm super excited!! :happy:

MichaelWWoods

In Division 1 MARFU during college (a long time ago now), I played hooker, then migrated to flanker. When I played in SuperLeague for a NY team (C-side), I played hooker, and when I really started getting heavy, I played a bit of prop (open/tight).

I gave up the game when my son was born almost four years ago now mostly due to time committements, but I am starting to think that maybe I can make it work.

In any case, when I was in my "prime," I balanced long runs and hill work with 30-45 mins sessions of a mix-up routine (3-5 mins each then cycling thru until the alloted time was done):

*Push ups (mixing ways of doing them)
*mountain climbers
*squat jumps
*sti ups (mixing ways of doing them)
* duck walks (squat like a duck w/ feet flat and go back and forth between 2 cones)

downsizinghoss

I am not a prop. I am a tight head prop. I push. Squats and shoulders.

In college my training consisted mainly of drinking beer. I am paying for that now with a lot of cardio.
Once I get to at least old boy shape I will start doing more heavy lifting again.

steffschick

I'm a wing. I play for women's team in MA. My recent weight gain has slowed me down ;(

rugbyphreak

My first position was TH prop, but I quickly advanced to #1, LH prop!!!! WOOOO I LOVE LH PROPPING!!!!! I have also played hooker, lock, and flanker on occasion.

I do a lot of leg work: extension, press, curl.
I do at least 45 minutes of cardio a day. At least 20 minutes out of that is full out.
I put a lot of time into my core. You can't do anything without a strong core. I do planks, 10x10 abs, supermans, oblique crunches.
When I used to lift, I did a lot of upper arm work outs.

STRETCH!!!!!!!! I stretch before, during, and after each workout, plus first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

I'm hoping my recent near 50 pound loss will help me be a fitter and faster prop.

andrewknightwales

I'm a Loosehead Prop in an amateur Rugby Union team in Wales.

Workout wise, I train with the team once/twice a week, usually functional training involving skills and CV.
I cycle to work a few times a week to keep my legs in good condition.
In the off season I do lots of circuit training. I find the game is far more physical and more of a running game than when I played as a boy.

Chadwick891

Thanks for the replies guys!

Sorry I haven't seen them sooner, I had a neck injury from a rugby match 14 weeks ago and took 8 weeks for recovery. Will definitely be utilizing these exercises to benefit myself in the long term

Good to see the girls are playing rugby just like the guys, I really respect that too

emblu

ouch on the neck injury, been there done that n funnily enough a car crash fixed it lol unfortunately it messed my lower back up alot. So am now training for flank (blindside, i was a quick prop but am a tad slow at flank).
Hope your neck is ok now
I don't really do rugby related excercise outside training, its more fun based; running, walking, hula hooping, unicycling (brill for core workout) on top of the large amount of gardening i do.
Am really missing playing prop thou

loudenlm

I am so glad I found this group!

I prop for the women's club team at my university, usually at loose head; I prefer tight though. I have played two semesters now, and I love it! Since school is out, our coach made us a summer training program. Here's the tight forwards exercises:

Legs: squats, leg extensions, hamstring curls, hack squats, calf raises, one legged squats
Chest and shoulders: [chest] incline chest press, incline flies, cable chest flies, bench press [shoulders]: seated dumbbell press, front raises, flies, upright rows
Back and core: cable pull downs, dumbbell rows, dumbbell or barbell shrugs, reverse flies on machine, seated cable rows
Biceps and triceps: preacher curls, dumbbell curls, hammer curls, barbell curls, cable tricep pull downs, dips

Then, we have three days of cardio, including an alternating 5x300 and 5k every week. We also do core every other day.

hnsaunde

I played flanker for 6 years and then I was switched into hooker two years ago. For lower body I love my deadlifts, squats, lunges and calf raises. For upper body I like pullups (assisted for now), triceps dips, rows, lateral raises and bicep curls. I also try to do a yoga class once a week for my flexibility, especially in my hip flexors and hamstrings.

NNAhuja

Hey all,
I loved playing in school. I'd prop (both LH and TH), lock, and did line outs.

As a prop I made sure to work on my legs (squats, leg presses, and the like).
Lock, I really had to work on my abs to keep proper form and keep legs work out above.
Line outs, SHOULDER and chest presses! My old club did international style lifting versus grabbing the girl by the shorts and yoinking her up, so HAD to get my body to coordinate it all.

Our coach wanted us packies jogging at least 5 miles 5-6 times a week. God only knows what the backs were doing!

vonallena

Hey guys! I'm glad I found this group.

I'm a hooker. My team is in the MARFU Div. III.

I definitely work on my shoulders, back and squats. Especially going against some huge props in scrums, my shoulders/back feel like crap the next day.

coxy96

hi all ive played rugby from the age of 6 and im 29 now. i quit 2 yrs ago but im palying again this yr. i played scrumhalf from the age of 6 to the age of 20 where i played for my local side and then represented my country at u16 (wales u16s) then i was asked to play openside flanker and i loved it. so i played that position for 7 yrs. i have never been the one to do weight lifting as i find it boring. i was really fit and would run as often as i could and use my own body weight for exercises which bulked up the muscle. as long as you are havig fun and enjoying rugby that is when you play your best rugby. if u want more in depth contact me. happy rucking

sableandargent

I used to play lock, abut that was before I figured out training was important...

Now I referee and have a training programme focusing on different sprinting training (anaerobic capacity, and anaerobic tolerance) and different kinds strength training. I'm trying to do more of it, I now know training is important but lack motivation and energy...

ployjoy

I play hooker/flank for my university (DIV I) club team. I focus on lots and lots of HIIT involving sprints and burpees. I'm also a powerlifter so I do focus on strength as well, doing my big 3 lifts as well as some accessory ones (mostly shoulder-related), as well as a variety of things for my back and core. Exercise-wise I've never been a runner as much as a sprinter, but I've been trying to change that. I've also found that swimming for an hour or two helps me work out all the kinks from after a good scrum, and yoga for my lower back.