Our training team is compiling the world’s largest collecting of rugby training tips, blogs and resources. Below, you’ll find blog posts written by former pro rugby players, team trainers, coaches, players and more. We’re big proponents of unconventional training methods and finding training hacks that will provide the greatest reward with the lowest risk of injury possible. Can’t find what you need? Try one of our training and diet programs. Create an account and download them all, for free!
Warming up and cooling down are critical but often overlooked parts of playing and training for rugby. Failing to warm up and cool down properly can significantly affect your performance and recovery.
The truth is that healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t even have to follow a strict diet. All you need to do is adhere to a few fundamental principles. In this article, we outline the basics of good nutrition. Use this information to develop a personalized, sustainable healthy eating plan.
Every day we read articles about the best weights exercises for rugby – advice on how to get bigger arms and develop your guns is endless. Some trainers in the fitness industry with little knowledge of rugby regurgitate a hypertrophy training program thinking that rugby players simply require size and nothing else.
There was a familiar feel, sound and smell when walking into the rugby changing room after being absent for nearly two years. I made a couple of cameo appearances off the bench two years ago, so it is more like four years away from the game. I had never been in this particular changing room but immediately felt comfortable…
It’s human nature to want what you cannot have, and eliminating certain foods from your diet can result in cravings. One way around this problem is to indulge in cheat meals. Cheat meals are when you relax your diet and eat the foods that are usually off the menu. In this article, we explore how cheat meals and overindulging in alcohol affect your progress.
Whether playing rugby, bulking up or fighting Gorr the God Butcher, a protein shake is a great way to start the day. That’s right, as we explored in our article ‘What Is The Ultimate Rugby Protein Shake’, you can help drive your fitness, strength and bulk with a glass of something from the mixer, but in the case of Chris Hemsworth, it’s not rugby he bulks up for. He is the star of the movie Thor: Love and Thunder, and his nutritionist says he swears by protein shakes as an alternative to the constant stream of food.
As a player, the perception of a tough loss might be different to what the coach sees. So, when you turn up to training and all your coach wants to do is load the team up with boring old fitness drills, morale can take a hit.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a naturally occurring chemical which is extracted from the flowers and leaves of the cannabis sativa plant. It is used by people all over the world for many purposes.
Traditional rugby fitness drills can be used throughout the season but more commonly they are used when we are building our engines during pre-season. Below are two traditional rugby fitness drills that are most definitely my favorites.
Looking to build strength, improve your fitness, and maintain or increase muscle mass for rugby? We discuss the training strategies you need to use to achieve your goals and provide you with a program and nutrition guide to support your workouts.
Rugby is one of the few sports that require a high level of all-around physical fitness. a rugby player’s strength can be measured with four exercises: back squats, bench press, deadlifts and overhead press. So this raises a question: How strong are rugby players?
Few sports are as physically demanding as rugby. To be an effective rugger, you need strength, power, muscle mass, aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness, agility, and mobility.
Training for rugby can be very time-consuming. As well as developing a decent level of aerobic and anaerobic fitness, you need to be quick, agile, strong, and powerful, too. You’ll also need to find time to work on your mobility and flexibility and continue improving your rugby skills.
Three workouts to improve explosivity and change of direction. Ruggers can look at these hiit workouts to increase their rugby skills.
In this article, we reveal a straightforward approach to creating simple yet tasty healthy meals and provide you with a few easy recipes to try.
10 HIIT Workouts for Faster Rugby Fitness Facebook Twitter Share Time is arguably the most valuable commodity. It’s something that often seems to run out fast, and it’s tough to make more. That’s especially true for rugby players because, on top of your work and family commitments, you also need
RuckScience Predictions – Who will win 2022 Six Nations? Who are the dark horses for the 2022 Six Nations title?
Over the past few decades, rugby players have slimmed down. There aren’t as many obviously overweight players as there were in the 80s and 90s. At all levels, amateur to international, fatness has taken a back seat to fitness.
Online sportsbooks are a way for you to stay involved with rugby from the comfort of your own home: by offering you the chance to earn some coin by wagering on rugby games. These books offer betting lines for both rugby league and rugby union. While you’re sitting at home
Does a strong deadlift matter in rugby and will increasing your deadlift improve your performance on the rugby field? Tim Howard explains why deadlifts matter.
While it is conceivable to start playing rugby in your 40s, it’s not something you should rush into. Use the information in this article to decide if you are physically and mentally equipped.
How can youth rugby help you become successful as an adult if you are not good enough to go professional? Here are the physical, mental and life skill benefits of youth rugby.
The best ankle tap beating strategy is making sure you can outpace the player chasing you down. A well-timed hitch kick or sidestep will help too. Try the following exercises and drills.
You don’t play rugby, but you want a rugby player’s body, fitness, strength etc. Should you train like a rugby player even though you don’t play?
The short answer to that question is yes, you can. But, before you lace up your running shoes and start pounding the pavement, running ruggers should consider the following about marathons.
Meal prepping is a fantastic new trend in which people make large quantities of one meal and spread it out to eat throughout the week or freeze to eat at a later date. Keep reading to learn how to successfully meal prep for gains.
Rugby is a team sport – but, of course, you already know that! So, to be a successful rugby player, you need to train with your teammates regularly. Team training sessions are important for lots of reasons, including: Developing individual and team skills Learning and practicing set plays Improving fitness
Returning to rugby is as much mental as it is physical. Just because you can return to the rugby field, doesn’t mean you should. Here are a few things to consider before you make your comeback…
Here are a few ways that you can train your body in the off-season to cope with impacts better, and also recover faster from the jarring, bruising, bone-shaking effect of impacts.
Speed is a massive part of playing rugby. Being quick on your feet can be the difference between scoring, making a timely tackle, or reaching a loose ball first, or failing to be in the right place at the right time. In rugby a rugby footrace, there are no prizes
Want to become a more agile ball-carrier that can side-side their way to the tryline? Here are some useful exercises and training methods that will help develop your sidestepping muscles.
Rugby players are usually heavier than the average jogger and running places a lot of stress on your body, particularly your lower legs. So can you play rugby with shin splints? Possibly, if you do it correctly…
Lineout lifting requires more than just shoulder strength, which is the target muscle group in all overhead pressing exercises. A good lift starts with a powerful leg drive, making lineout lifting a full-body activity.
While deep squats can be very beneficial for some rugby players, not everyone is built to squat ass to grass. Here’s our guide to the ideal range of motion for a rugby player’s squat.
There are some simple ways you can modify most bodyweight exercises to make them more demanding, thus ensuring that your home workouts provide you with the training effect you want.
Much like rowing, air bike workouts provide a full-body burn that can leave you as exhausted as rugby training. What is an assault bike? Your greatest love and worst enemy all at once.
How do you keep training for rugby through the quarantine? Grab a jump rope and get to skipping. Here’s our guide to jumping rope for rugby.
The Ruck Science app, complete with mobile, interactive training programs for rugby players, has passed the 10,000 user milestone.
Whether you lose or gain weight during the rugby season depends on several factors, including your genetics, diet, sleep, and stress.
The new t.me/ruckscience Telegram channel gives rugby players around the world a way to connect and discuss strategies to improve their training and skills sessions.
It’s that time of year again. Every January, millions of resolutions are made and broken within days. By now you’ve probably heard multiple people say ‘I’m never drinking again’ or ‘I’m done with sugar’. Why is that? We’d argue that most resolutions fail because they’re elimination-based. Cutting out cigarettes. Eliminating
Outside backs in rugby rely on a rare combination of strength, speed and speed endurance. Here’s a breakdown of the training methodologies you should use as an outside back.
Breakfast should do more than just provide you with calories. It should be good for you too. With seven different options to choose from, you can have a different breakfast every day of the week.
With shorter, more targeted workouts, you’ll have all the time and energy you need to do justice to all the other aspects of rugby training and recover better too.
Here are FIVE strategies that you need to adopt if you are going to avoid injuries and spend as much time on the rugby field as possible.
How strong do you need to be to play rugby? If you are asking this question, the answer is probably “stronger than you are now!” Strength is, after all, the foundation of every other type of training that you do.
While any strength training is better than no strength training, if you are going lift weights for rugby, it makes sense to try and get the best results from your time and effort. 5×5 is a popular type of strength training, but it is not ideal for ruggers.
Triphasic training is one way to increase rugby performance using weights. Unlike plyometrics and Olympic lifting, it uses traditional barbell and dumbbell exercises to improve strength and power.
Isometric contractions bridge the gap between eccentric contractions and concentric contractions. They are the link that joins these two different contractions together. They’re also a game changer for rugby training.
For rugby players looking to break through a strength plateau in the gym, the eccentric phase of triphasic training could well be your ticket. Take a deep dive into eccentric training with guru Pat Dale of our training team.
Should you do sprint intervals (SIT) or high intensity intervals (HIT) for rugby training? If you want to increase your VO2 Max with the minimum effective dose of cardio, Sprints are the way to go for rugby players.
One type of strength training that may be useful for ruggers is called Triphasic strength training. This is a unique protocol and could be precisely what you need to help you overcome your current strength training plateau.
So, what has happened to ruggers over the last 60 or so years? Why are today’s amateur and professional players bigger than their predecessors? We have some theories…!
Everyone can learn to create the right mindset for optimal performance, and it’s usually a matter of practice makes perfect. Here are nine ways to help you get in the zone for playing or training for rugby.
Swimming is an excellent addition to your rugby fitness training schedule. The fitness developed in the pool should transfer well to the pitch. However, you should still include at least some running in your workouts.
In modern rugby, any time that you are off your feet you are out of the game. Better balance means less time on the deck and more time playing rugby.
We’ve talked a lot about different options for preventing in-season rugby injuries. Here’s another one: soft tissue flossing. Does it work and will it make you a better rugby player? Let’s take a look!
A well-executed warm-up should improve your performance and may also reduce your risk of injury. This is especially true for youth rugby players – they are the future of the sport!
Carbs are neither good or bad and blanket media statements like “carbs make you fat” are very unhelpful. As a rugger, your gameday nutritional requirements are very different from a couch-surfer who never walks further than the fridge and back.
Need to get bigger this pre-season? Don’t get the grill out just yet. A study by researchers in Brisbane has revealed that increased protein distribution has NO effect on changes in lean mass during a rugby pre-season.
Ruggers are constantly sore due to inflammation. For some, this is a badge of honor but, the reality is that constant inflammation is not good for you and could lead to serious illness in the not-too-distant future.
While we all dream of playing better rugby than we’re likely capable, new research shows that the world’s elite rugby players share a huge number of genetic similarities. Rugby might be in your genes!
A study has revealed that rugby forwards were three-times more likely to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) than backs. That is a very significant increase in risk and something we should address in our training and diet programs.
Muscle soreness is part and parcel of rugby. But DOMS isn’t an accurate measure of training performance. And N-Acetylcysteine isn’t the best way to treat it.
Before you sacrifice a chicken to the rugby gods in an effort to win back your progress, it’s important to understand what a plateau is, and what you can do about it. Training or Rest? You might need the later.
If the subject of nutrition leaves you feeling dazed and confused, ignore all the pseudo-science and marketing hype and simplify your in-season rugby diet.
Head and neck injuries are relatively rare in rugby but, because of their potential severity, anything you can do to reduce your chances is time well spent. Include neck exercises in your workouts and protect your head at all times.
Your body is an amazing machine. Not only is it made up from over 206 bones, 600+ muscles, dozens of organs, and literally billions of cells, it is also a walking, talking, rucking power station.
With the right training and treatment, ruggers might be able to reduce your risk of hip injury and recover sooner if you are unlucky enough to suffer one. This article covers how to improve your hip mobility for rugby season.
A warm-up should prepare your body for activity without wasting energy on drills that will have no or even a detrimental effect on on-field rugby performance. That’s where the RAMP method comes in as part of your pre-game rugby warmup.
There’s no substitute for tackling practice. So before you read this, we strongly recommend you get to rugby training and hit someone. But if you’ve got a physical weakness, here are some ways to improve your tackling in the gym.
In the third and final session of Scrum Camp, we are going to move from the technical and get more into the finesse of scrummaging.
Unlike knees and shoulders, hips are very hard to tape up, and injuries to the hips are often harder to prevent and treat. That goes a long way to explaining why you have tight hips after your rugby games, here’s some other info.
Most rugby players should consume around two grams of protein per kg of body weight per day. So how do you get enough? During the season, rugby players need whey protein – here’s how it will help you.
After several months of discussions, our training and content team is pleased to announce the acquisition of prorugbyclub.com. The move will bring more than 40 of the web’s best rugby-focused articles to ruckscience.com/learn.
Training for and playing rugby take a huge amount out of your body. It depletes your energy resources and causes muscle breakdown. The only way to full recover is to do nothing, to sleep deeply and to avoid over-training. Here’s how…
Sprinting, tackling, scrummaging, and lifting and jumping in the lineout all utilize the two anaerobic energy pathways – the creatine phosphate system and the lactate system. But before you hang up your running shoes for good, it’s important to consider the role of the aerobic system in rugby.
Does your rugby club need agility ladders? Our training team examines the fad of agility and speed ladders to figure out whether your rugby club / team needs to bother getting them for your pre-season training.
Pasta is low in fat, high in carbs, easy to digest, and readily available. This all suggests that it’s the ideal pre-game carb source for rugby players. And for many ruggers, pasta is a good nutritional choice.
As rugby players, we like to brag about spending extra time in the gym. But considering the positive effects of sleep for recovery and muscle growth/repair, maybe we should be bragging about staying in bed.
After the knees, the shoulder is the most commonly injured joint in rugby. 20% of rugby injuries are to the shoulder, and 35% of those injuries are recurrent. So how do you strap your shoulders before rugby games? Pat Dale explains.
You’ve reached Day 2 of your club’s annual scrum camp. In this section, we’ll cover technique, instruction and how to challenge your players to create leverage at scrum time. Big thanks to Carrick Pell for his help in programming Day 2.
When is it time for me to retire from rugby? Is it after the second broken cheek or the fifth? Or was I supposed to retire after the ACL reconstruction? It was hard for me to know and probably hard for you too!
Train like the best rugby teams in the world if you want to get better. These 6 training routines are taken from the best 15s (and 1 of the best 7s) rugby programs in the world.
Is it possible to improve your 1RM back squat without risking injury from heavy squat sessions? You bet! Try these squat variations – in particular the overhead and front squat – to develop functional strength without the added stress on your joints.
Summer scrum camps are the best way to develop technical knowledge across your entire forward pack. Get ready to Crouch, Bind and Set as Clarke Cayton walks us through Day 1 of summer scrum camp.
Nobody wants to be training when the weather gets hot. But our friend Clarke T. Cayton has some great tips for taking your summer rugby training to the pool so you can ‘beat the heat this year’. #rugby #summer #training
If you’re traveling this summer, your rugby conditioning is likely to suffer. Off-season rugby training probably hasn’t started for you yet. But in the meantime, try these speed/agility hacks while you’re traveling this summer.
How do you continue rugby training despite a lower-back injury? Pat Dale explains how to muscle through with a couple of management techniques that will allow you to keep training. But lower backs are tricky, so consult a trainer first.
You’ve probably been told and resisted ice baths more than once. But luckily the science suggests that contrast baths are a better option. Try a contrast bath this weekend and let us know how your recovery goes!
Why would you need extra muscle in rugby? If you’re under-sized, it can be really hard to compete in contact, set piece and at the breakdown. Adding some bulk using mechanical dropsets to drive hypertrophy can also be a terrific way to prevent contact injuries.
You’re read about the injury, a brutal broken leg, a trip to hospital and 6 months on the sidelines. Now we get to hear the end of Clarke Cayton’s story, his return to rugby for his Springfield team. Welcome back Clarke and congrats on the recovery!
Of all the injuries you can suffer playing rugby, a broken leg is arguably the most traumatic. Whether it’s the tibia, fibula, or femur, a broken leg bone means many weeks out and a lengthy period of rehabilitation. Here’s our guide to making a rugby comeback from your broken leg injury.
A recent question was put to our training team – is it possible to lose weight and still be a Prop? Sure it is! As long as you train for strength, lose fat (NOT muscle) and forget the faddy diets. Here’s a breakdown of how to lose weight and still be a Prop.
You can’t get to the gym because let’s face it, juggling life and training for rugby is tough. Powerlifting champ Pat Dale explains that you can still get a lot of work done at home, even if you’re training in the garden.
If it’s the middle of winter (or summer) and you can’t get out on the rugby field, how do you get your cardio up for the season? If you’re looking at the cardio machines in the gym, think about using some of these treadmill exercises and get after it!
Ruck Science is proud to announce our newest partnership with York College’s Women’s Rugby Team! This club is as awesome off the rugby field as they are on it. Use their coupon code YCPWOMENSRUGBY for $10 off your first ruckscience.com order.
Ruck Science is proud to announce our newest partnership with York College’s Women’s Rugby Team! This club is as awesome off the rugby field as they are on it. Use their coupon code YCPWOMENSRUGBY for $10 off your first ruckscience.com order.
Ruck Science is proud to announce our newest partnership with York College’s Women’s Rugby Team! This club is as awesome off the rugby field as they are on it. Use their coupon code YCPWOMENSRUGBY for $10 off your first ruckscience.com order.
Can you use intermittent fasting as part of your diet during rugby season? It’s certainly possible, but with quite a few caveats. This article explores the concept and describes the kind of player who might use IMF during the rugby season.
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