Coaching: In-Season and Post-Season Training for Rugby - Essay Example

Weekly In-Season Training Program for Rugby Day Weekly training schedule Monday Match analysis Conditioning session Tuesday Field session Wednesday Cup match or field session Thursday Conditioning session Friday Team run for weekend Saturday Match Sunday Rest day The weekly in-session rugby training plan is designed in such a way that it puts into consideration game schedules, team training sessions and the commitments of players. Olympic players spend over 60% of their time on game-specific training, although some players never visit gyms or exercise with an Olympic bar.

This predisposes them to injury and poor conditioning. The above training plan enables a rugby coach ensure that each player spends at least 20% of their time undergoing conditioning. Bompa (1999) advises that given the demands for strength during the actual game and other sport specific or team trainings, the in-season training days should be limited to two days to avoid or effectively minimize fatigue, injury, and the risk of overtraining. The key to achieve this is to establish good balance between rest and work across the whole week so as to ensure that players are fresh and ready to play on Saturdays.

In-Season Strength and Conditioning Program In the application of the above weekly training plan, players should be allowed 2-3 hours per week of strength training. The training plan considers the areas that players really need to maintain and work on, like improving strength and power. This plan aims at establishing and maintaining an all-round level of fitness by focusing on areas that players will not be working on during the field sessions. In other words, it considers areas that the Olympic player will be improving on during team training or while playing: speed, agility, and cardiovascular strength.

It also focuses on other important areas which make strength and power the key areas of the in-session training plan. Limiting the training to this extent helps avoid failures or strains associated with focusing on everything in each training session. This will be accomplished using the following training plan. Monday session Exercise Sets Reps Rest (sec) Intensity (% of IRM) Rowing machine 2 min warm-up Olympic bar bear warm-up 2 3 45 40 Kettlebell swings 2 10 30 40 Olympic snatch 3 3-4 90 90 Standing broad jumps 3 4 Bodyweight Olympic bar deadlift 3 6-8 90 80-85 Squat jumps onto bench 3 4 Bodyweight Front lunge with bar 2 6-8 90 80-85 1 leg squat over bench/step 2 3 on each leg Body weight Rowing machine 2 min cool-down Thursday session Rowing machine 2 min warm-up Olympic bar bear warm-up 2 3 45 40 Kettlebell swings 2 10 30 40 Olympic clean 2 3-4 90 90 Squat jumps onto bench 2 4 Bodyweight Olympic bar power jerk 2 3-4 90 90 Clap push ups 2 4 Bodyweight Olympic bar front squat 2 6-8 90 90 2 foot side jump over step 2 3 each side Body weight Rowing machine 2 min cool-down Post-Season Rugby Training Plan Bompa (1999) explains that the post-season involves a balance between the maintenance of fitness and recovery.

This helps avoid a passive period that can lead to detraining. Moreover, it facilitates avoiding intense training that could result in mental burnout and overtraining. This will be accomplished through the following weekly training schedule. Post-season training schedule Monday Functional strength, core training, stability exercises. Swimming 20 minutes Tuesday Rest