Search
Related Links




 

 

Informative Articles

How Can I Find The Treadmill I Want?
Treadmill ratings are published in lots of places. If you are thinking of buying a treadmill and want to find some treadmill ratings you should have no trouble. You can find treadmill ratings in consumer magazines. Look for treadmill ratings...

How to feel the power of the kite
There are many different techniques that you will need to learn before you can master the kitesurfing sport. One of these techniques is learning how to feel the power of the kite and learning to control that power. Part of learning how to feel the...

Prepare For Hockey Season With NHL Jerseys
Finally the hockey season is upon us once again and every fan can feel alive again. I just love it so much and when the puck drops I will be watching. Is there really any better time in professional ice hockey than the winter when the NHL...

Tips for Archery Fishing
Also known as Bow fishing, this is a sport wherein a fisherman uses archery equipment to fish. A regular hunting bow can be used for fishing by simply attaching a reel to the front of the bow grip. Archery fishing is especially favored...

Watch The Ball!
This phrase is often repeated in nearly every sport – keep your eye on the ball. It applies to golf too! If you do not watch the ball, then the chance that you will hit it is very slim! Keep your eyes focused on one part of the ball. Don’t watch...

 
Rugby - the most strength-oriented code of football

Rugby players spend considerably more playing time in physical contact and contest with opponents than players in other forms of football.

Much of this contact involves extended grappling and wrestling, but what is also characteristic of rugby is the amount of time spent attempting to drive forward under loads considerably heavier than bodyweight. Obviously this is so in the scrum and maul, but also at the tackle. Both ball-carrier and tackler may strive to drive one another backward for an extended time after engagement. American football and rugby league are also primarily collision sports, but their tackles tend to terminate much more quickly.

Recognition of the importance of physical strength has led to a tendency for rugby selectors to favour increasingly heavier players even for backline positions. A modern professional rugby team is likely to average over 100kg bodyweight, compared with less than 95kg and less than 90kg for rugby league and Australian football respectively. Increased bodyweight appears to confer no advantage in soccer.

No valid size comparison can be made with players in American football. Its use of specialist teams means that individual players are only on the field for limited periods and therefore really massive players can be employed for the more static areas of engagement.

For professional


rugby, players are often chosen on the basis of their size and apparent strength but are then not really expected to work to become significantly stronger. Much strength training in rugby appears to have the aim of generating hypertrophy - increasing muscle size and thus body mass - or of maintaining strength levels rather than seriously exploring the potential for markedly increased power.

Soccer, Australian football and rugby league are continuous-flow type games, whereas rugby and, to a much greater extent, American football are characterised by frequent stoppages and thus require lower levels of aerobic fitness. But I see little evidence that rugby coaches have fully realised the potential this provides to gain a competitive edge by requiring their players, backs and forwards, to seriously train for strength.

I would suggest that, given the development of very well-drilled coordinated defensive lines, the next stage in the evolution of rugby is likely to involve a concentration on the identification of and development of heavy, very mobile players who possess very high-range explosive strength.

About the author:

Bruce Ross is CEO of MyoQuip, manufacturers of variable-resistance strength machines including the rugby-specific ScrumTruk http://www.MyoQuip.com.au http://myoquip.blogspot.com/

Sign up for PayPal and start accepting credit card payments instantly.