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A Guide to Surfing Wet Suits
Surfing wetsuits are a breed unto themselves. To begin with, there are cool, surfer-dude designations used to describe the different styles of surfing wet suits.
The first is the spring suit which has short legs and short arms and is used to keep...
History of kitesurfing
KiteSurfing is by far the latest craze in extreme sports. The idea of using a kite to enhance speed and gravity for the surfer seems like a new and exhilarating challenge, yet the art of KiteSurfing dates back to the 13th Century Chinese when it...
The British Aikido Board National Nepotism Seminar
British Aikido has a proud history, yet iit s not recognised or protected by the governing body, Henry Ellis a direct student of Kenshiro Abbe attempts to protect the true history with honesty and proven facts.
For many years The...
The History of Hunting and The Evolution of Man
By Rebecca Blain of
http://www.discount-hunting-supplies-and-tips.com
Perhaps one of the eldest activities on the face of the planet is hunting. The history of hunting, as a result, is also one of the most diverse. Hunting for food has always...
To Be Successful, You Have To Be Healthy-Part 1
If you were to stop a noontime crowd on the street and ask them
to name their most valuable asset, most wouldn't hesitate to
identify their homes as the greatest asset they own. Others may
nominate a well-funded 401(k) or a shiny sports car as...
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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/
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