Ruck and Learn

Our latest coaching feature includes some pre-season training drills courtesy of Ireland Conditioning Coach Mike McGurn.

The latest installment of our regular coaching feature is all about fitness and includes some pre-season training drills courtesy of Ireland and Ospreys Conditioning Coach Mike McGurn.

It's that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere when a lot of teams are in the middle of pre-season training, and putting in some seriously hard work. With the advance in communication technology, coaches, athletes and trainers are all using hi-tech mediums such as the internet and the latest apps to seek out the most effective training programmes. The hope is that their new found knowledge will make the upcoming season the best one ever!

The amount of strength and conditioning knowledge and expertise that is available to anyone who types into a Google search engine is amazing. The quality of training that can be viewed on the youtube website again is unbelievable.

Advances in the distribution of training regimes of some of the best athletes/teams in the world is unheralded. As Philosopher Sir Frances Baron said way back in 1597 'Knowledge is power”. This may be the case but in terms of strength and conditioning the one thing that you can't glean from the internet or an iphone is pure intensity. A lot of the programmes/training regimes are not the worth the webpage they are displayed on or the paper they are printed on if they are not done with intensity.

The next few weeks of Ruck and Learn will feature fitness and conditioning tips from Ireland and Ospreys Conditioning Coach Mike McGurn.

Planet Rugby and RuckingBall.com bring you this technical piece in collaboration. For more coaching articles or to talk to Martin Corry, Jamie Roberts and other experts, please visit RuckingBall.com

Previous Ruck and Learn features:

Centres of attention By Eddie O'Sullivan

The Line-Out Calls By Shane Byrne

The Captain's Role By Martin Corry

The Flanker's Role By Richard Hill – Part 1 – Part 2

Tighthead Masterclass By Cobus Visagie

The Blitz Defence By Jamie Roberts

Loosies and locks By Martin Corry

Sprint and power work for leg speed
By Conditioning Coach Mike McGurn

The first in this series features sprint and power work for leg speed, something all players need.

Anaerobic Running Session 1

WARM -UP :
* Warm-up: 5 mins running at ascending pace, finishing with 4 x 50 m strides up to 90% pace.

SET 1 :
* Start on halfway line with stopwatch in hand
* Sprint to the try line, rest 15 seconds, sprint back to halfway, rest 15 seconds then sprint back to the try line
* Rest for 1 minute
* Complete 5 sets in total.

This session is short. To get the benefit, you must run hard on the sprints (90% +).

Anaerobic Running session 2

WARM-UP :
* Jog and stretch then go through a few sprint drills to maximise range throughout the hip musculature:
* 4×50 strides, with increasing speed, and so that the last run is at least 80% pace.
* You need a ball for SET 5 of this session.

SESSION :

SET 1:
* 5 x 100 m in 15-16 s, 45 s recovery between reps
* Rest 90 s.

SET 2:
* 1 shuttle = start on chest on 'T' of halfway and touchline. Up and out along halfway to 5m line, then backing off to start. Run to 10 m line along touchline, hit chest, up, out to 5m and back off again. Finally run to the 22 m line, repeat the down and up, out to 5 m and back, and sprint back to the start to finish the shuttle.
* Do 2 sets of 4 shuttles, resting 30 s between shuttles, and 60 s after set 1.
* Rest for 90 s after set 2.

SET 3:
* Do 50 Press-ups and 50 jump squats as quickly as you can (you can do no more than 10 at one time of each exercise i.e. do 10 press-ups then 10 jump squats, then back to press-ups etc.)
* Rest, sitting down, for 3 mins.

SET 4:
* 2 x (5 x 22 m in 3-4 s, jog-back recovery between reps)
* Rest 60 s between sets.
* Rest for 90 s after second set.

SET 5: Scrum-halves:
* 6 box kicks in 5 m channel from 22 m to halfway. Chase your own kick hard. Rest 20 s then box kick back and chase once more. Keep going until you've finished all 6 kicks. Rest for 2 mins then repeat the set.

SET 5: Fly-halves:
* 6 punts in 5 m channel from 22 m to 22 m. Chase your own kick hard. Turn around, and kick back and chase again. Rest 20 s between kicks. Rest 2 mins after all 6 kicks, then repeat the set.

Anaerobic Running Session 3

WARM UP :
* Jog, stretch, then stride.
* You need to be fully warm to accelerate maximally from a crouching start.

SET 1 : – Lay 3 cones out 5 m, 10 m and 15 m from the touchline.
* Start watch, and do 10 press-ups, then shuttle out to each cone in turn, always hitting the ground on your chest as you come back to the touchline. The rep finishes when you return to the line after getting to the 15 m cone. Rest what is left of 60 s.
* Repeat for 5 reps.
* Rest for 2 min after last rep.

SET 2 : –
* Start on halfway line. Sprint 50 m to the tryline in 7-8 s. Rest for 10 s then sprint back to start. Rest another 10 s then sprint out to tryline once more. These 3 runs make 1 rep.
* Do 4 reps, resting for 30 s between reps.
* Rest for 2 min after last rep.

SET 3 : –
* Repeat set 1.

SET 4 : –
* Repeat set 2.

Rugby – Anaerobic sessions 2

–Anaerobic Bike 1

Session is to be done on a 'health club' style bike, ie. technogym/cybex/life etc.
Warm up with 5 mins easy cycling, with occasional 10 s bursts getting revs up to 120+ rpm, and up to Level 15 of 25 (or 7 of 12) ( or 13 of 20).

SET 1 : –
* 6 x 30 s at level 12 (or 8 of 12) and 130 rpm
* Rest while partner works
* Rest for 1 min after last rep.

SET 2 : –
* 7 x 20 s at level 13 (or 9 of 12) and 150 rpm
* Rest while partner works
* Rest for 90s after last rep.

SET 3 : –
* 8 x 10 s at level 14 (or 9 of 12) and 170 rpm
* Rest while partner works
* Rest for 90s after last rep.

SET 4 : – Bike at level 10 of 25 (or 7 of 12) ( or 13 of