Victoria, BC

Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Tyler Goodale and I am the Strength and Conditioning Head Coach for Rugby Canada.

The major goal of Rugby Canada’s strength and conditioning staff is to help elevate the calibre of athletes currently playing the game in Canada. Having worked internationally as a strength and conditioning coach, I can confidently say that the work ethic and drive found in Canadian athletes is second to no other international athlete.

Our athletes are renowned for their workmanlike approach to sport. As we are a nation of such hard workers, I also want to make sure we are a nation of rugby athletes that are working smart and training properly in order to achieve our rugby goals. To this end we will be starting a new monthly strength and conditioning article series.

The goals of this series are to increase the understanding of both the physical demands of rugby and how to train properly for peak performance. It is my hope that by disseminating the knowledge of our strength and conditioning staff on how to train for the rugby, we will help to educate coaches, athletes, and rugby enthusiasts of every level how to better prepare to play a sport that we love.

I know without a doubt that by improving our ability to physically prepare for the game of rugby, we can increase the quality of rugby athlete in this country and the style of game that is played. It is only by improving the game at the grassroots level that Canada will be able to climb into the upper echelon of rugby nations.

Currently access to strength and conditioning coaches for Canadian rugby athletes is limited. Many athletes are reverting to the internet to find strength training programs to help them prepare and train. This can create a number of issues including the credibility of information and the applicability of the training program to rugby athletes.

This article series will provide quality information written by the strength and conditioning staff that works with Rugby Canada: Cam Birtwell (National Seniors Men’s 7s), Matt Barr (National Senior Women’s 15s and 7s), Joe McCullum (U20 Men) and Les Gilson (U17 Men). These coaches, along with myself, represent the top strength coaches in the country specializing in the sport of rugby. Each month a new article will be released detailing one of the various aspects of physical preparation for rugby union.

Anyone who has played the game can attest to the fact that the physical demands of rugby union are unique. A rugby athlete must be strong and explosive along with being fit enough to play a whole game. A rugby athlete must often juggle multiple training aspects throughout the year. Unlike most sports in Canada, rugby never truly has a discernable off-season that allows the athlete to focus solely on physical preparation. These challenges make designing strength and conditioning program for rugby distinctively different from many other sports.

The purpose of this first article is to introduce terms that are commonly used in strength and conditioning literature and give examples to where they apply to rugby.

Strength – is defined as an athlete’s ability to produce force. Strength coaches will talk about strength being either absolute or relative. Absolute strength refers to an athlete’s force-producing capability regardless of bodyweight, whereas relative strength takes into account the athlete’s body mass. It is very common that props have the greatest absolute strength however once bodyweight is taken into account, centres and wings can be pound for pound the strongest players on the team. All athletes regardless of position should strive for high levels of relative body strength as this makes the development of other important conditioning elements much easier.

Hypertrophy – refers to an increase in muscle cell size. When an athlete needs to get 'bigger' for their position we are referring to the need to hypertrophy this athlete. Hypertrophy can be referred to as functional or non-functional hypertrophy. Functional hypertrophy refers to a concurrent increase in force producing capability (strength) of a muscle as it increases in size, for athletic competition this is the most important form of hypertrophy. Non-functional hypertrophy refers to an increase in muscle size that yields no increase in strength, this type of training is most often popular with athletes that training for aesthetics versus performance.

Power – is typically defined as the rate at which work is performed. Power can also be defined as strength times velocity, or the ability to rapidly develop force. Power output is the main physical determinant of performance in sport. In order to develop power both strength and speed must be trained; developing and maximizing power requires a multifaceted approach.

Speed – refers to the maximum running velocity an athlete can attain. The important components of speed for rugby are: acceleration, first step quickness, change of direction speed and top speed. Acceleration is the rate at which an athlete can increase their running speed. Most rugby athletes have the ability to accelerate over 10-20 metres. First step quickness is described as the velocity of the athlete’s first lower limb movement and plays and important role in both acceleration and change of direction speed. Change of direction speed is the ability of an athlete to maintain a high running velocity while initiating evasive running movements. Top speed is the top velocity an athlete can attain. Field sport athletes can often reach top running speeds much quicker than track and field sprinters as they are often accelerating from a walking or striding start. It is important to realize that speed training for rugby and other field sports is unique and that rugby players should not be trained exactly like track and field sprinters. Rugby, like any sport, has its own biomechanical requirements that require specific training to develop.

Agility – is the ability to react to an external stimulus and to initiate a change of direction or change in running speed. Agility is not only a physical skill but a cognitive one as well. Training for agility must include decision making or reactive components. Many coaches who believe they are training agility with their athletes are often simply training change of direction speed. If there is no 'read and react' component to the training you are not challenging all the aspects of agility.

Repeat Sprint Ability – is ability to repeatedly produce maximal efforts. Rugby is a game of intermittent bursts of maximal effort followed by periods of lower intensity activity. The fitness to repeatedly produce maximal output is unique and must be trained as such. Repeat sprint ability is multifactorial and is influenced by:

• Aerobic Conditioning – important for recovery between maximal exercise bouts
• Anaerobic Conditioning – allows the athlete to tolerate and recover from the production of lactic acid

Mobility – also known as flexibility. Mobility is important for all athletes as it helps to keep them on the field and off the trainers table. Proper mobility across all the joints can help to prevent injuries and keep the athlete working optimally. The shoulder girdle and hips are key areas of concern for rugby athletes.

Stability – Just as mobility and flexibility is important so is stability. Whether it’s stability of a joint or resisting forces across the core, the more stable an athlete is, the stronger and more explosive they can be. Stability in joints prone to injury is important as it will help the athlete protect against the constant wear and tear of playing a contact based sport.

The physical properties important in the development of rugby athletes described above will act as an outline for future articles, which will explore each of these properties and the training modalities that can be used to maximize each. I hope you will enjoy following this process as much as we will in guiding you through it.

By Tyler Goodale

You can email questions to tgoodale@rugbycanada.ca