Strongman Training for Rugby
By
Scott Caulfield
"Rugby is a fast-paced game that requires athletes to pass, kick, tackle,
and run. All 15 players on the field need to be competent in these very
different areas. It's an 80-minute match with stoppages on average every 30–45
seconds. Each stoppage is roughly 15 seconds in length, so the athletes need a
high aerobic competent. However, during open play, the athlete needs to be able
to be explosive in and through the contact point (tackle contest, ruck, or maul)
and be able to sustain that explosive power for the 80-minute match. They need
to have the agility and evasive footwork skill to avoid the defense or to get
into a quality tackling position, and they need to have the speed to take
advantage of line-breaks and score.
Moreover, some athletes will then also need some position specific skills
on top of these other requirements. As examples, the prop will need to be a
powerful and physical presence in the scrum with quick explosive speed on the
engage but with the massive frame to carry up to 50 percent of the load of the
scrum (eight players from each team. The lock position will need to have
exceptional leg strength to push in the scrums but will also have to have, in
most cases, quick plyometric explosiveness to get in the air on the lineout
jumps. The flyhalf, who at times is like a football quarterback marshaling the
players and distributing the ball, also needs the kicking ability of a football
punter. Rugby, therefore, requires athletes to have a diverse, multi-function
athletic profile." —A. Magleby, head coach Dartmouth College men’s rugby and
USA Collegiate All-American Team
Given the description of the game of rugby above and understanding how to get
athletes bigger, faster, and stronger, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to
train rugby athletes? I’ve been continually experimenting using the conjugate
method of periodization in my own training and that of the athletes I work with
for the past five years with great success. Hand in hand with trying my best at
working within a conjugate template, I’ve been integrating Strongman lifts and
Strongman conditioning into my athlete’s workouts and have found it to be very
helpful to their strength gains as well as to making these athletes mentally
tougher.
Why Strongman training?
Strongman style training incorporates multi-joint exercises and multiple
muscle groups, which trains the whole body and provides training economy or more
bang for your buck. Strongman training becomes therefore true “functional”
training. Now, I’m the first to admit that I don’t like to use the term
“functional” with regards to strength training. The term “functional” is used
way too often these days. Coaches and trainers use the term functional to
describe training style, movements, and equipment. Heck, people have even
written books about it.
Unfortunately, the terms have become so used and misused that it’s hard to
know what to believe when you hear that something regarding strength training is
“functional.” Because of the difficult nature of Strongman style training, we
can train not only the muscles and tendons but also the cardiovascular system,
nervous system, and more all while creating mental toughness due to the
attitude required to complete some of these exercises.
The program
Dartmouth rugby had approximately 15 weeks in the off-season training program
before our competitive matches. This was specifically designed to have us be the
strongest and fittest at the end of April, which would feature playing in the
Division I Rugby Sweet 16 and Ivy League Championships on consecutive weekends.
The training program was designed in the style of Westside for Skinny
Bastards, which is Joe DeFranco’s masterpiece. Many people have altered it for
the needs of themselves and the athletes they train. Lifting was done using a
four-day template—max effort upper body, dynamic effort lower body, repeated
effort upper body, and max effort lower body with Strongman lifts and
conditioning circuits integrated throughout the training blocks. (I won’t get
into depth with the sets and reps regarding our training, as this article is
primarily about using the Strongman exercises within our template).
A typical week looked something like this:
ME upper
Agility training
Log press
Incline dumbbell press
Dumbbell rows ss with pull-ups (weighted)
Barbell shrugs
Fat bar curls
Tire flips
DE lower
Jump variation or Olympic variation
Step-ups
Stone load
Grip training
Weighted abs
RE upper
Fat bar bench press
Bent rows ss with chin-ups
Dumbbell curl to press
Triceps
Conditioning circuit (30–45 seconds work intervals/10–15 seconds rest, 90%
heart rate intensity)
ME lower
Agility training
Box squat
Glute ham raise
SL good morning
Farmer’s walks
Strongman medley
Integration of Strongman training
As you see in the above template, actual Strongman exercises such as the log
press, farmer’s walk, and stones were substituted in place of traditional lifts.
I also found the Strongman “medleys” to be very challenging and useful in our
training. Example medleys that we used were farmer’s walks to backward sled
drags to keg carries or keg carries to sled drags to tire flips.
During the “conditioning circuits,” we used exercises such as tire flips,
kettlebell drills, sled drags, keg carries, and sledge hammering on tires. At my
gym in New Hampshire, I’m fortunate enough to have two, 500-lb tires, which
allowed us to have tire flip races. I split the guys into two teams, and we had
one guy flip followed by the next for either distance or reps, depending on what
conditioning effect I was looking for.
Over the course of our training, I also acquired a 700-lb tire that nearly
all of my athletes were able to flip for multiple reps. If anyone is interested
in learning more about how best to integrate Strongman training with athletes, I
highly suggest the programs that Elliot Hulse has available at
www.hulsestrength.com. Elliot has
been a great asset to me since meeting him at the Elite VIP seminar two years
ago, and I even recently went and spent a weekend training Strongman and hanging
out at “Strength Camp,” which is his gym in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Dartmouth College rugby
Results
I won’t list specific increases in the amount of weights lifted by
individuals here. However, I will say that everyone on the team got stronger and
better conditioned. Guys who couldn’t flip a 500-lb tire at the beginning of the
15-weeks could flip it multiple times by the end, and guys who could flip the
500-lb tire were flipping the 700-lb tire for reps by the end. Also, each week
weight was added to the farmer’s walk handles and everyone was able to handle
the new demands. Overall, it became the mental toughness and “I can do this”
attitude that surfaced as teammates pushed each other to the limits in each
training session.
And most importantly, the Dartmouth College rugby team played a very tough
first match in the Sweet 16 (we lost 26-6) against BYU, who went on to win the
national championship. Then, in the second match, we pummeled traditional
powerhouses Navy 53-26 to place fifth in the country. Next up was the Ivy League
Cup Championship, which we already were the odds on favorite for, but the
off-season preparation and dedication to fitness shone throughout the weekend as
we rolled over Cornell 101-0 and Princeton 113-0 the first day and then
continued by finishing Harvard University 62-13 in the championship game.
Scott Caulfield, CSCS*D, is a strength coach for Dartmouth College men’s
rugby. He is also a strength coach at the River Valley Club in Lebanon, New
Hampshire, where he also coordinates the 5000 square foot Sports Conditioning
Center, which is a space specifically dedicated to training athletes as well as
housing his Strongman training equipment. He is currently a competitor and
promoter of North American Strongman events. Scott also serves as the Vermont
State Director of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and is a
certified MTS Level 1 from movement training specialists.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
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