Rugby Training Elements and Fitness: SPT506, Glyndwr University

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of rugby training, focusing on three essential elements: lower body vertical strength, horizontal force output, and sprint training. It discusses the importance of each element, detailing specific exercises and their impact on athletic performance. The report also highlights the significance of fitness components like strength training, aerobics, flexibility, coordination, and balance in achieving overall physical and mental fitness for rugby players. Furthermore, it emphasizes the interplay between weight and speed in maximizing momentum, a crucial factor in contact sports like rugby. Desklib offers a wealth of resources, including similar reports and past papers, to aid students in their studies.

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Executive Summary
The chosen sport for this report is rugby. As seen from this paper, the sport requires
special training and discipline for excellent results. This paper is divided into three sections all
discussing the various elements of the sport including an 8 weeks training program for the
athletes.
Introduction
Rugby can be described as a free-flowing game which encompasses a combination of
speed, power, and strategy to outdo the opponent by moving the ball into their territory. One of
the evident features of the sport is that it is a full-contact game, but the players have no
protective gear, and if any, it is very little. The game of rugby can be traced back to football (i.e.
soccer), from where it evolved and is often described as the “game played in heaven”. The srcum
is the most special feature of rugby and is applied when restarting the game after minor
infractions in the course of the match.
Taking a look at the field, it goes for a width of 70 meters and 100 meters in length at
maximum. The lines at the side are called touch-lines. The game runs for two 40-minute halves
in addition to a half-time of five minutes. At the end of each half, some extra time is added as a
consequence of tending injured players. Each team is composed of 15 players with 7
substitutions. The 15 players are further subdivided into two groups; 8 forwards who are stronger
and larger and aim at getting and keeping ball possession; 7 backs who are faster and smaller and
aim at forwarding the ball and making a score.
Section One

Three Most Relevant Training Elements
The three most essential elements in a rugby player’s program include production of the
lower body vertical strength, a horizontal force output, and a sprint. The three elements are
comprehensively discussed in this section.
Production of Lower Body Vertical Force
To start with the production of lower body vertical strength, it may be in the form of a
deadlift, a squat, or other multiple variants. In essence, each athlete’s conditioning and strength
schedule should be incorporated into a primary lower body lift. There are multiple reasons why
the coaches include the primary lift in the schedule, but the need for maximal strength comes on
the top of the list. A host of peripheral adaptations, that improve a player’s sporting performance,
are associated with taking exercises for maximal strength. Such benefits include an enhanced
structural integrity, enhanced lean body mass, a good rate of external mechanical power and
development of force, an excellent running economy, speedy recovery, good proprioception and
balance, a general sports skill improvement, minimal injury rates, and improved ability for
potentiation (Paul, Kumar Biswas, and Singh Sandhu, 2011 p.43). The good concept behind
exercising to get maximal strength is that the benefits keep streaming in unless one is really
strong or has achieved the elite level in a very technical sport. The caveat associated with the
production of vertical force is that for a sports athlete, each vertical force focused resistance
exercise done, will be general in regards to preparation for the sport. Notably, training for
maximal strength comes with multiple benefits associated with sporting performance, provided
priority is given to the plan of training. Putting this in other terms, the adaptations of training are

particular to the demand imposed. If a rugby player, for instance, spends 50% of his/her weekly
preparation on a barbell as opposed to grabbing a rugby ball, his/her priorities are misplaced.
Horizontal Force Output
In a scenario where exercising for maximal strength through deadlifts or squats has failed
to produce the desired outcomes in regards to enhancing the sporting performance, the sport will
not materialize solely in a sagittal plane, unless the individual is a weightlifter. As stated in the
previous section, this means that a great deal of barbell training falls squarely on the general
preparation. It is needless for an individual to produce significant force if he/she has no ability to
orientate it in the required direction for the given sport; for instance, horizontally. In reference to
a certain study conducted by Wilson et al., strength training for the squat spanning for a period of
8 weeks ended in a 21% gain in 1RM. The noted transformation also saw an enhancement in
CMJ performance of 21% and a 40m sprint performance of 2.3%( Meeusen, Duclos, Foster, Fry,
Gleeson, Nieman, Raglin, Rietjens, Steinacker, and Urhausen, 2013 p.190) The observations
imply that exercising for production of vertical force is associated with tremendous shifts in
vertical movements or jumping, but comparatively less to sprint or horizontal performance.
At this point, transfer of specificity and training takes effect. For the essence of laboring
the point, the adaptations have to be specific. In essence, the transfer can be seen when resistance
training acts as a strengthening force to the patterns of optimum muscle-activation needed in the
sports skill execution. In case an athlete is being trained to become quicker, some training
elements including movement velocity, pattern, and intramuscular and inter-muscular
coordination essential for enhanced performance must be incorporated. Besides this, George

Petrakos divided the improvement mechanism in the ability to sprint into two elements which are
the physical output and physical output efficiency.
General strength training can help one improve the physical outputs. However, for
increased sprinting efficiency, there is need to practice orientating the physical output
horizontally. Resisted sled sprints offer an essential tool of training for the purposes of increasing
the mechanics of sprinting, force application, and horizontal force output. According to a recent
research, heavy (70%M+) sled sprints are highly efficient as they enhance the ability to sprint
(Phillips, Davids, Renshaw, and Portus, 2010 p.67).
Sprint
According to research, free sprinting is the most effective modality if one needs to
enhance his/her sprint performance; resisted sled sprints follow closely. For people taking
contact sports, for instance, rugby, sprinting is associated with multiple benefits (Markovic and
Mikulic, 2010 p.860). On the other hand, there exists another variable referred to as sprinting
momentum. Often are the times when this variable is overlooked. This is quite unfortunate as the
essence of sprinting momentum in rugby determines whether a certain team will score or not
score. In this case, where I will be using my two athletes, the value of printing momentum will
not be overlooked. Looking at a study conducted by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research, the essence of exhibiting momentum was contrasted to that of speed.
Perhaps, it is worth mentioning that sprint momentum is a derived value. In other words,
sprint momentum is a product of multiple values, maybe two or more. Bodyweight and speed are
the two variables in this case. Combining an object’s velocity with its mass, what one gets is a
number representing the force needed to halt that moving object. In sports, and in this case

rugby, a high momentum has clear-cut applications. It is not surprising to note that positions
which need a great deal of contact have relatively larger players. It is also worth mentioning that
there exists a notable interplay between weight and speed which is responsible for momentum
maximization. They antagonize each other to some certain extent. At other times, becoming
heavier implies that there will be a diminishing of top speed. However, an increment in
momentum may still be noted as long as a weight gain surpasses the loss of speed. As both the
elements of momentum and speed are essential in rugby, then it becomes tempting to research on
which one of the two should get maximum attention (Guidetti, Franciosi, Gallotta, Emerenziani,
and Baldari, 2010 p.1070). In the study, researchers gathered players from both the senior and
junior levels.
Afterward, they took upon themselves to investigate the interplay between levels and
positions and later studied certain athletes for the next two years to determine the extent to which
momentum and speed changed and impacted the performance levels. In the first series of the
outcomes, the difference between movement and speed in multiple players particularly focused
on the rugby, although an extrapolation can be done to include other sports. Between the senior
and junior level, speed was approximately the same. In contrast, a significant change of
momentum was observed between the two levels. Furthermore, forwards were less fast than
backs, but forwards exhibited a great deal of momentum, showing the demand for contact was
high. In this sense, momentum and speed can be applied to examine age level or skill and
position, for rugby at least. The second segment entailed change determination for a given period
of time. Looking at the juniors, who moved from the junior level to the senior level in a span of
two years, great physical changes were seen, and this was not a surprise at all. At the time when
this transition was taking place, a peak in speed was notable. This development was noted at the

age of twenty. However, an improvement in momentum was also evident. In other terms, as the
athletes moved to the level of the seniors, they became heavier but did not get slower or faster.
This was certainly the essential contrast between the two levels, and also the main reason why
the senior was more superior, especially in the forward's category. In rugby and other contact
sports, momentum is the key performance determinant that weight and speed. This fact becomes
convincingly true when a lot of contact is involved. Fortunately, an average coach can test for
this and can be instrumental in decision making as players move from one level to the next.
Part Two
Importance of Training Elements
Fitness is the condition of being physically sound and healthy as a result of regular
exercises. It is vital to perform different types of training in order to achieve fitness which entails
elements such us aerobics, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance. These elements
require regular training and use of the right techniques, especially for athletes. Successful
training results in the physical and mental fitness of an athlete’s body as discussed below.
Strength Training
Strength training criteria involve the use of forces to oppose muscular contraction and
expansion. In athletes training, it is arguably referred to as resistance training as it ideologies are
to use gravitational, elasticity and hydraulic forces to workout muscles. The training mainly
involves lifting of weights (Myer, Faigenbaum, Chu, Falkel, Ford, Best, and Hewett, 2011 p.80).
However, in the advanced fitness centers, other methods such as the use of pneumatics and
elastics to increase strength and size of muscles are used. Muscles have delicate tissues; hence it

is done carefully to avoid injury. The importance of strength training elaborately ranges from
benefits of health to athletics.
The training majorly focus increasing potency of groups of muscles such as chest, legs,
hips, lower abdomen and back muscles. A criterion is developed to ensure that each group of
muscle is not worked out twice in a period of fewer than two days. Another important factor is
the use of the right technique and sets which elicit fatigue after eight to twelve repetitions.
Theorists and researchers have suggested that the basic principle in training is loading the
muscles and ensuring repetitions that overload in sets.
There are many benefits of training to athletes, which include loss of fat and preservation
of muscle in their life. It improves an athletes skeletal strength essentially by stressing bones thus
increasing their density (McGuigan, Wright, and Fleck, 2012 p.2). Weight management is also
realized by athletes by regular strength training. Also equally important is the improvement of
the quality of athletes life by the ease in carrying out daily chores and the reduced tendencies of
fall (Macnamara, Hambrick, and Oswald, 2014 p.34). In accordance with research on the
psychological effects on the athletes, it has been seen to improve thinking abilities and mental
skills. In general strength training ensures recovery of lost muscle mass as age progresses. Its
benefits in reducing the risk of fracturing cannot be overlooked as it ensures increased density of
individual bones. With an increment in the mass of muscles, more fat calories get burnt easing
the control of an athlete’s body (Lloyd, Faigenbaum, Stone, Oliver, Jeffreys, Moody, Brewer,
Pierce, McCambridge, Howard, and Herrington, 2014 p.500). Also interconnected with
strengthening is the balance training which depends on flexibility achieved by weightlifting and
muscular loading. Training can be achieved in the gym or at home by vigorous exercises such as
abdominal sit-ups and simple squats.

Flexibility Training
Flexibility training entails performing activities that facilitate free mobility of athletes’
joints and muscles that allow joints to move more freely in any selected direction. Flexible joints
increase the range of athletes motion and also prevent them from the risk of being injured once
involved in a vigorous activity.
Most important is that it improves athletic capacity since less energy is required to move
flexible joints (Laursen, 2010 p.10). Muscular flexibility is affected by factors such as elasticity,
length, and the broader nervous system. However, the joint structure is a factor in its specialty
since it is hereditary, though the other factors can be positively altered by training. It is achieved
by incorporating stretching in training schedule especially after strength training to ward of
stiffness after workouts (Kellmann, 2010 p.98). It is, however, important to note that warming up
is vital before stretching to achieve flexibility as it could lead to injury when muscles are cold
stretch should only extend up to a mild point where no pain is felt when breathing freely and
should pull back to normalcy when muscle itches. Various physical activities such as movement
by legs, bending of athletes body and ability to lift objects depends on the flexibility, that has
been proven to decrease with advancing age (Jay, Jakobsen, Sundstrup, Skotte, Jørgensen,
Andersen, Pedersen, and Andersen, 2013 p.1233). Yoga movements are a great advancement in
mobility of joints and skeletal muscles. There are two types of flexibility of joints and muscles.
Dynamic flexibility being most important in sporting as it enables an athlete to run and perform
daily activities (Ivashchenko and Yermakova, 2015 p.21). On the other hand, static flexibility on
muscles and joints provides for overall fitness. Athletes are guided to take caution when training
to be statically fit, especially when it involves major joints such as the rigid pelvic joint to avoid
ligament injuries in training.

Posture maintenance of a human body throughout the day majorly depends on how
flexible he is; it ensures balance in skeletal muscle system (Issurin, 2010 p.389). It is beneficial
to the fact that it helps in tissue alignment in the body thus easing the supply of blood and
nutritional contents to the cells of the muscles. This ensures a reduced muscle soreness and also
reduces the possibility of lower back pains in advance.
Coordination Training
This is especially the most important training an athlete has to go through in order to
succeed as it involves a synchronization of different body systems. This is due to the fact that a
human being is a union of physical and mental systems that cannot be separated. The physical
expression is usually a manifestation of mental processes and their order of happening is as a
result of effective conditioning. Thus, training is a flow of activities (Hinchcliff, Kaneps, and
Geor, 2013 p.43).An athlete needs to make swift decisions in the field hence coordination of
activities has to work at a faster rate. It goes a long way to connect different types of training
such as flexibility, strength and power training. This results in that it is mandated to ensure
production of energy to move muscles that require coordination to move joints thus causing
motion (Hoffman, 2014 p.78). It is more of psychological training that requires a total
understanding of the way other athletes are intending to do. Poor or slow coordination is awful in
athletics career as success doesn’t beg for faster coordination (Ghasemzadeh and Jafari, 2011
p.310).The ability of an athlete to coordinate properly and at a high speed is enhanced by mental
soundness. All activities that ameliorate supply of oxygen and nutrients to the nervous system
such as aerobics are part and parcel of coordination training.

The scope of coordination is wide thereby training focus on two main areas. First is a
coordinated movement which is simple as it involves aligning simple movements into one move
(Garrido, Marinho, Reis, van den Tillaar, Costa, Silva and Marques, 2010 p.300). This helps an
athlete to dribble balls, facilitated by eye and muscles coordination. Secondly is the synergy or
binding muscular coordination which involves olympic lifting which requires complex muscle
coordinated (Garber, Blissmer, Deschenes, Franklin, Lamonte, Lee, Nieman, and Swain, 2011
p.1333). In examples such as doing a snatch, the muscles have to be employed into a complete
and efficient movement. Coordination training requires serious attention to finer details in
training since the application of techniques needs total muscular movement. It is mainly achieved
through physical training and can be tested by the degree of body balance in balance training. Its
benefits include preventing of cognitive impairments in older persons by improving the cognitive
function ability of the aging persons. Coordination is also improved by speed training with most
sports including running races stressing on the ability to move at a lightning speed (Fransen,
Pion, Vandendriessche, Vandorpe, Vaeyens, Lenoir, and Philippaerts, 2012 p.480). In efforts to
achieve maximum coordination, the training incorporates agility together with speed and strength
sessions hence becoming the ultimate link between major training elements.
Part Three
Psychological Skills
The skills I have chosen for this section are leadership and goal-setting. Additionally, the
two psychological skills have been comprehensively discussed.
Leadership

To start with leadership, it can be described as one of the crucial skills that should be
evident in every serious coach. Any coach and player can attest that good leadership is essential
to rugby success, and in addition to that, it can make a team excel or decline. In addition to this,
being a good example is key to the leadership of any coach (Harries, Lubans, and Callister, 2012,
p.532). This encourages and motivates the athletes to move to the highest attainable level.
Notably, this is highly essential during the preparation of a match. A remarkable coach will
ensure that his/her team is prepared both physically and mentally. Besides this, the coach ensures
that he/she portrays maximum effort so that the same is translated to the team (Fong, Tsang, and
Ng, 2012 p.67). In essence, all coaches should possess personal leadership skills. The role of a
coach requires a significant amount of responsibility and guidance.
Athletes will focus on both the positive qualities of the coach as well as the downfalls.
This being said, a coach should develop the desired leadership skills so that the athletes will
exhibit improvements in both their personal and sports endeavors. It should be noted that athletes
not only need effective leadership but also possess a strong desire for it. Essentially, young
adults needs need a consistent order structure, parameters, discipline, direction, and organization.
They need it at all costs. It assures them of a sense of security, and in turn, enables them to
exhibit more confidence. Another crucial aspect that a good rugby leader should have is
communication. The coach should communicate in a clear manner so that his wishes and
strategies can be employed effectively (Faigenbaum and Myer, 2010 p.63). Additionally, a good
leader should be decisive. This ensures that during the game, the team can make clear-headed
and smart decisions and this is certainly not easy.
Goal setting

Essentially, the setting of goals is an excellent method to get a team working to achieve a
common objective. In this regard, it is essential to be SMART in the process of setting the
desired goals. First, the goals should be specific. In other words, this means that the goals should
be clear and should as well show what they relate to. If multiple aspects exist, then it will be wise
to create a variety of goals. Secondly, the goals should be measurable. This means that the set
goals should have a way measuring them so that the coach and his/her team can know their
progress towards achieving the set goals (Ericsson, 2014 p.45). In a scenario where a method of
measuring the goals is absent, then there is no way that the progress can be determined. For
instance, in cases where the coach decides to use a subjective scale of measurement for assessing
mental skills, the progress can be accurately measured as long as the scale is used at all times.
Third, the goals should be adjustable.
Perhaps, it is important to note that the process of setting goals can be dynamic and thus,
an alternation of goals is inevitable at times. In a scenario where a coach notices that it is taking
too long to achieve the set goals, then the necessary changes should be made so as to have the
proper reflection. Likewise, if the process of achieving the set goals is moving at a faster rate
than expected, proper changes have to be made too (Cormie, McGuigan, and Newton, 2010
P.435). Fourth, the set goals have to be realistic. The setting of challenging goals is important.
However, it must be noted that the goals should not be challenging to an extent that it becomes
impossible to achieve them (Birrer and Morgan, 2010 P.75). As a coach, the goals I will set for
my athletes will sufficiently surpass their present capability. However, the goals will not be too
challenging to become unrealistic and unachievable. In this regard, I will apply my wise
judgment as a coach to take in what is realistic and rule out what is unrealistic. Finally, the set
goals should be time-based. This means that the goals should be regulated by the time factor

(Barfoot, Matthew, and Callaway, 2012 p. 445). In absence of a target time, it will become
nearly impossible to get the team motivated and hence achieving the goals might take more time.
Certainly, this should not be the case. Notably, three periods exist for goal setting. The three
periods are short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term.

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