Ashley Jones Q&A Archives Page 17

[Getstrength]

Hi
Just wondering if u have anything to do with or know much about the crusaders/all blacks nurtition or nutrition for rugby players in general. Any genera guidelines or other info would be much appreciated.

Thanks Jon
Sorry John, it is such a specific science that I stay clear of the details and allow the professionals in the area to give the advice to myself and the players, we heavily use Glutamine, BCAA’s, ZMA and Whey Protein from Musashi and also Fish Oils as our main stays of supplementation, sorry I can not be more helpful, cheers, ASh
Hi Ashley,
Can you explain to me how to best use tractor tyres etc most effectively when it comes to blow overs etc.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
John
Hi John, when we use tyres we transfer set and reps patterns from the weightroom, so if we are emphasizing power then it will be a lighter tyre flipped for 3 – 5 as quickly as we can, or we use a much heavier tyre and will maybe do 5 singles as a maximum strength session, I like the ideas of an American strength & conditioning coach who has a plate inside the tyre that he can add weight to so they can train for different elements of strength and power whilst keeping the number of tyres to a bare minimum.. The most regular use of tyres in our program is in training strength endurance where a tyre is flipped for a set time, usually 1 minute of effort and a 30 seconds recovery and the players will do 5 – 10 sets. Our heaviest tyre we use with two players co-ordinating effort and team work as a by product of physical work. The mechanics are important and often we will terminate a set early if I see that form has gone out the window as fatigue sets in, hope that is of some assistance, cheers, ash
Hi Ashley,

I’ve been a constant reader of your stuff on GS for a while now and as a rugby player and coach I think it is fantastic that there is somewhere providing info specific to the sport. While I could try and pick your brains with a million training related questions, I have quick q with regard to elite rugby players gym performance. I was excitied to find the video of Carl Hayman squatting 220kgs for 3 reps.
Usually when union/league athletes talk about strength their bench presses get mentioned but not the squat and I was happy to see the squat actually get a run. I am curious is Carl amongst the strongest squatters in NZ professional rugby? Obviously pound for pound he wouldn’t be but in absolute terms. Also what are your thoughts on the Springbok goals of a 1.5x bw bench and 1.8 xbw squat. I know rugby players perform a large amount of conditioning, but 1.8xbw seems awfully low.

Regards,
Callum
Brisbane, Australia
Hi Callum, and thanks for your kind words, will try and answer yourquestion for you, I agree that a 1.8 x BW is quite low and I would expect some of those monsters to be squatting well in excess of that. I am not really keen on setting standards and see if players reach them or not, I like to see a steady progression over time and try and get a balance between various lifts. Carl squatting 220kg x 3 is right up there, we have a player that did 275kg for 2 using band assistance getting out of the hole, also I know of at least 2 players who have box squatted (45cm box)300 kg here in NZ. Last year we had a 200/100 club, that is a 200kg box squat and a 100kg block clean from the knees, we had 10 players who achieved this across the entire team and not all were forwards, hope that gives you a few ideas as to some of the strength levels, cheers, ASh
Hi Ash,

The get-strength.com site is really interesting and informative and I have been able to experiment with some of the exercises and programs you have posted on the site. Its awesome to have access to your knowledge and its excellent how the weight training is so specific to the needs of a rugby player.

I’m a professional rugby player and I’ve played a few years at NPC, and S12 level before I left for Japan late in 2005. Japan was pretty cool but I didn’t enjoy the footy to much and I am now currently trying to get a contract in the premiership division in the UK. I’m a loose forward and after my stint in Japan I have lost alot of muscle mass, however aerobically and anarobically I am quite fit as there was a big emphasis on this type of training at the club that I was at. As I now want to play in the UK I want to try and put on more muscle mass as I will require it with the more
forward orientated game. I am currently 102kg and want to put on around 4kg. My diet is excellent and I just need some direction in the gym. I also need to work on and develop my agility and speed over 10m.
I have time to put in the training now as I am back in NZ and will not be required to be in the UK until June. I have just undergone minor ankle surgery and I cannot resume running for three weeks but after that time I want to train really hard. I have looked at the 12 week program you have posted on “getstrength” and like how simple it is with the major compound movements required to put on mass and develop strength. I am able to train twice a day and really want results therefore do you think this program would be suitable for me and what days should I add in agility/speed,
aerobic and anaerobic sessions?

Could you please help me and outline a program that I could do to get my desired results.

Look forward to hearing from you.
Grant
Hi Grant, thanks for the challenging question and I hope I can provide some ideas for you to follow, an initial 4 week block of cross training for you to maintain fitness whilst recovering from the ankle surgery, then into the full program. Read full answer from Ash here…. New Articles

https://www.getstrength.com/training/ash-Rugby-Specific-Training
Hey ash is nick again! I don’t know if you are as exited reading my email, as I am emailing it haha.This time I wanted to ask you some more personal questions, I’m getting really serious about my rugby this year and I took a semester off from the Uni, I play second-five and centre. If you could help me out with my weekly training, I’d be really thankfull.
At the moment I’m not in my country so I don’t have club trainings, but I’m doing pre-season until the end of april, at the moment this is my week:
monday: 3pm interval MT2, 8 pm weights lower body (I’m doing the off-season program you sent out)
tuesday: PM weights upper body
wednesday: 3PM speed and interval MT3, 8pm weights lower body
thursday: rest
Friday: weights upper body
Starting next week I’m free to train at any time any day, so feel free to change it arround and also have am sessions.
The things I really want to improve are my speed and endurance.
Also I was wondering how many weigth sessions would be ideal in the
in-season and how many speed and interval sessions should I have per week.
Is it good to combine speed and interval in one session?.
And one last thing I also want to improve my side steping and change of angles, how can I train that by my self??
Thanks again and I hope you can help me out without taking too much of your time.
cheers ash, you’re the best!.

Hi Nic, to answer your questions first before I outline a weekly plan for you:

Inseason weight training: I would like to have my players do at least a full body or upper/lower split early in the week, say a Mon or Tues based on how they are feeling post match then on a thurs for a sat gamedo a power based workout.
Speed/Interval work inseason: Again depending on how the players are recovering we will do one or two short speed sessions after team training, as a second five/centre I would be focussing primarily on
acceleration and footwork with some top end speed work as well. I highly recommend the use of speed ladders and you can do some stepping drill coming out of them and combine with cones to play with different stepping patterns. Also it is perfectly okay to finish off a speed session with some interval work, 10 x 50m every 30 seconds is a popular
one for my outside backs.

As to stepping drills by yourself, when I was with the Newcastle Knights in the NRL competition both Andrew and Mat Johns both put out a series of cones and almost chorepgraphed stepping, starting slow and building up the speed, and you would have to say that their side step were lethal weaponsfor defenders.

Weekly Plan

Monday: Speed Intervals in the am and then Power at least 6hours later

Tuesday: Upper Body

Wednesday: OFF or Yoga/stretch or Pilates and a recovery swim

Thursday: Speed Intervals in the am and then Lower Body Strength at least 6hours later

Friday: Cross Training Upper Body

Weekend: OFF

Hope this can work for you Nic, all the best, Ash
https://www.getstrength.com/training/speed-training-workout

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