Big Off Season

[mattyouman]

Hi,

I am 18 years old, 175cm & 75kg. My position is scrum-half (rugby union). I have just finished my rugby season. In the off season i would like to hit hopefully a weight ranging from 80-85kg’s, gain a greater speed of the mark (acceleration) and get really fit. Firstly i was hoping for some advice in terms of a weights program where i will incoroprate bulking up but also becoming more powerful as i dont want to get big and slow, i was also wondering about power weights for my legs so i can improve my speed off the mark, last of all i also need some advice on how to set out my training i.e. plan my trianing sessions week by week, i also want information on a good fitness plan?? to get super fit speed work. Plus what protein shakes or supplements like that do you recomend??

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[bris83]

Supplements for adding bulk.

1-Fish Oil (buy in capsule of bottle form, consume before every main meal. Aim for 15g per day)

2-Whey Protein (add carbs to the mix if you are 12% body fat or below, otherwise add glutamine instead). Consume 40g or protein straight after weights and conditioning sessions.

3-Eat a lot of meat (both red and white) and good carbs.

Otherwise there are no secrets to putting on mass, except train hard and eat big, and rest well.

[molonyjim]

Sorry was just wondering why 40g? Is it as simple a case of ingesting a large amount and then excreting what isn’t used? I usally advise players 1.8/2 g/kg bodyweight throughout the day. Any titles of journals etc.. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Jim

[ashley]

@bris83 650 wrote:

Supplements for adding bulk.

1-Fish Oil (buy in capsule of bottle form, consume before every main meal. Aim for 15g per day)

2-Whey Protein (add carbs to the mix if you are 12% body fat or below, otherwise add glutamine instead). Consume 40g or protein straight after weights and conditioning sessions.

3-Eat a lot of meat (both red and white) and good carbs.

Otherwise there are no secrets to putting on mass, except train hard and eat big, and rest well.

Could not agree with you more, also never feel hungry, eat througout the day grazing style not gorging style, ash

[ashley]

OKay Matty, thanks for your question, a lot of detail to cover for your program, I would put you into the users category for speed training, so major components will be agility and acceleration with top end speed in there as well as a third priority, I also prefer to use a hypertrophy program specifically on the upper body, and for the lower body live by the maxim of: train for power and strength and appropriate size will follow. hope you find it useful, cheers, ashley

Mon: speed then lower power upper strength

AM

Speed Session

Dynamic warm up drills for 10 – 15 minutes

Ladders: forward & lateral series

Hurdles: lateral series, march, skip, run 10m accelerate out

Plyometric

Select 2 drills and do 75 foot contacts

1. Bounding x 40m

2. Power Skip x 40m

3. Single leg hop L to 22m R to 50m repeat with reverse distances

4. Power Jumps

5. Vertical Tuck jumps

6. Single leg rebound vertical jumps

Agility

Select 3 drills from the sheet and do 10 minutes of these walk back recoveries between each repetition, go to archives here or google up agility drills and you will find quite a few to choose from.

Acceleration

Accelerations from different starts 20 metres maximum distance for 10 minutes:

3 point stance

lying on chest

lying on back

lying on back roll to left and roll to right

hurdle jump & go

standing facing opposite direction

chip kick regather then go

grubber kick regather and go

PM

Lower Body Power option

2 x Full Body exercises do a jump exercise after each set

2 x Squat do a jump exercise after each set

Week 1: 3 x 5 reps @ 60% 3 x 10 contrast plyometrics

Week 2: 4 x 4 reps @ 70% 4 x 8 contrast plyometrics

Week 3: 5 x 3 reps @ 80% 5 x 6 contrast plyometrics

Lower Body Plyometrics Jump Options:

Knees to feet jump, Jump onto Box, Depth Jump, Repeat Hurdle Jumps, Band Jump outs, Tuck Jumps, Side to Side jumps, Hops

Upper Body

１x Vertical Push/Pull

１x Horizontal Push/Pull

Week 1: 6,5,4 Week 2: 5,4,3 Week 3: 4,3,2

Tues: anaerobic fitness

Repeated Speed Session

5 minute continuous run then;

2,470 m in 31 minutes

20 x 22m every 15 secs – 2 min walk recovery

15 x 50m every 30 secs – 2 min walk recovery

10 x 78m every 45 secs – 2 min walk recovery

5 x 100m every 60 secs – finish

Wed: Rest

Thurs: speed lower strength

Speed Session

Full Movement Warm up 10 minutes

Ladders – forward series

Hurdles – 2 x march, 2 x skip, 2 x run 10m accelerate

Plyos

MB throw sprint 10 metre x 10 walk backs

Double leg jumps for distance 5 x 5 10m sprint x 10 walk backs

Top End Speed

2 sets x 10 x 5m build 20m fly slow walk backs between each rap and 3 minutes between sets

Lower Body Strength

１x Olympic

１x Squat

１x Single Leg

１x Hamstring

Week 1: 6,5,4 Week 2: 5,4,3 Week 3: 4,3,2

Friday: aerobic fitness upper size

Aerobic Intervals

5 minute warm up jog, then;

20 x 40secs run 20secs rest distance based on 110% of VO2 max from 2,400m time trial range 150m to 220m, based on 2.4km time trial eg if you run 8 mins 24 secs for the 2.4km then it is 4.76metres per second so 10% equals a speed of 5.24 metres per second, so in 40 seconds you would run 210 metres.

5 minute jog.

or

Hill Repeats

Drive to Hill and position cars at various distances up the hill, easy 5minute warm up run

10 x 60secs/45secs/30secs/15secs 1:1 work:rest ratio

Size Program (Upper Body only)

１x Push/Pull Bar Week 1; 12/10/8 Week 2: 10/8/6 Week 3: 8/6/4

１x Push/Pull DB`ｓ Week 1: 15/12/10 Week 2: 12/10/8 Week 3: 10/8/6

1 x Push/Pull BW Rep count method depending on exercise eg 50 Dips and 25 Chins

[mattyouman]

Thanks heaps for the program Ashley, it means alot to me! i will be religiously following it!.. just one more question i noticed you left saturday and sunday out.. are these also rest days?

[ashley]

Yes Mat after that much work during the week you need a rest we may add something on the Saturday at some stage down the track if we feel you need some extra work just let me know but follow this for at least 6 weeks first, cheers, ashley

[bris83]

40g of protein is the largest possible amount the body can process, I have no scientific literature to support this as my lab is my gym and the subjects are professional rugby players. Through trial and error we have found this to be the most effective amount. Although I am sure if you search you will find some sort of journal to back it up.

I am all for peer reviewed papers, however, most of the time the study has been conducted on untrained subjects or for too short a time. If i find something that works i use it and dont wait for it to appear in a journal.

Try it for yourself and see how your body responds, you may find you need more/less.

Tom.

[molonyjim]

Thanks. Agree with journals and untrained subjects.

Jim

[mattyouman]

Hi ashley, the 6 weeks are almost up and i am already starting to notice improvements, so what should i do for my next block of 6 weeks any adjustments?? or just do the same program again?, plus whens the best time to tar a week off within my off season, cheers matt.

[ashley]

Hi Matt, I would take a week off now and then return to the same program with just exercise variations, as the saying goes if it is not broke then do not try and fix it, if you are getting results then proceed ahead, just tweak the exercsies and you should make continued gains for the next 6 weeks then it will be time to look at the next step, when does your season begin, cheers, ash

[mattyouman]

thanks, ash well i am actually looking to come to over to your part of the world next year in feb, to play rugby in Auckland. So im assuming i should really be hitting my straps in that Jan/Feb period?

[ashley]

Sure thing it gives you plenty of time to be ready, so definitely proceed as I suggested and we can re-visit it in 6 weeks, all the bestm ash

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